Statewide Blog

Embattled former Mankato college football coach gets new job

Update:  Todd Hoffner, a former college football coach who was cleared in a child pornography investigation in Minnesota is the new head coach at Minot State. He replaces Paul Rudolph, who resigned on Jan. 2 after seven seasons to become the offensive coordinator at North Dakota.

Below is our original post from Wednesday:

Todd Hoffner, former head coach of at Minnesota State University, Mankato is one of three finalists for the head football coach position at Minot State University.

"It's a success story in and of itself, considering all the things my family and I have been through, for me to be standing here today in front of you all with an opportunity to be the head football coach," Hoffner said at a press conference in Minot last week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kZnHUH0bZ4#t=33

In 2012, Hoffner was charged with possession of child pornography after school officials found videos of his naked children on his work-issued cellphone, which he had turned in to be repaired. The criminal charges were later dismissed after a judge found that the short videos of his children acting silly after a bath were not child porn and showed nothing illegal.

"All the adversity my family and I have faced, we're looking to dust ourselves off and move forward," Hoffner said. "Nobody's perfect, I have made a mistake in the past but I think we need to move on and move forward with our lives and hopefully this is a great opportunity for us to do that."

20121130_todd-hoffner2_33
Former Minnesota State University Mankato football coach Todd Hoffner speaks to reporters at a Nov. 30, 2012 press conferences after a judge judge dismissed a child pornography case. Jim Cross / AP Photo/The Mankato Free Press 2012

Hoffner said he's been applying for head coaching jobs throughout the region since the criminal charges were dropped. A North Dakota native, he also said he wants to be closer to his home of Esmond, N.D., where his parents still live.

The other two finalists for the position in Minot are Wayne State defensive coordinator Mike Aldrich and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point offensive coordinator Aaron Vlcko.

Minot State University's Athletic Director Rick Hedberg is expected to announced soon who will be the new head football coach.