Mark Emil D'Onofrio (born March 17, 1969) 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 professional player. He is currently the linebackers coach for UCF. D'Onofrio played collegiately as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

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 Pennsyl ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL).

Playing career

D'Onofrio played at the collegiate level with the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

, 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 M ...

, 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 College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

. From there he was a linebackers coach with the

Rutgers Scarlet Knights The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the athletic teams that represent Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus. In sports, Rutgers is famously known for being the "Birthplace of College Football", hosting the first ever intercollegiate football ...

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 Coast C ...

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

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

, he improved a defense that rated last in the NCAA when he arrived to 17th and helped the Owls win the conference division championship, and bowl eligiblilty in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. He followed head coach

Al Golden Alfred James Golden Jr. (born July 4, 1969) is an American professional football coach and former tight end who is the defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head football coach f ...

to the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

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's NCAA Division I, Division I NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Foot ...

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. 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 inst ...

as their

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 inside linebackers coach, beginning with the 2017 season. Houston claimed tbe AAC West Division title in 2018. However, 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 2022, it was reported that D'Onofrio would be hired by

Paul Chryst Paul Joseph Chryst (born November 17, 1965) is an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 2012 to 2014 and the University of Wisconsin—Madison from 2015 to 2022. Chryst had previously ...

and the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

as the inside linebackers coach.

References

External links

Miami Hurricanes bio
{{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 Hudson County, New Jersey