Joe DeForest

Joseph John DeForest (born April 17, 1965) is a retired American football coach and former professional player. After playing college football at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, DeForest spent the 1987 preseason with the Houston Oilers and appeared in three games for the New Orleans Saints as a replacement player during the 1987 NFL strike, recording one sack. He was also with the Calgary Stampeders during the 1988 preseason.

Early life and playing career

DeForest was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, and grew up in Titusville, Florida, where he attended Titusville High School.

College

DeForest played football at the University of Southwestern Louisiana from 1983 to 1986 and was a four-year starter. He was twice named to the all-Southern and all-Louisiana independent teams. DeForest also lettered twice as a pitcher for the Ragin' Cajuns baseball team. During his senior year, he received the university's first President's Cup, which recognized its top male athlete. He earned a bachelor's degree in marketing in 1987.

Professional

After going undrafted in 1987, DeForest spent the preseason with the Houston Oilers as a linebacker and long snap

Coaching career DeForest began his coaching career at Titusville High School in 1988, serving for two seasons as outside linebackers coach. He joined Rice in 1990 as an offensive graduate assistant working with the running backs and became outside linebackers coach in 1992. From 1994 through 2000, he was the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Duke.

Kansas hired DeForest as special teams coordinator and a defensive assistant on February 26, 2016.

DeForest joined USC as a defensive analyst in 2018 and was promoted to outside linebackers coach for the 2019 season. He retired after five seasons with NC State following the 2024 season.