Notre Dame makes it official, names Terry Joseph DBs coach

Terry Joseph was already introducing himself to recruits before Notre Dame was ready to formally introduce him as a football assistant coach.

The human resources-driven vetting process finally concluded Tuesday, nine days after the Tribune reported the hiring.

The 44-year-old New Orleans is head coach Brian Kelly’s new defensive backs coach. He’ll work in concert with cornerbacks coach Todd Lyght to oversee the Irish safeties and cornerbacks.

"Having the chance to coach at Notre Dame is a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Joseph, whose most recent coaching stop was a one-season run in 2017 at North Carolina.

"There are a lot of great programs in the nation, but there is truly only one Notre Dame. I'm looking forward to working with coach Kelly, the rest of the staff and embracing the opportunity to compete on a national stage in pursuit of this program's mission: To graduate all of its players and win a national championship."

The 1996 Northwestern State (La.) grad is a former 13th-round draft choice of the Chicago Cubs and played four seasons of minor league baseball as an outfielder in the Cubs and San Diego Padres organizations.

"Terry has an excellent reputation as a quality teacher and coach, as well as a committed recruiter," Kelly said in a statement. “He has developed all-conference caliber players at each of his earlier stops, including Power 5 programs North Carolina, Texas A&M, Nebraska and Tennessee.

“Our players will certainly benefit from Terry's teaching in terms of football, but I'm probably more excited to see our players benefit from his leadership skills away from football."