Joshua Paul Bell (born January 8, 1985) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

defensive backs coach for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for nine years in the National Football League (NFL) and the CFL. He was originally signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He 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 ...

at Baylor. Bell has also been a member of the Denver Broncos,

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, BC Lions, and Calgary Stampeders.

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

After going undrafted in the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

, Bell was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent. He was released on August 30.

Denver Broncos

Bell was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

of the Denver Broncos on September 24, 2008. He was promoted to the active roster on October 27 after an injury to cornerback Champ Bailey. In his rookie season, Bell appeared in nine games (five starts) and recorded 34 tackles and four pass deflections. He was waived/injured and subsequently placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on September 4, 2009. On September 10, 2009 the Broncos reached an injury settlement with Bell and released him.

Green Bay Packers

On November 23, 2009, the

signed Bell after losing Al Harris to a season-ending injury. On August 10, 2010, Bell was placed on Injured Reserve.

BC Lions

Bell signed with the BC Lions on May 22, 2012 and played with the club for two seasons. In his first season in BC Bell only saw limited playing time on both defense and special teams. In his second year in the CFL, Bell recorded 45 tackles and 1 interception.

Calgary Stampeders

On February 12, 2014, Bell signed as a free agent with the Calgary Stampeders, reuniting him with former

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

Rich Stubler Richard Stubler (August 4, 1949 – August 27, 2023) was an American football coach, primarily in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was most recently an assistant coach for the Toronto Argonauts. He is a five-time Grey Cup champion, all ...

. Bell started all 18 games at defensive back for the Stamps in the

2014 CFL season Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrele ...

. He finished the season with 56 tackles, 2 special teams tackles and 2 interceptions. On February 26, 2015 Bell and the Stamps agreed to a contract extension. Bell announced his retirement as a player on February 1, 2018.

Coaching career

Calgary Stampeders

On the same day that he retired as a player, Bell joined the Calgary Stampeders' staff as the new defensive backs coach for the 2018 season. In his first year as a coach, he won his second

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

championship following a Stampeders win in the

106th Grey Cup The 106th Grey Cup (branded as the 106th Grey Cup presented by Shaw for sponsorship reasons) was the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship game for the 2018 season. It was played on November 25, 2018, between the Ottawa Redblacks and the C ...

game. Following the cancelled

2020 CFL season The 2020 CFL season would have been the 67th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it would have been the 63rd season of the Canadian Football League. It was originally scheduled to begin on June 11; on April 7, the start of the s ...

, Bell was not retained by the Stampeders for 2021 due to the league-mandated football operation cap.

Toronto Argonauts

On May 14, 2021, it was announced that Bell had joined the Toronto Argonauts as the team's defensive backs coach.

References

External links

Calgary Stampeders bio

Green Bay Packers bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Josh 1985 births Living people African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football American football cornerbacks Baylor Bears football players BC Lions players Calgary Stampeders players Calgary Stampeders coaches Denver Broncos players Green Bay Packers players Players of American football from Dallas Players of American football from Los Angeles Players of Canadian football from Dallas Players of Canadian football from Los Angeles San Diego Chargers players Toronto Argonauts coaches