Vance Desmond Joseph (born September 20, 1972) 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 wit ...

coach and former player who is the

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 ...

of the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

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 ma ...

(NFL). Previously he was the head coach of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

. As a player, Joseph attended the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

in the 1990s, and was signed by the New York Jets as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 1995, playing

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnove ...

for them and then the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

in 1996. With 19 years of coaching experience at the professional and collegiate levels, Joseph was hired by the Broncos after spending 12 years as a defensive coach in the NFL with

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

(2005–10),

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

(2011–13),

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

(2014–15) and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

(2016). Between 2017 and 2018, he was the head coach of the

. Joseph was the second

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

head coach in Broncos history, after Eric Studesville was interim head coach for 4 games in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, and their first

head coach on a permanent basis.

Playing career

High school career

Joseph was the starting quarterback for three seasons for the

Archbishop Shaw High School Archbishop Shaw High School is an Archdiocesan school administered under the Salesians of St. John Bosco. It is approved by the Louisiana State Department of Education and the Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges. Founded in 1962 ...

Eagles. He led his team to a 37–6 record in his three seasons and won Louisiana’s 4A state championship as a sophomore. He garnered ''

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'' honorable-mention All-America honors as a senior and finished as 4A state runner-up to Ruston High School. Joseph also was a starting guard on Archbishop Shaw's 1988–89 Class 4A state champion basketball team and lettered all four seasons in basketball.

College career

Joseph attended the

, and played for the Colorado Buffaloes football team as a

and

from 1990 to 1994. Joseph played in 30 games for the Buffs as a backup to All-Americans Darian Hagan and

Kordell Stewart Kordell Stewart (born October 16, 1972) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nicknamed "Slash", he played college football at Colorado ...

. He completed 34-of-61 career passes (55.7%) for 454 yards with four touchdowns in addition to rushing 50 times for 237 yards with one touchdown during his college career. Joseph was also a member of the 1990 National Championship team. Joseph graduated from the Leeds School of Business with a degree in marketing in 1994.

National Football League

Joseph was signed by the New York Jets as an

in 1995 and switched to the

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 ...

position. He played two seasons in the National Football League for the New York Jets and

. During his NFL career, Joseph started six games and recorded two

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

Coaching career

College

Joseph became a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

for the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffaloes ...

in 1999 and was there until 2001. After a brief stint as the secondary coach for Wyoming Cowboys in 2002, Joseph returned to Colorado to become the defensive backs coach in 2002 and 2003. He spent the 2004 season as the defensive backs coach for the Bowling Green Falcons.

San Francisco 49ers

On February 17, 2005, Joseph was hired by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

as a

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

assistant. In 2006, he was promoted to secondary coach, a position he shared with

Johnnie Lynn Johnnie Ross Lynn (born December 19, 1956) is an American football coach and former player. He was a defensive back who played for the New York Jets for seven seasons from 1979 to 1986. He became a secondary coach after his playing career en ...

until 2010, when Lynn resigned for personal reasons.

Houston Texans

Joseph joined the coaching staff of the Houston Texans in 2011. He served as the defensive backs coach under defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and head coach

Gary Kubiak Gary Wayne Kubiak (born August 15, 1961) is a former American football coach and quarterback. He served as head coach for the NFL's Houston Texans from 2006 to 2013 and the Denver Broncos from 2015 to 2016 before stepping down from the position ...

. Joseph helped the Texans to three consecutive top-seven NFL rankings in overall defense. Joseph’s secondary contributed to the team allowing the third-fewest passing yards per game (203.5) during that three-year stretch, helping Houston to its first two division titles in team history and playoff wins from 2011–12.

Cincinnati Bengals

Joseph was hired as the defensive backs coach of the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

in January 2014. Joseph helped the Bengals to back-to-back playoff appearances as their defensive backs coach from 2014–15 under head coach

Marvin Lewis Marvin Ronald Lewis (born September 23, 1958) is an American football coach who is the special advisor to the head coach at Arizona State. Previously, Lewis was the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League (NFL) for ...

