Jon Tenuta
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jon Tenuta (born February 25, 1957) is an American
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
coach who was most recently 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 ...
and secondaries coach for the New Orleans Breakers of the
United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...
(USFL). Previously, Tenuta was the defensive coordinator for 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 Coast C ...
.


Education

He attended Upper Arlington High School in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
. In his senior season, Upper Arlington played in the state championship game and lost to Warren Harding. He finished his college playing career at the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
. Tenuta's High School nickname was "Punchy," after the
Hawaiian Punch Hawaiian Punch is an American brand of juice currently manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally invented in 1934 by A.W. Leo, Tom Yeats, and Ralph Harrison as a topping for ice cream. It was started from an original syrup flavor titled Leo's H ...
character.


Coaching career

Tenuta was the former associate head coach and defensive coordinator of the
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The teams have also been nicknamed the ...
. In the wake of the November 26, 2007 firing of Georgia Tech head coach
Chan Gailey Thomas Chandler Gailey Jr. (born January 5, 1952) is a former American football coach. Most recently in 2020, he was the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). Gailey has previously served as the hea ...
, Tenuta was named Interim Head Coach, but was not retained by incoming head coach Paul Johnson. He also coached the Yellow Jackets'
defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...
s and was one of the highest paid coordinators in college football. On January 31, 2008, Tenuta was named assistant head coach/defense at the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
succeeding Bill Lewis. Tenuta coached the linebackers and ran the defense for three seasons with the Irish. He was hired by Charlie Weis after having worked at Georgia Tech since 2002. Tenuta's position at Notre Dame ended following the firing of Weis after the 2009 season ended. Incoming Head Coach Brian Kelly chose not to retain Tenuta and replaced him with his then–Cincinnati defensive coordinator
Bob Diaco Robert Albert Diaco (born February 19, 1973) is an American American football, football coach and a former linebacker. He is the defensive line coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels football, North Carolina Tar Heels of the Atlantic Coast Confer ...
. On January 3, 2012, it was announced that Tenuta was hired as assistant coach at the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
by new head coach Tim Beckman, however Tenuta announced on January 4, 2012, that he would remain at
North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...
. On January 3, 2013, it was announced that Tenuta and former NC State head coach Tom O'Brien would be joining the coaching staff at Tenuta's alma mater, the University of Virginia. Tenuta served as the defensive coordinator for the Cavaliers until 2015. January 11, 2017, he was named safeties coach for
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
under head coach Luke Fickell.


Head coaching record


Notes


References


External links


Virginia Tech profile

Cincinnati profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenuta, Jon 1957 births Living people American football defensive backs Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football coaches Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches NC State Wolfpack football coaches New Orleans Breakers (2022) coaches North Carolina Tar Heels football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football coaches SMU Mustangs football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football players Virginia Tech Hokies football players Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Columbus, Ohio