Texas pass game coordinator/safeties coach Terry Joseph is expected to join the New Orleans Saints coaching staff, sources confirmed to FootballScoop on Monday. The news was first reported by Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods.
Joseph is a Louisiana native whose career began as a high school assistant in New Orleans. He went to college at Northwestern State, where he played baseball, and has coached previously at Louisiana Tech and LSU.
This will be his first NFL posting as a player or coach.
For Texas, Joseph's departure means Steve Sarkisian and company have now lost three assistants to promotions either in responsibilities or playing level. Safeties coach Blake Gideon is now the defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech, and running backs coach Tashard Choice took the same position with the Detroit Lions.
Joseph coached cornerbacks for his four seasons at Texas, but Sarkisian hired Rutgers cornerbacks coach Mark Orphrey to coach that position while transitioning Joseph to safeties.
Now, Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski will have to hire a safeties coach while starting completely over in the back end. Joseph's departure also means Kwiatkowski is the only original member of Sarkisian's staff left on the defensive side of the ball.
After finishing 80th nationally in pass efficiency defense in 2021 and 49th last season, the Longhorns broke through to second in that same metric in 2024, while sharing the national lead in yards per attempt, touchdowns and interceptions. Cornerback Jahdae Barron won the Thorpe Award while safety Michael Taaffee, a former walk-on, was an AP Second Team All-American.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.