Mark Emil D'Onofrio (born March 17, 1969) is an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coach and former professional player. He is currently the inside linebackers coach for the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

. He was formerly 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 c ...

and inside linebackers coach for the University of Houston. D'Onofrio played collegiately as a linebacker at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

and thereafter was drafted by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

of the National Football League (NFL).

Playing career

D'Onofrio played at the collegiate level with the Penn State Nittany Lions, where he was a team captain. In the

1992 NFL Draft The 1992 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1992, at the Marriott Mar ...

, D'Onofrio was selected in the second round by the

. He became a starter with the team that season, however a severe injury would cause him to retire soon after.

Coaching career

D'Onofrio's first coaching experience was as linebackers coach at Saint Peter's College. The next year, he became a defensive assistant with the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

. From there he was a linebackers coach with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and tight ends, special teams, and inside linebackers coach with the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as ''Wahoos'' or ''Hoos'', are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic C ...

. He joined the Temple Owls in 2006 as a defensive coordinator, later being promoted to the Assistant Head Coach/ Defensive Coordinator. He followed head coach

Al Golden Alfred James Golden Jr. (born July 4, 1969) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He is a former head coach at Temple from 2006 to 2010. He has also served for five years as defensive ...

to the University of Miami in the same position he held at Temple for the

Miami Hurricanes football The Miami Hurricanes football team represents the University of Miami in college football. The Hurricanes compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Coastal Division of the Atlanti ...

team in December 2010. Al Golden came to Coral Gables to replace Randy Shannon. After Golden was fired in the wake of a 58-0 loss to Clemson, D'Onofrio finished out the 2015 season as defensive coordinator and was then terminated following Miami's SunBowl loss to Washington State, 20-16. He spent 2016 out of football while coaching at the Boys & Girls Club in Miami. On January 6, 2017, D'Onofrio was hired by the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education instr ...

as their

and inside linebackers coach, beginning with the 2017 season. On November 25, 2018, Major Applewhite announced that D'Onofrio had been relieved of his duties as defensive coordinator at the University of Houston. In early June of 2022, it was reported that D'Onofrio would be hired by Paul Chryst and the Wisconsin Badgers as the inside linebackers coach.

References

External links

Miami profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Onofrio, Mark 1969 births Living people American football linebackers Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Green Bay Packers players Houston Cougars football coaches Miami Hurricanes football coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football players Rutgers Scarlet Knights football coaches Saint Peter's Peacocks football coaches Temple Owls football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches Sportspeople from Hoboken, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey

Playing career

Coaching career

See also

References

External links