Jon Hoke enters his second season as Maryland’s Defensive Coordinator and Safeties Coach after being hired in January 2019. Hoke came to College Park with countless years of professional and collegiate coaching experience, spending 16 years on defensive staffs in the NFL and 21 years in college football.
In his first year at the helm of the Terrapin defense, Hoke saw star safety Antoine Brooks Jr. shine, earning Second Team All-Big Ten plaudits after leading the Big Ten and ranking ninth nationally with 69 solo tackles and ranking third among all Big Ten defensive backs with 87 total tackles. Three other Terps, Nick Cross, Ayinde Eley and Keandre Jones also earned All-Big Ten honors as part of a young Maryland defense that saw the emergence of freshmen defensive backs Cross, Deonte Banks and Lavonte Gater, who all developed under Hoke to earn starting spots by the end of the season.
For the past three years, Hoke served as the defensive backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he oversaw a secondary that was led by veteran cornerback Brent Grimes.
In 2018, third year safety Andrew Adams was near the top of the NFL leaders in interceptions with four, while six different Buccaneers tallied a pick. The year prior, Grimes led the team with 11 passes defensed and tied for the team lead in interceptions, with three.
Hoke also helped oversee the development of rookie safety Justin Evans, who tied for the team lead with three interceptions, tied for the third-most among NFL rookies. Evans started the final 11 games he played in the season. Free agent cornerback Robert McClain tallied three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, while safety Chris Conte notched a career-high three forced fumbles.
In Hoke’s first season with Tampa Bay (2016), he helped coach a secondary that was responsible for 14 of the Buccaneers’ 17 interceptions on the season. Grimes, who was named a Pro Bowl alternate in his first season with Tampa Bay, tied for the team lead in interceptions, with four, while leading the NFL in passes defensed, with 24. Tampa Bay’s three safeties (Chris Conte, Bradley McDougald and Keith Tandy) combined for 207 tackles, 23 passes defensed and eight interceptions. Hoke also assisted in the development of rookie cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III, who started all 16 games for the Buccaneers, recording nine passes defensed and one interception.
Hoke joined Tampa Bay after spending 2015 as the South Carolina co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach. Before returning to the college ranks, Hoke spent six seasons on the Chicago Bears’ coaching staff (2009-14), working as the teams’ defensive backs coach.
Under Hoke’s tutelage, cornerbacks Tim Jennings and Charles Tillman earned four Pro Bowl selections, with Tillman being named first-team All-Pro (2012) and Jennings being named second-team All-Pro (2012). During Hoke’s six seasons, Chicago tied for the fourth-most interceptions in the NFL (111) and led the NFL in interceptions returned for touchdowns, with 20.
In 2012, Tillman and Jennings were both named Pro Bowl starters, the first cornerback tandem to do so since 1988 (Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield, Cleveland Browns). Jennings led the NFL with nine interceptions, tied for the second-most in Bears history, while Tillman led the NFL with a career-best 10 forced fumbles. Hoke also helped guide safety Chris Harris to a second-team All-Pro selection (2010).
Prior to his time in Chicago, Hoke worked as the Houston Texans’ defensive backs coach for seven seasons (2002-08), his first NFL coaching experience. During his time with the Texans, defensive backs accounted for 82.8 percent (72 of 87) of the teams’ interceptions.
Hoke began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Dayton in the fall of 1982. He spent the spring of 1983 as a graduate assistant at North Carolina State before securing his first full time position at Bowling Green in 1983 as the Falcons' secondary/special teams coach. He spent four seasons in Bowling Green before taking a position as the defensive backs/special teams coach at San Diego State from 1987-88. He spent the next five years as the defensive backs coach at Kent State (1989-93), adding the title of defensive coordinator in his final season with the Golden Flashes. He mentored the defensive backs at Missouri for five seasons from 1994-98 before joining the University of Florida staff in Gainesville in 1999.
Hoke spent three seasons (1999-2001) at Florida as the Gators' defensive coordinator/secondary coach, adding the title of assistant head coach in his final two years. In his last season with the Gators, Florida’s defense ranked first in the SEC in total defense, scoring defense, and pass efficiency defense, and was second in rushing defense.
A four-year letterman at Ball State (1976-79), Hoke garnered all-MAC honors as a defensive back. During his playing career, the Cardinals earned league titles in both 1976 and 1978. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1980, with a double major in physical education and history. Hoke logged a brief stint in the NFL as a player, seeing action in 11 games for the Chicago Bears in 1980, recording seven tackles.
A native of Kettering, Ohio, Hoke and his wife, Jody, have four children: Mallory, Kyle and twins Kendall and Carly. His younger brother, Brady, is the former head coach at Michigan and most recently served as the defensive line coach with the Carolina Panthers.
