Terry Joseph and Eric Russell join Tennessee staff

Derek Dooley has begun assembling his coaching staff at Tennessee, making his first two hires on Sunday. Terry Joseph from Louisiana Tech and Eric Russell from Texas Tech will join Dooley’s staff in Knoxville.

Here is a brief bio on each of them.

Terry Joseph Bio

• Graduated from Northwestern State in 1996 where he played baseball. Joseph won the Southland Conference Baseball Player of the Year in 1995 and went on to spend four years in the minor league systems of the Cubs and Padres.
• Has great knowledge of Louisiana high school football. Joseph worked as an assistant coach at Destrehan High School for three years (2002-2005) and Archbishop Shaw High School for three years (1999-2002).
• Served as a grad assistant with Les Miles at LSU in 2006.
• Was defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator for the past three seasons at Louisiana Tech under Derek Dooley.

Eric Russell Bio

• Graduated from Idaho College in 1991.
• Served as a graduate assistant at Idaho in 1991 and at New Mexico in 1993.
• Spent 13 seasons at North Texas (1994-2006) – five as recruiting coordinator – where he became known as one of the top special teams coaches in the country.
• Spent two seasons as special teams coordinator at Louisiana Tech where his presence was significant. During his first season, his teams were highly ranked in punt returns (No. 8) and kickoff returns (No. 26). As a team, Tech blocked five kicks that season.
• Was the special teams coordinator for Texas Tech under Mike Leach last season.