In August 2012 Hoffner was charged by local authorities after a staff member at Minnesota State discovered videos of his naked children on a cell phone that was issued to Hoffner by the university. Hoffner was removed from his position as head football coach and placed on administrative leave. The charges were dismissed in December 2012. The judge who dismissed the charges ruled that the videos of the children amounted to nothing more than them acting silly after a bath.[1] Hoffner was later fired by Minnesota State. In January 2014, he was hired by Minot State University to serve as their head football coach.[2] In April 2014, Hoffner was reinstated in his position at Minnesota State after an arbitrator ruled in his favor.[3] Minnesota State destroyed notes from its controversial investigation of Hoffner, and the Minnesota legislative auditor’s office meanwhile said it was “surprised” that the school’s investigator, an affirmative action officer, “destroyed her contemporaneous interview notes” when she conducted an investigation for Richard Davenport, the college's president.[4][5] The school's investigator conducted flawed interviews in which questioning was not recorded or conducted under oath.[6][7]
Hoffner received Division II Region 5 Coach of the Year honors in December 2014 from the American Football Coaches Association.[8] Under Hoffner's guidance in 2014, the Minnesota State University Mavericks won their second consecutive NSIC Championship.[9]