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Feb. 19, 2004
Charlottesville, Va. – University of Virginia football coach Al Groh today announced the hiring of Mark D’Onofrio as tight ends and special teams coach to complete his coaching staff.
The addition of D’Onofrio follows closely the hiring of John Garrett (WRs) and Anthony Poindexter (RBs) to the staff to fill positions that opened after three members of the staff left following last season. Kevin Ross (RBs) joined his father, Bobby, at Army, while Corwin Brown (STs) and Andy Heck (TEs) moved to the NFL’s New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars, respectively.
D’Onofrio comes to UVa after three years at Rutgers where he served as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator. Under his tutelage, middle linebacker Gary Brackett was named the Rutgers MVP in 2001 and 2002. D’Onofrio spent the 2000 season as an assistant coach at Georgia, where he worked with the Bulldogs’ defense.
He broke into the collegiate coaching ranks in 1999 at St. Peter’s College in New Jersey where he coached the linebackers and participated heavily in game planning. He also called the defensive plays for a team that showed dramatic improvement. In his one season with the Peacocks, they improved from the 110th-ranked I-AA defense in the nation to 20th.
D’Onofrio played his collegiate ball at Penn State where he starred at both inside and outside linebacker from 1988-91. He led the Nittany Lions in sacks (11) as a sophomore and tackles (71) as a junior. As a senior, he was elected captain and finished second in total tackles despite missing six games with an injury. He set the Penn State school record for causing the most fumbles in one season (five) and finished his career ranked in the top 10 in sacks with 15.
He was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the second round (34th pick) of the 1992 NFL draft and started at inside linebacker as a rookie in 1992. His playing career was cut short by an injury and he retired in 1994. Following his playing career, he spent five years in the financial brokerage business (1994-99) before moving into coaching.
D’Onofrio and his wife Lucia are the parents of a son, Jack.