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Vance Desmond Joseph (born September 20, 1972) is an American professional
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coach and former player who is the
defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...
of the
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of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL). He played
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for the Colorado Buffaloes as a
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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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...
in the 1990s, and was signed by the
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
as an undrafted free agent in 1995, playing
cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...
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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...
in 1996. After spending 12 years as a defensive coach in the NFL with
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(2005–10),
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(2011–13),
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
(2014–15) and
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
(2016), Joseph was hired as
head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...
by the
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...
in 2017, serving until he was fired after the 2018 season. After his first tenure with the Broncos, Joseph served as defensive coordinator for 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. The ...
from 2019 to 2022, before being hired by the Broncos as defensive coordinator in 2023.


Playing career


High school

Joseph was the starting quarterback for three seasons for the Archbishop Shaw High School 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
University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...
, and played for the Colorado Buffaloes football team as a
quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...
from 1990 to 1994. Joseph played in 30 games for the Buffs as a backup to All-Americans Darian Hagan and fellow Marrero native Kordell Stewart. 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 The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
as an undrafted free agent 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 The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
and
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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...
. During his NFL career, Joseph started six games and recorded two interceptions.


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 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 and nicknamed the 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 ...
as a secondary assistant. In 2006, he was promoted to secondary coach, a position he shared with Johnnie Lynn until 2010, when Lynn resigned for personal reasons.


Houston Texans

Joseph joined the coaching staff of the
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...
in 2011. He served as the defensive backs coach under defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and head coach Gary Kubiak. 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...
in January 2014. Joseph helped the Bengals to back-to-back playoff appearances as their defensive backs coach from 2014 to 2015 under head coach Marvin Lewis, 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 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
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...
on January 11, 2017, after signing a four-year contract. He is the second
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head coach in Broncos history, after Eric Studesville was interim head coach for 4 games in
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, and their first
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head coach on a permanent basis. On September 11, 2017, on '' Monday Night Football'', 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 Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...
. 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
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. The ...
as their defensive coordinator under head coach Kliff Kingsbury. 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 the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
. This resulted in Joseph and special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers 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. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
on October 17, 2021, and they led the Cardinals to a 37–14 win.


Denver Broncos (second stint)

The Broncos re-hired Joseph as their defensive coordinator under head coach Sean Payton on February 25, 2023. Following Week 3 of the 2023 season, Joseph was heavily criticized for his defense's performance in a catastrophic loss to the Miami Dolphins, where the Dolphins scored 70 points (being the first team to do so in a game since 1966, and the fourth team to ever accomplish the feat), as well as racking up 726 yards of total offense (the second-most yards in an NFL game and the most since 1951 in a single game). Many observers and fans subsequently called for his firing over the horrific defensive performance, despite it only being three weeks into the
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. However, Payton said that there would be no firings in the wake of the lopsided loss. Five weeks after the 20–70 loss to the Dolphins, his defense allowed no touchdowns in a 24–9 victory over the defending champion and eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. In the 2024 season, Joseph's defense led the league in sacks, ranked 3rd in points allowed, and was 7th in total defense, helping lead to their franchise's first playoff appearance since
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
. Joseph received widespread praise for the defense's significant turnaround from the previous season.


Head coaching record


Personal life

Vance's older brother, Mickey Joseph, is a coach and former quarterback currently serving as the head coach at Grambling State. Vance's younger brother, Sammy Joseph, played defensive back in the NFL 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
University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...
. 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 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
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...
. Before hiring Joseph, Broncos general manager John Elway 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


Coaching statistics
at
Pro Football Reference Pro Football Reference (PFR) is an online statistics database for professional American football maintained by Sports Reference. The site provides career statistics for players, teams, and games, as well as records and NFL draft history. PFR was ...

Denver Broncos 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 NFL defensive coordinators New York Jets players San Francisco 49ers coaches Wyoming Cowboys football coaches Players of American football from Marrero, Louisiana African-American coaches of American football Coaches of American football from Louisiana 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen