Thorne to succeed Thorne at North Central
North Central College football coach John Thorne announced he will step down following the 2014 season.
Effective Jan. 1, North Central will hand over control of the program to offensive coordinator and assistant coach Jeff Thorne.
With a record of 112-29 in his 13th year as the Cardinals' coach, John Thorne owns North Central's records for wins and winning percentage. Among all current or former coaches with at least 10 years of experience, he ranks 11th all-time in Division III and 31st in the history of college football in winning percentage.
A total of 185 of Thorne's players have earned academic all-College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin honors and 33 have received induction into the National Football Foundation's Hampshire Honor Society.
"We're on a really nice run right now," John Thorne said. "I'm at a point where I want to spend more time with our church, trying to figure out what the Lord's next adventure is for my wife, Kathie, and I together, and spend a lot more time with her.
"I think it's the perfect time for Jeff to take over. I think he's really ready. The guys on the staff are all on the same page, and they're going to get along great and work well together."
John Thorne's teams have won or shared the past eight College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championships, tying the CCIW record set by Augustana College from 1981-88. The three-time CCIW Coach of the Year owns a 10-8 record in NCAA Division III postseason play, having led the Cardinals to their first playoff win in 2006, their first national quarterfinal appearance in 2010 and their initial national semifinal contest in 2013.
Prior to his arrival, North Central had not won a CCIW championship since 1960 and had never received a NCAA tournament bid.
"We're very grateful to John for everything he's done here," said North Central athletic director Jim Miller. "He understood coming in that the task of making this program successful would be pretty tough, and it would have to be done step by step. He had the right philosophy, he stuck with it, and he helped a lot of young men become better all-around individuals."
Jeff Thorne has served as North Central's offensive coordinator throughout his father's tenure as coach, during which time his offensive units have rewritten the Cardinals' record books. A total of 44 individual career, single-season and single-game offensive records have been broken during his tenure, along with all of the program's single-season team records. Each of North Central's top 10 single-season totals for passing yards, total yards, points and passing touchdowns have come under his watch.
The younger Thorne has coached six CCIW Art Keller Offensive Player of the Year Award winners. North Central led all divisions of the NCAA in scoring in 2009 and ranked seventh in Division III in scoring offense and 12th in total offense while leading the CCIW in nearly every category in 2013, when he was a finalist for the Division III Coordinator of the Year Award.
"It's an honor for me to take the program over and follow in my father's footsteps and build upon the legacy he's established here," Jeff Thorne said. "My job is to make sure we continue developing our players as human beings first and football players second. It's a philosophy engrained in the Cardinal football program."