Jon Hoke

Jon Hoke

Sport(s)	Football
Current position
Title	Defensive Backs Coach
Team	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Conference	NFC South
Biographical details
Born	January 24, 1957 Kettering, Ohio
Playing career
1976–1979	Ball St.
Position(s)	Defensive Back
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1982	Dayton (DB)
1983-1986	Bowling Green (DB/ST)
1987-1988	San Diego St. (DB/ST)
1989-1992	Kent St. (DB)
1993	Kent St. (DC/DB)
1994-1998	Missouri (DB)
1999	Florida (DC/DB)
2000-2001	Florida (AHC/DC/DB)
2002-2008	Houston Texans (DB)
2009-2014	Chicago Bears (DB)
2015	South Carolina (Co-DC/DB)
2016-Present	Tampa Bay Buccaneers (DB)

Jon Hoke (born January 24, 1957^[1]) is an American football coach. Hoke is currently the Defensive Backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Playing career

Hoke played high school football at Fairmont East High School^[2] in Kettering, Ohio. He then attended Ball State University, where he played defensive back on the football team. Hoke was a 2-time all-MAC selection and his team earned league titles in 1976 and 1978.^[1]

Hoke spent time in the NFL as a player with the Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs from 1980-1981.^[3][4]

College coaching career

Hoke embarked on a coaching career in 1982, and ultimately coached in the college ranks for 19 seasons. As a secondary coach, he served at Dayton, North Carolina State, and Bowling Green. Hoke was hired by head coach Denny Stolz at BGSU, and then followed him when he was hired at San Diego State. After Stolz's dismissal at SDSU, Hoke went Kent State, Missouri, and Florida.^[1]

He served as defensive coordinator for Kent State in 1993 and Florida from 1999-2001. At Florida, Hoke replaced friend Bob Stoops,^[5] who had left to become the head coach at Oklahoma. Hoke and Stoops had served on the same Kent State staff in 1989 under Dick Crum, and Stoops recommended Hoke as his successor.^[6] Hoke left Florida when Gators head coach Steve Spurrier took the head coaching job with the Washington Redskins of the NFL.

When Spurrier returned to college football to coach South Carolina in 2004, he asked Hoke to join him as defensive coordinator. After deliberating with his family, Hoke declined.^[7]

On Wednesday, February 4, 2015, it was being reported that Hoke will re-join Spurrier, this time at South Carolina.^[8][9]

NFL coaching career

Hoke joined the expansion Houston Texans of the NFL in 2002 as secondary coach under Dom Capers, and was retained by new head coach Gary Kubiak in 2005.^[10]

Hoke joined the Chicago Bears as defensive backs coach under head coach Lovie Smith in 2009,^[11] taking over for Steven Wilks. In 2012, the Minnesota Vikings asked the Bears for permission to interview Hoke for their vacant defensive coordinator position, but were denied.^[12]

Hoke was one of two Smith assistants to be retained by new Bears head coach Marc Trestman for the 2013 season.^[13]

On January 21, 2015, the Bears announced that Ed Donatell had been hired as the defensive backs coach under new head coach John Fox. Hoke was informed by the Bears that his contract would not be optioned and he would not be asked to return.

On January 16, 2016, Hoke was hired as the Defensive Backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Return to college coaching

On February 4, 2015, it was reported that Hoke had agreed to function in a defensive coaching capacity (to be named later) at South Carolina, reuniting him with head coach Steve Spurrier. Spurrier had been interested in bringing Hoke aboard ever since the season ended, and Hoke turned down a handful of NFL opportunities to rejoin Spurrier in the college game. Sources told ESPN.com that Hoke's salary will be somewhere in the $750,000 range annually.^[14]

Personal life

Hoke is the older brother of Brady Hoke, who was previously the head football coach at the University of Michigan until December 2, 2014.^[15]

Hoke and his wife, Jody, have four children: Mallory, Kyle, and twins Kendall and Carly. Kyle Hoke played college football for his uncle Brady at Ball State and served as a graduate assistant coach for the Western Michigan Broncos football team.^[16] He currently serves as a defensive graduate assistant under his father at South Carolina.

References

1. http://www.gatorzone.com/football/media/2001/pdf/68-70.pdf
2. http://www.fcpsports.com/Download/FHS_Hall_of_Fame_Program_10.pdf
3. "Jonathan Hoke NFL Football Statistics". Pro-Football-Reference.com. 1957-01-24. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
4. "Coaches". Chicago Bears. 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
5. Times, The. "Florida Gators: Hoke is no copycat 01/16/99". Jacksonville.com. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
6. "UF's Hoke under fire after poor defensive efforts". StAugustine.com. 2000-10-06. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
7. CARLTON THOMPSON, Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle (2004-12-03). "Texans assistant Hoke turns down Spurrier's offer - Houston Chronicle". Chron.com. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
8. http://www.gogamecocks.com/2015/02/04/676583/reports-hoke-set-to-join-spurriers.html
9. http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/12279072/jon-hoke-coach-defense-south-carolina-gamecocks
10. "Texans | Kubiak will retain Hoke - NFL Hot off the Wire". Kffl.com. 2006-01-23. Archived from the original on December 4, 2014. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
11. "Hoke excited to join Bears as DBs coach". Chicagobears.com. 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
12. http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/7471650/chicago-bears-deny-minnesota-vikings-chance-talk-coach-jon-hoke
13. http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/post/_/id/4682498/db-coach-hoke-happy-to-stick-with-bears
14. http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/12279072/jon-hoke-coach-defense-south-carolina-gamecocks?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
15. "Hoke Named Head Coach, Introduced at Press Conference - MGOBLUE.COM - University of Michigan Official Athletic Site". Mgoblue.Com. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
16. http://www.wmubroncos.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=24292&SPID=1922&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4600&ATCLID=205590611&Q_SEASON=2012

External links

• Jon Hoke - Coaches - Chicago Bears