, guiding a unit that contributed to a league-best 41 interceptions during that span.

Miami Dolphins

Joseph was announced as the defensive coordinator of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pl ...

for the 2016 season under head coach Adam Gase. Joseph oversaw a defense that played a key role in the Dolphins returning to the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. Despite having to use 13 different starting lineups due to injury, Joseph’s defense ranked fourth in the NFL on third downs (36.2%) while forcing the sixth-most negative plays (107) in the league. The Dolphins won nine of their final 11 regular-season games in 2016 with Joseph’s defense accounting for the fourth-most takeaways (21) in the NFL during that stretch.

Denver Broncos

Joseph was hired as head coach for the

on January 11, 2017, after signing a four-year contract. He is the second

head coach in Broncos history, after Eric Studesville was interim head coach for 4 games in

, and their first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

head coach on a permanent basis. On September 11, 2017, on ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, A ...

'', Joseph won his head coaching debut in the 24–21 victory over the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

. Joseph finished his first season (2017) as head coach with a 5–11 record and improved to only 6–10 in his second season (2018), resulting in back-to-back losing seasons for the Broncos for the first time since the 1971/1972 seasons. On December 31, 2018, Joseph was fired by the team.

Arizona Cardinals

On January 11, 2019, Joseph was hired by the

as their defensive coordinator under head coach

Kliff Kingsbury Kliff Timothy Kingsbury (born August 9, 1979) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously a collegiate football coach from 2008 to ...

. On October 15, 2021, Kingsbury and several other coaching staff members tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

. This resulted in Joseph and special teams coordinator

Jeff Rodgers Jeff Rodgers (born December 1, 1978) is an American football coach who is the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as a coach for the Chicago Be ...

taking over as co-interim head coaches for the Cardinals' week 6 game against the

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 ( ...

on October 17, 2021 and they led the Cardinals to a 37–14 win.

Head coaching record

Personal life

Vance's older brother, Mickey Joseph, is a coach and former Quarterback, who currently serves as the interim head coach for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divisi ...

. Vance's younger brother, Sammy Joseph, played defensive back in the

NFL 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 major ...

and CFL. Vance has two children with his wife, Holly.

Sexual assault allegations

In 2004, Joseph was accused of sexually assaulting two female trainers while serving as the defensive backs coach at the

. The allegations were investigated by a state task force as part of a massive recruiting scandal that involved multiple women claiming they were raped by football players. Joseph was placed on administrative leave, but after one of the two women involved said she did not want to press charges and the other declined to talk to police, the case was closed and Joseph was not charged. Joseph left the University of Colorado and took a job with

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

shortly afterwards. CU’s then-president said at the time that Joseph was also being investigated for sexual harassment in connection with a different incident in which he had sex with a trainer in a campus athletic facility. The sexual assault allegations resurfaced in 2017 when Joseph was hired as head coach of the

. Before hiring Joseph, Broncos general manager

John Elway John Albert Elway Jr. (born June 28, 1960) is an American professional football executive and former quarterback who is the president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Elway played college f ...

conducted an investigation into sexual assault and sexual harassment complaints against Joseph and Joseph was asked directly about the accusations during the interview process. Joseph said that the allegations were false but that he was deeply embarrassed by the sexual harassment incident because he was a married father.

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals bio

Colorado Buffaloes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Vance 1972 births Living people American football cornerbacks Archbishop Shaw High School alumni Arizona Cardinals coaches Bowling Green Falcons football coaches Cincinnati Bengals coaches Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Colorado Buffaloes football players Denver Broncos coaches Denver Broncos head coaches Houston Texans coaches Indianapolis Colts players National Football League defensive coordinators New York Jets players San Francisco 49ers coaches Wyoming Cowboys football coaches People from Marrero, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football Coaches of American football from Louisiana 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople