Former Minnesota State Coach Wants Job Back

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Minnesota State, Mankato, football coach Todd Hoffner says he'll return to his old job after an arbitrator ruled he was wrongly fired.

Hoffner said Tuesday that returning "will help heal that injury." He'd since taken a job at Minot State and says he'll be "forever grateful" to that school.

Hoffner was fired last May for undisclosed reasons. The dismissal came after he'd been accused, then cleared, of having pornographic images of his children on a work-issued cellphone.

An arbitrator's ruling obtained last week by The Free Press of Mankato outlined some reasons for the firing. It said Hoffner was fired for viewing porn on his work computer, but the arbitrator found no proof and no grounds for termination.

The arbitrator ordered that Hoffner be immediately reinstated with back pay.