Jon Heacock (born October 11, 1960) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach and former player. He is the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coa ...

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

. Heacock served as the head football coach at

Youngstown State University Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges ...

from 2001 to 2009, compiling a record of 60–44. He was an assistant coach at Youngstown State for seven seasons (1991–1996, 2000) under Jim Tressel.

Playing career

A native of

Beloit, Ohio Beloit ( ) is a village in southwestern Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. The population was 903 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. History Beloit had its start in the late 1840s by the building of ...

, Heacock graduated from West Branch High School in 1979 and earned a bachelor's degree in health and physical education from

Muskingum College Muskingum University is a private liberal arts college in New Concord, Ohio. Chartered in 1837 as Muskingum College, the institution is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Collectively, the university's alumni are referred to as the ...

in 1983. He participated in both football and track and field at Muskingum.

Coaching career

Assistant coach

After graduating from Muskingum in 1983, Heacock accepted a position as a graduate assistant defensive line coach at the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of ...

. In 1984, he served on the football coaching staff at Steubenville High School, where he helped the team to an Ohio Division II State Championship. Heacock then served as the

, defensive line coach, and secondary coach at

West Liberty University West Liberty University (WLU) is a public university in West Liberty, West Virginia. It is West Virginia's oldest institution of higher education. It offers more than 70 undergraduate majors plus graduate programs, including a master's degree ...

from 1985 to 1987. The next two seasons, he was a graduate assistant on

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of ...

's staff at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, where he worked with both the defensive backs and special teams during a stretch in which Michigan won two

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representat ...

titles and the

1989 Rose Bowl The 1989 Rose Bowl was the 75th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Monday, January 2. This year marked the 100th anniversary of the Tournament of Roses parade. The Michigan Wolverines ...

. Heacock then moved on as an assistant coach at the United States Military Academy before joining the coaching staff at Youngstown State in 1991. In his first year at Youngstown State, Heacock served as defensive backs coach as the

Penguins Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

finished 12–3 and won the Division I-AA national championship. During the next five seasons (1992–1996) he was promoted and served as the defensive coordinator. Youngstown State advanced to the I-AA title game for four consecutive years, winning in 1991 over

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, a ...

, losing to Marshall in 1992, rebounding with a victory over Marshall 1993, and beating

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a pub ...

in 1994. Youngstown State finished 3–8 in 1995 and 8–3 in 1996, bringing the Penguins' record to 61–19–2 during Heacock's six-year stint as an assistant. Heacock left YSU for a period of three years to serve as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

. He returned to Youngstown State in 2000 as the defensive coordinator. His defense was ranked 15th in the nation in scoring allowed and the Penguins finished 9–3. In 2013, Heacock left Kent State to take the Safeties Coach position at

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mon ...

, following Darrell Hazell. In 2014, Heacock returned to the MAC when he was named the defensive coordinator for Toledo. In January 2016 when Matt Campbell at

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

Heacock followed him to serve in the same position as defensive coordinator and safeties coach.

Head coach

Heacock was named Youngstown State's fifth head football coach on January 25, 2001 when Jim Tressel left to coach at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publi ...

. The Penguins finished 8–3 in 2005, with a 5–2 record in conference that earned the program its first-ever Gateway Conference title, in a tie with

Northern Iowa University The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and grad ...

and

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

. In 2006, the Penguins went 6–1 in the Gateway Conference to win the league title outright. For the seventh time in school history, the Penguins advanced to the NCAA semifinals, defeating foes

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Col ...

and

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

before falling to top-ranked

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

. They finished with an 11–3 overall record. Heacock was named the Gateway's Bruce Craddock Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2006. He was also named the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

's Division I-AA Region Four Coach of the Year in both seasons and was a finalist for the

Eddie Robinson Award The Eddie Robinson Award is awarded annually to college football's top head coach in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). The award was established by The Sports Network, since merged into Stats Perform, ...

. On November 22, 2009, Heacock announced his resignation as head coach at Youngstown State.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Iowa State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heacock, Jon 1960 births Living people Army Black Knights football coaches Indiana Hoosiers football coaches Iowa State Cyclones football coaches Kent State Golden Flashes football coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches Muskingum Fighting Muskies football players Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Toledo Rockets football coaches West Liberty Hilltoppers football coaches Youngstown State Penguins football coaches College men's track and field athletes in the United States High school football coaches in Ohio People from Mahoning County, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio