Van Horn comes back home
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By CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
He came to Nebraska a relative unknown coach from Northwestern (La.) State just a month before the start of the 1998 season, and Husker baseball would never be the same.
At the time, interest in the program amounted to a couple hundred or so fans, and often fewer. They were baseball junkies who would congregate for games at Buck Beltzer Stadium, stuffed behind the northeast corner of Memorial Stadium, where the outfield also served as practice ground for the football team.
Nebraska had finished 10th in the 11-team Big 12 Conference in 1997, but with few expectations of the program, it still came as surprising news when coach John Sanders was fired in December by athletic director Bill Byrne.
Barely a month later, Dave Van Horn, a fiery Arkansas graduate, arrived on the scene, talking big — College World Series big — and barely a year later, NU won the Big 12 Tournament to earn its first NCAA regional trip since 1985.
In 2000, with ground having been broken for a sparkling new facility north of the downtown Haymarket district, the Huskers won another league tournament title and fell just one win from making the College World Series.
With an experienced club back, Van Horn knew the expectation for 2001 would be to take the next step. After winning its first regular-season conference title since 1950, Nebraska would not be denied a June trip to Omaha, clinching a CWS berth with a two-game sweep of Rice in a super regional that gave rickety old Buck Beltzer an unforgettable going-away party.
The magic would continue at Haymarket Park in 2002, as NU got hot late and swept another home regional before defeating Richmond in a three-game super regional to earn a repeat trip to Omaha.
But after the Huskers went 0-2 at the CWS again, Van Horn’s alma mater wanted him to replace his former coach, who was retiring. On June 21, he put on a Razorbacks cap and told an assembly in Fayetteville, Ark., that he planned to do for Arkansas what he’d done for Nebraska.
He has, too, guiding the Razorbacks to the 2004 CWS while building them back into a national power.
Van Horn has been back to Lincoln since then to watch potential recruits, but today and Wednesday mark the true first return, as Arkansas will take on the 22nd-ranked Huskers in a pair of games.
Next year, Nebraska coach Mike Anderson — who oversaw the program after Sanders was fired and was retained by Van Horn before succeeding him — will take the Huskers to Fayetteville.
Of course, that visit won’t tug at Anderson’s emotions anywhere near what this one will for Van Horn.
With that in mind, the Journal Star’s Curt McKeever recently got Van Horn to tell some previously untold stories from when he was at NU.
I hear you found some interesting stuff in the former head coach’s office after you first got here — like a bunch of tape recorders.
“I didn’t know what they were all about. That was kind of strange. It was a different feeling there. Everything was real closed-door. It was real secretive. I’d heard he (Sanders) kept all his doors closed, the secretary had to just basically beep him. ... I knew that we had to change a lot of things, really the thinking and mentality for the baseball players.”
What about getting connected with the high school coaches in the state?
“It was bad. The high school coaches didn’t trust the program — that was the feeling I got. Most of the recruiting was in Lincoln and Omaha, because that’s where the players were at the time, and we had to find a way to get to the coaches and make sure they knew we were going to do things right and make in-state kids a priority.
“When we got there, most of the kids were leaving the state or going to Creighton. I remember recruiting Jeff Leise (who became a Husker All-American) and getting him to come to Nebraska was really, really big. I think his parents had gone to Creighton and he was at Creighton Prep. ... When I first saw him play, I went to look at a senior, but Leise was the one who stood out. Jeff led off and hit a line drive that honestly went by the first baseman’s head before he got a glove up. ... He was one of the first who helped us get going in the state. He came from a good baseball program and then, to top it off, came in and did well. It opened the door to show we can have success, then winning that (1999 Big 12) Tournament was the best thing that happened to us as far as recruiting around the area.”
Yeah, but before that, there was the 50-3 freakshow with Chicago State that got you some national publicity.
“What I really remember about it was we played a doubleheader and the first game I was a little frustrated with older players. Adam Stern, John Cole, those (freshman) guys, I felt a little better about and the first game I started all those guys, kind of sending a message. (After we won 15-3), the second game, I started the older kids and they had unbelievable games. It was almost like they had something to prove.
“We were going base to base on singles and they could not get us out. I was feeling guilty not knowing how to handle it. For example, on a wild pitch do you stay on third? ... (Their coach) knew I wasn’t trying to rub it in his face, but when the game was over I didn’t know what to say to him. ‘Best of luck,’ and get out of there. He was OK. Jim Rome had me on and asked ‘What do you do?’ I said, ‘Exactly, what do you do?’ You still have to play the game.”
Talk about your involvement in the process of getting Haymarket Park built.
“Bill Byrne told me in ’98 that the athletic department was putting $3 million into starting another park. I think the success we had so quick kind of put a rush on that. Jim Abel, I lived not too far from him, and he asked me if baseball would go in Lincoln and I told him I thought minor-league baseball would. I was real positive and the next thing they started talking about comboing it up (between Abel, the city and the university). I got involved in the dimensions of the ballpark, making some suggestions based on how I knew the wind blew, trying to give it a little personality.
“There were conversations off and on for a couple years, and when I thought it was falling through I said, ‘Let’s get our own ballpark,’ and then it just happened really quickly.”
How about the first College World Series experience in 2001?
“Really, what I remember was the disappointment of losing game three at Stanford (in 2000). That was a crushing blow. Jamal Strong, Brandt Vlieger, Justin Cowan — I just really wanted them to get to Omaha. We were so close, so then the next year when we did win (the super regional), it was probably even more gratifying just because of the devastation (from 2000).
“I think our teams wanted to win so bad for the fans. There was a lot of pressure, and (after getting to Omaha) I think the program had a chance to kind of relax and play. When we got up there, though, our players were physically exhausted. The game before ours lasted about five hours, the kids were walking through the stands getting congratulated by everyone, and then went outside the stadium and sat around in the grass. By the time the game started, we were tired. But it was unbelievable experience.”
Probably not as surreal, though, as what you went through after making it back to Omaha in 2002 and then got the call from Arkansas. So, were there really people hanging out in the bushes behind your home?
“Our house, there was a lot of glass on it and I remember (wife) Karen called me and said she was at one of the neighbors and I told her to stay there, (because) there was media and TV stations — they’d been beating on the door, lights on cameras, they were in our back yard. It was crazy.
“I remember thinking this was nuts, because I was absolutely torn anyway. I was sick to my stomach. It was a really difficult move, because we loved Nebraska. If I could’ve kept Rob Childress and Mike Anderson for 10 or 15 years, I would’ve stayed. But I knew they were going to be head coaches and I felt it might open the door (for them for me to leave). We had great camaraderie. We really liked Nebraska, the people, our neighbors. We had it going pretty good, and it’s hard to walk away from that because you start over, you know what I mean?”
So, if you didn’t have any responsibilities on Tuesday and Wednesday and were just passing through Lincoln, where would you go?
“I’d go visit friends, check out Haymarket Park and see what it looks like. Say hi to (associate athletic director for development) Paul Meyers. It’s spring break, Karen and the girls are coming and I’m sure they’ll be hanging out with the Andersons. ... (We) have all good memories of there.”
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