Joe Cullen (born December 15, 1967) is an

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 wi ...

coach who is the defensive line coach for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He previously served as the defensive line coach for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

and Detroit Lions.

Early years

Cullen was a four-year starting

nose guard A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the l ...

at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...

, where he started 45 straight games. He was a three-time All-Yankee Conference selection and was the Minutemen's team MVP in 1989. He graduated from UMass in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in sports management. He spent a year as a graduate assistant there before becoming a position coach.

Coaching career

Early career

Cullen's first coaching job was in 1992-98 at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

. He coached the defensive line at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

in 1999 and at the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...

in 2001. From 2002-03 he was

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

's defensive line coach and in 2004 was promoted to defensive coordinator. He was at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

in 2005.

Detroit Lions

In 2006, Cullen was hired by the Detroit Lions as their defensive line coach. Under Cullen, four different Lions players recorded career-high sack numbers.

Idaho State

In 2009, Cullen joined

Idaho State University , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927) University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho Stat ...

as their defensive line coach.

Jacksonville Jaguars

In 2010, Cullen was hired by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

as their defensive line coach. Under Cullen, the Jaguars overall ranked sixth in yards allowed and fifth in yards per carry.

Cleveland Browns

In 2013, Cullen was hired by the

as their defensive line coach. The Browns recorded 41 sacks and allowed 3.9 yards a carry that season. Both were the best the franchise had done in the previous 18 years.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In 2014, Cullen was hired by the

as their defensive line coach under head coach

Lovie Smith Lovie Lee Smith (born May 8, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 to 2016, he served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a ...

. Over those two seasons, the Bucs ranked seventh in combined sacks and tackles for loss.

Baltimore Ravens

In 2016, Cullen was hired by the

as their defensive line coach under head coach

John Harbaugh John William Harbaugh (born September 23, 1962) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he coached the defensive backs for the Philadelphia Eagles and served ...

Jacksonville Jaguars (second stint)

On February 11, 2021, Cullen was hired by the

as their defensive coordinator under head coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fro ...

. Cullen was not retained following the conclusion of the 2021 season.

Kansas City Chiefs

On February 5, 2022, Cullen was hired by the

as the team's defensive line coach for the 2022 season. Cullen became a Super Bowl champion in his first season with the Chiefs when they defeated the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

38-35 in

Super Bowl LVII Super Bowl LVII is the upcoming championship game of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2022 NFL season. The game is scheduled to be played on February 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It will be the fourth Super B ...

Personal life

Joe and his wife, Andrea, were married in June 2013 and have three daughters: Julia, Justina, and Jenna. Cullen was fired shortly after his hire at the University of Mississippi after being charged with drunk and disorderly conduct after passing out in a local Subway. Cullen was arrested in 2006 for driving under the influence as the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

coach of the Detroit Lions. In another incident, also during the 2006 pre-season, he was arrested after he drove through a

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was t ...

drive-thru naked. He was fined $20,000 and suspended for one game by the NFL for "conduct detrimental to the league" and sentenced by a judge to 10 days of

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performe ...

and to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.NFL suspends Cullen one game, fines him $20K
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References

External links

Cleveland Browns BioBaltimore Ravens Bio
1967 births Living people American football defensive linemen Detroit Lions coaches UMass Minutemen football coaches Idaho State Bengals football coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches Indiana Hoosiers football coaches Jacksonville Jaguars coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches Baltimore Ravens coaches LSU Tigers football coaches Memphis Tigers football coaches Richmond Spiders football coaches UMass Minutemen football players Kansas City Chiefs coaches {{amfoot-coach-stub