After adding former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley as their defensive coordinator last week, the New Orleans Saints are starting to assemble their defensive coaching staff around him.
The Saints are hiring former University of Texas defensive passing game coordinator Terry Joseph as their defensive backs coach, according to a league source.
The 51-year-old Joseph is a New Orleans native whose name should be recognizable around these parts — his cousins, Vance and Mickey Joseph, are also high-level coaches in their own right.
This will mark Joseph’s first NFL coaching job. He’s been coaching in the college ranks since 2006, when he took a graduate assistant job at LSU.
His most recent stop was at the University of Texas, which is where he’d been since the start of the 2021 season as the defensive passing game coordinator. His unit is coming off an impressive 2024 season, ranking No. 7 nationally in passing yards allowed per game (173.8) and tied for first in interceptions (22).
Joseph has played a part in developing some premier defensive backs. Texas corner Jahdae Barron won the Jim Thorpe Award — given annually to the nation’s top defensive back — last year while playing under Joseph.
While he was at Notre Dame, Joseph also recruited and developed Kyle Hamilton, who would go on to become a first-round draft pick and an All-Pro with the Baltimore Ravens.
