Maryland defensive coordinator Jon Hoke is leaving Mike Locksley's staff and heading back to the NFL, according to a report.
Tom Pelissero tweets this afternoon that Hoke, who was a 2020 Broyles Award nominee, is expected to join the Falcons staff as defensive backs coach. Hoke previously coached defensive backs in the NFL for the Texans (2002-08), Bears (2009-14) and Bucs (2016-18).
Mike Locksley brought Hoke to Maryland as part of his inaugural staff to run the defense, hiring him away from the Bucs heading into the 2019 season.
Hoke has prior college stops at Dayton, Bowling Green, San Diego State, Kent State, Missouri, Florida, and South Carolina. He served as defensive coordinator (or co-coordinator) while at Kent State, Florida and South Carolina before taking over at Maryland.
The Terps gave up nearly 35 points per game in 2019 and 32 points per game this past season.
Locksley will now be tasked with filling a vacant defensive coordinator role on staff, as nearly 30 defensive coordinator changes have happened at the FBS level this off season. The Terps staff has a few new faces heading into next season, including at offensive coordinator where Dan Enos was brought in after spending last season at Cincinnati as running backs coach.
Enos and Locks previously worked alongside each other at Alabama.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest developments.