Joel Collier (born December 25, 1963) 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 ...

executive who is the director of pro personnel for the Atlanta Falcons 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 is the son of

Joe Collier Joel Dale Collier (born June 7, 1932) is an American former football coach who was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League (AFL) from 1966 through part of 1968, compiling a 13–16–1 record. College career Coll ...

, a former defensive coordinator for 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 ...

and New England Patriots and head coach of the Buffalo Bills.

Playing career

Collier attended the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

, where he played football as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

from 1984 to 1987. He was also an academic All-

North Central Conference The North Central Conference (NCC), also known as North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, was a college athletic conference which operated in the north central United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division II. History The NCC ...

selection.

Coaching career

College

Under head coach Dick MacPherson, Collier began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Syracuse University in 1988.

NFL

After his two-year stint at Syracuse, Collier moved to the NFL for the 1990 season as an offensive assistant with the

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 ...

. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, he re-joined MacPherson, then head coach of the Patriots, as an assistant

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. Ther ...

s and wide receivers coach until 1992. In

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, he entered the Patriots' scouting department as a pro scout. From

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, Collier served as a defensive assistant for 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 p ...

. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, he became the Dolphins' running backs coach, a position he held until 2004. Prior to the Patriots' 2005 season, he was hired as their secondary coach. He was not retained by the Patriots following their 2007 season. In February 2009, he was hired by

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 ...

general manager

Scott Pioli Scott Pioli (born March 31, 1965) is an American football executive who most recently worked as the Assistant General Manager for the Atlanta Falcons. He was an NFL analyst for NBC Sports' '' Football Night in America'', NBC Sports Network's Pro ...

, a former executive for the Patriots, as assistant general manager. He remained as the Chiefs assistant general manager until

Andy Reid Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Reid was previously head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 to 2012. From 200 ...

turned over most of the staff.

Saint Thomas Aquinas High School

After being let go by Reid in the spring of 2013, Collier decided to volunteer at his son's high school for the 2013 season at Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park, Kansas. Collier helped assist the defensive backs. The team went 3–7, including a 1st round loss in the playoffs. Collier shared that he intended to return to coaching in the NFL for the next year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, Joel 1963 births Living people Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York American football linebackers Northern Colorado Bears football players Syracuse Orange football coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches Miami Dolphins coaches New England Patriots coaches New England Patriots scouts Kansas City Chiefs executives