Joseph Daniel Brookhart (born October 17, 1964) 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 was most recently an assistant coach at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

, where he was hired as passing game coordinator, tight ends coach, and special teams coordinator on

Jon Embree Jon William Embree (born October 15, 1965) is an American football coach and former player who is the Assistant Head coach & tight ends coach for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He is a former head coach at Colorado. Pr ...

's staff in December 2010. Brookhart was the head coach at the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classifie ...

from 2004 to 2009, compiling a record of 30–42. His

Akron Zips Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city pr ...

won the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

(MAC) in 2005, and he was honored as the MAC Coach of the Year the previous season. Brookhart played college football at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

as a freshman walk-on before transferring to Colorado State University. He has also served as an assistant coach at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

and with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL).

Playing career

As a three-year starter at wide receiver for the

Colorado State Rams The Colorado State Rams are the athletic teams that represent Colorado State University (CSU). Colorado State's athletic teams compete along with 8 other institutions in the Mountain West Conference, which is an NCAA Division I conference and s ...

, Brookhart finished his career sixth on the program's list of all-time receptions with 111. As of 2006 he was still ranked tenth and with 1,873 career receiving yards is ranked seventh. He was selected an

GTE GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (1955–1982), was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System. The company operated from 1926, with roots tracing furth ...

Academic All-American his senior year. After graduation with a bachelor's degree, he signed with the Los Angeles Rams in 1988 but was released the same year.

Coaching career

Early years

Brookhart worked for The International golf tournament in Denver, managing the event's corporate hospitality tents for one year. He then worked for

Xerox Corporation Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from Sta ...

. Within three years of selling copiers he was awarded the President's Club Award, an honor given to those who meet a sales quota among the company's top-15 percent. He then worked for two other companies in the Denver and

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

area. He had been managing a speed camp on the side of his career for high school and collegiate football players. Brookhart decided to forgo his business career and accepted an unpaid position with the

in 1995. Two years later, he became the assistant coach of

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

s for the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

. He moved on to the wide receivers assistant coach position in 1999 and added offensive coordinator duties in 2000. He coached

Larry Fitzgerald Larry Darnell Fitzgerald Jr. (born August 31, 1983) is a former American football wide receiver. Fitzgerald played in the National Football League for 17 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He played college football at University of Pittsburg ...

Akron

Brookhart became the 25th head coach of Akron on December 15, 2003, the program's third head coach since gaining Division I-A status in 1987. In his second season, he led the Zips to their first

championship and their first

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

in school history, the 2005 Motor City Bowl, which they lost, 38–31, to the

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

. He was fired after the 2009 season when the Zips went 3-9.

Legend High School

JD is now the offensive coordinator at Legend High School in

Parker, Colorado Parker is a home rule municipality in Douglas County, Colorado, United States. As a self-declared "town" under the home rule statutes, Parker is the second most populous town in the county; Castle Rock is the most populous (the community of Hi ...

(2018-).

Personal life

Brookhart is married to Jami Brookhart, and they have four children: Joey, JT, John, and Jake.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brookhart, J. D. Living people 1964 births Akron Zips football coaches BYU Cougars football players Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Colorado State Rams football players Denver Broncos coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Sportspeople from Pueblo, Colorado Players of American football from Colorado