Jon Heacock (born October 11, 1960) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach and former player. He is the

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

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

. 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, United States. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergrad ...

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 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. 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 from 1985 to 1987. The next two seasons, he was a graduate assistant on Bo Schembechler's staff at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, 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, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

titles and the 1989 Rose Bowl. 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 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, losing to Marshall in 1992, rebounding with a victory over Marshall 1993, and beating Boise State 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 state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. 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, 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 became head coach at Iowa State, Heacock followed him to serve in the same position as defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Heacock initially ran a 4-3 or 4-2-5 defense in 2016 Iowa State Cyclones football team. However, Iowa State would later become known for its 3–3–5 defense that debuted in Iowa State's game against

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. The 2017 Iowa State team would later upset 3rd-ranked

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and 4th-ranked TCU, ending the season leading the Big 12 in tackles for loss. Heacock was a finalist for the Broyles Award at the season's end. In

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, the Iowa State defense led the conference in total defense, scoring defense, passing defense, and rushing defense. Heacock was named a nominee for the Broyles Award in 2022 as well as i
2024

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 (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. 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 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 T ...

. 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 university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...

and

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public research university in Normal, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University and is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teachin ...

before falling to top-ranked

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (), or App State, is a Public university, public research university in Boone, North Carolina, United States. It was founded as a normal school, teachers' college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and th ...

. 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's Division I-AA Region Four Coach of the Year in both seasons and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award. 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 Muskingum Fighting Muskies men's track and field athletes High school football coaches in Ohio Players of American football from Mahoning County, Ohio