Central Michigan University Athletics
Hall of Fame 2026: Education, Integrity Core Values for Jim Hornak
10/6/2026 9:32:00 AM | General, Our Stories
Fourth in a series of profiles of members of the 2026 Class of the Marcy Weston CMU Athletics Hall of Fame. The class comprises basketball player Amy Backus, wrestler David Bolyard, football player Ken Ealy, coach Jim Hornak, volleyball player Kaitlyn (McIntyre) Renzi and gymnast Brittany (Petzold) Franklin. The Class will be inducted during a ceremony in McGuirk Arena at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16. Admission to the induction ceremony is free and open to the public. The six members will be introduced during the CMU-Western Michigan football game at Kelly/Shorts Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 17. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Jim Hornak took an unorthodox path to coaching intercollegiate athletics.
He started in Central Michigan University's department of physical education in the 1960s, helped to administer the university's intramural programs, was CMU Men's Club Soccer administrator from 1966-77, and then coached the Chippewa men's varsity soccer program from its launch in 1978 until 1991, when he became the chair of the Department of Physical Education and Sport.
There were, of course, on-field successes. He led his soccer teams to 115 victories over 14 seasons, including a 14-3-1 mark in 1983 and the Mid-American Conference championship in 1990, when he was earned the MAC Coach of the Year Award.
Like anybody who devotes their life to education, Hornak saw the intrinsic value in athletics.
"You know a lot of times, Central students, many of them come from Michigan and they often are first-generation college students," said Hornak, speaking from more than four decades of experience. "What I found was that a lot of people love to learn, and they just don't know much about what there is to learn.
"What college does from a standpoint of being on an athletic team and moving in the direction of graduation, that really builds a fire in a lot of people.
"You can see the athletes, and it's not necessarily just athletes, who come in and are pretty naive about college and when they leave, they're sophisticated and they're ready to take on the world."
Two of Hornak's student-athletes earned the prestigious Bill Boyden Leadership Award, two earned Academic All-America honors, and one, Dave Daugherty, is a member of the CMU Athletics Hall of Fame.
A native of Ossineke, a small town south of Alpena along the Lake Huron shore, Hornak graduated from Alpena High School before enrolling at CMU.
He was a contemporary of fellow hall of famers Marcy Weston, Dave Keilitz, Margo Jonker, Dick Parfitt, Roy Kramer and Herb Deromedi -- a generation of coaches and administrators who remain the cornerstones of Central Michigan Athletics.
Character and integrity were, and remain, hallmarks of each of those men and women. Hornak, despite taking a different route to coaching and, eventually, to the hall of fame than many of his contemporaries, was cut from the same cloth.
At a weekend tournament in Florida in 1990, a number of Hornak's players missed curfew.
"When we got back (to Mount Pleasant) we met with the captains and suspended nearly everybody that was on the trip," Hornak said. "It wasn't just my decision; it was the captains' too.
"And so (the following) Wednesday, we played at Michigan State. We had 12 players, we had 10 field players and two goalkeepers; but amazingly, we ended up beating Michigan State, 1-0, and one of those players was my son, who had never started a game in his entire life. He played 90 minutes that day
"Joe Baum, who was the coach at Michigan State, came up to me and shook hand afterwards and he said, 'I know what you're going through. You had the best team out there; congratulations.'
"That is one of the things where good comes out of bad."
Hornak stepped away from the program when he became the department chair after the 1991 season. He retired in 2009 after 43 years with the university. In 2004, he earned the CMU Faculty Distinguished Service Award.
"I'm still very good friends with many, many of my players, and I think that's a testament to the fact that they stuck together and were a team," Hornak said. "To see the success of students, once they pass their college years and achieve, that's about as good as it gets."
He started in Central Michigan University's department of physical education in the 1960s, helped to administer the university's intramural programs, was CMU Men's Club Soccer administrator from 1966-77, and then coached the Chippewa men's varsity soccer program from its launch in 1978 until 1991, when he became the chair of the Department of Physical Education and Sport.
There were, of course, on-field successes. He led his soccer teams to 115 victories over 14 seasons, including a 14-3-1 mark in 1983 and the Mid-American Conference championship in 1990, when he was earned the MAC Coach of the Year Award.
Like anybody who devotes their life to education, Hornak saw the intrinsic value in athletics.
"You know a lot of times, Central students, many of them come from Michigan and they often are first-generation college students," said Hornak, speaking from more than four decades of experience. "What I found was that a lot of people love to learn, and they just don't know much about what there is to learn.
"What college does from a standpoint of being on an athletic team and moving in the direction of graduation, that really builds a fire in a lot of people.
"You can see the athletes, and it's not necessarily just athletes, who come in and are pretty naive about college and when they leave, they're sophisticated and they're ready to take on the world."
Two of Hornak's student-athletes earned the prestigious Bill Boyden Leadership Award, two earned Academic All-America honors, and one, Dave Daugherty, is a member of the CMU Athletics Hall of Fame.
A native of Ossineke, a small town south of Alpena along the Lake Huron shore, Hornak graduated from Alpena High School before enrolling at CMU.
He was a contemporary of fellow hall of famers Marcy Weston, Dave Keilitz, Margo Jonker, Dick Parfitt, Roy Kramer and Herb Deromedi -- a generation of coaches and administrators who remain the cornerstones of Central Michigan Athletics.
Character and integrity were, and remain, hallmarks of each of those men and women. Hornak, despite taking a different route to coaching and, eventually, to the hall of fame than many of his contemporaries, was cut from the same cloth.
At a weekend tournament in Florida in 1990, a number of Hornak's players missed curfew.
"When we got back (to Mount Pleasant) we met with the captains and suspended nearly everybody that was on the trip," Hornak said. "It wasn't just my decision; it was the captains' too.
"And so (the following) Wednesday, we played at Michigan State. We had 12 players, we had 10 field players and two goalkeepers; but amazingly, we ended up beating Michigan State, 1-0, and one of those players was my son, who had never started a game in his entire life. He played 90 minutes that day
"Joe Baum, who was the coach at Michigan State, came up to me and shook hand afterwards and he said, 'I know what you're going through. You had the best team out there; congratulations.'
"That is one of the things where good comes out of bad."
Hornak stepped away from the program when he became the department chair after the 1991 season. He retired in 2009 after 43 years with the university. In 2004, he earned the CMU Faculty Distinguished Service Award.
"I'm still very good friends with many, many of my players, and I think that's a testament to the fact that they stuck together and were a team," Hornak said. "To see the success of students, once they pass their college years and achieve, that's about as good as it gets."
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