2025 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: North Allegheny’s Lincoln Hoke

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Monday, July 28, 2025 | 10:02 AM

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While he didn’t follow in the footsteps of his father and two brothers and continue a family tradition by committing to Brigham Young, Lincoln Hoke can assure you he plays football like his family members.

The Pitt recruit knows one way: the Hoke way.

“One-hundred percent,” the rising senior lineman from North Allegheny said. “There is a Hoke mentality. It’s 110% effort, push through and outwork everybody. Be relentless and dominate.”

Hoke, an all-state defensive tackle who committed last month, has blocking and tackling in his blood. And while he is not a legacy recruit, he is out to make a name for himself as another Hoke bruiser.

His father, Chris, played 11 seasons and won a Super Bowl with the Steelers, joining the team as an undrafted free agent. His brothers, Cade and Nate, both went to BYU and are now finished playing the game.

That means Lincoln (6-2, 270) gets the spotlight in his final prep season. A three-star recruit by 247Sports.com and Rivals.com, Hoke is rated as the 37th-best prospect in Pennsylvania by 247Sports.

“My dad and I train in the summer, and he he watches my film and takes notes on Saturday mornings,” Hoke said. “We break it down on the weekends. He played the same position, so he knows what he is looking for. Since I was a kid, I have looked up to my dad and brothers. They have pushed me to work harder. I have always wanted to be the best in the family.”

Hoke, who also plays offensive guard, last season made 66 tackles, nine for loss, with 6 1/2 sacks. While those numbers are impressive, particularly at the Class 6A level, he might take a little more pride in his two forced fumbles, two blocked kicks and one interception.

“Any way to add to the stat sheet and help us win,” he said. “Whatever I can do to wreck the other team’s game plan.”

While he had more than a dozen Division I offers, Hoke expected more. He thought some schools passed on him because he wasn’t a prototypical fit.

That said, he is out to prove doubters wrong and also make his late mother, Jaimee Hoke, proud. She died in January after a battle with cancer.

“No doubt, I’ll be playing for her this season,” he said. “Being overlooked, yeah, that is always going to be in the back of my mind. But my goal is to win a championship.”

North Allegheny will be aiming for a fourth straight trip to the WPIAL championship game. The Tigers were the 6A runners-up last season.

Hoke follows the Steelers and is sure to tune in to the “Extra Point” postgame show where is father is a co-host alongside Bob Pompeani.

“We always watch that right after the games, and then we switch to NFL Red Zone,” Lincoln Hoke said. “When I was little, we called into the show one time. I didn’t use my real name. My dad thought it was funny. I called in another time with a real question.”

Lincoln Hoke

North Allegheny

Senior

6-foot-2, 270 pounds

OG/DT

Committed to: Pitt

Other Division I offers: James Madison, West Virginia, Sacramento State, Cornell, Harvard, Buffalo, Kent State, Toledo, Princeton, Delaware, New Mexico, Akron, Penn

Highlights: Hudl

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: North Allegheny