Joe Craddock (born September 7, 1985) is a

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player. He is the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

Troy University Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. Troy University is accredi ...

, a position he has held since the 2022 season. Craddock played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight undergraduate colleges as well as a college of graduate studies, together off ...

and professionally in the

Italian Football League Italian Football League (IFL) is the top level American football league in Italy established in 1980. History In the 1970's teams formed and played in Italy. In 1980 the first official American football league in Italy was established and crow ...

(IFL). He has served as the offensive coordinator as

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

(SMU) from 2015 to 2017 and the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

from 2018 to 2019 under head coach

Chad Morris Chad Allen Morris (born December 4, 1968) is an American football coach. He is currently an offensive analyst at South Florida. Morris served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 2015 to 2017 and the University ...

Playing career

Craddock attended

Briarwood Christian School Briarwood Christian School is a private school in Birmingham, Alabama. It was founded by Briarwood Presbyterian Church in 1965. In 1970, when integration of the public schools was mandated by the federal government, the IRS began revoking the tax ...

and started at quarterback from 2001 to 2003. In 2003, Craddock led Briarwood Christian to a state championship victory in their 5A classification. He was named MVP of that game. After his prep career, he accepted a scholarship to play football at

Murfreesboro, Tennessee Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...

. Craddock attended Middle Tennessee from 2004 to 2008, starting for the Blue Raiders during his junior and senior seasons. In his final campaign in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, he was named a team captain. During this season he led the Blue Raiders to a 24–14 upset win over the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

. Craddock was also a member of the school's baseball team for one season. After his collegiate career concluded, Craddock spent two seasons as the starting quarterback for the

Parma Panthers The Parma Panthers are an American football team based in Parma, Italy that competes in the Italian Football League. The team was founded in 1981 by Vic Dasaro, an American veterinary student attending university in Parma. Dasaro created the te ...

of the

(IFL). He led them to the 2010 IFL Super Bowl, a game in which he threw seven touchdowns.

Coaching career

Prior to his collegiate coaching career, Craddock was a high school offensive coordinator at

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. During his tenure at Briarwood Christian, the school compiled a 25–4 record and finished as the state runner-up in 2010. After the 2011 season, he was hired as an offensive player development coach by

Dabo Swinney William Christopher "Dabo" Swinney (; born November 20, 1969) is an American football coach, currently serving as the head coach at Clemson University. Swinney took over midway through the 2008 season, following the resignation of Tommy Bowden. S ...

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

. Upon the conclusion of the 2012 football season, he was given on-field graduate assistant duties working with the quarterbacks, a role he held until December 2014. During these three seasons, he grew extremely close with

. In December 2014, Morris accepted the head coaching position at

. Immediately after he was hired, Morris named Craddock as his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. At the time of the hiring, Craddock was 29 years old and the youngest offensive coordinator in college football. In December 2017, Craddock was brought on with Morris to be the new offensive coordinator at the

. Craddock was a

Broyles Award The Broyles Award is an annual award given to honor the best assistant coach in college football. First awarded in 1996, it was named after former University of Arkansas men's athletic director Frank Broyles. The award is presented in Little R ...

nominee in 2017. Craddock was the youngest offensive coordinator in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC). In January 2020, Craddock was announced as the tight ends coach for UAB. In December 2021, Craddock was named offensive coordinator for

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

Personal life

Craddock married sweetheart, Abby Richburg, on February 7, 2015, and the couple welcomed their first child, Charlie Kathryn, in November 2016 and added a son, Joe "Cain" in November 2018.

References

External links

Troy profile

Arkansas profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craddock, Joe 1985 births Living people American football quarterbacks Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Clemson Tigers football coaches Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football players SMU Mustangs football coaches Troy Trojans football coaches High school football coaches in Alabama Coaches of American football from Alabama Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama American expatriate sportspeople in Italy American expatriate players of American football