| Joe Bolden | |
| Current Title: | Special teams coordinator, co-defensive run game coordinator |
| Current Team: | Tulsa |
| Current Conference: | American Athletic Conference |
| Birth Date: | 19 August 1993 |
| Birth Place: | Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | University of Michigan |
| Player Years1: | 2012–2015 |
| Player Team1: | Michigan |
| Player Positions: | Linebacker |
| Coach Years1: | 2016 |
| Coach Team1: | Michigan (GA) |
| Coach Years2: | 2017–2018 |
| Coach Team2: | Washington State (GA) |
| Coach Years3: | 2019 |
| Coach Team3: | USC (STQC) |
| Coach Years4: | 2020–2021 |
| Coach Team4: | Ohio State (DQC) |
| Coach Years5: | 2022 |
| Coach Team5: | Nevada (ST/OLB) |
| Coach Years6: | 2023 |
| Coach Team6: | Tulsa (ST) |
| Coach Years7: | 2024–present |
| Coach Team7: | Tulsa (ST/co-DRGC) |
Joseph Daniel Bolden (born August 19, 1993) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the special teams coordinator for Tulsa. Bolden is a former player for the Michigan Wolverines football team.[1]
Bolden was born in 1993 and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, attending Colerain High School. He verbally committed to the University of Michigan in April 2011.[2] He was selected as a first-team All-Ohio player in 2011 and played in the 2012 Under Armour All-America Game.
As a freshman during the 2012 season, Bolden appeared in 13 games on special teams and 12 games as a backup at the linebacker position. At the end of the season, he was named to the All-Big Ten Conference freshman teams selected by ESPN.com and BTN.com. As a sophomore in 2013, Bolden appeared in 13 games as a linebacker and was a starter in four games.[3]
During the 2014 season, Bolden was Michigan's second leading tackler with 102 tackles, including 55 solo tackles.
In April 2015, Bolden was placed on the watch list for the Lott IMPACT Trophy.[4] [5] He was selected as a co-captain of the 2015 Michigan team.[6] During the 2015 season, Bolden led Michigan with 83 total tackles.[7]
Bolden went undrafted in the 2016 NFL draft.[8] [9] Bolden subsequently tried out with the Washington Redskins during rookie mini-camp.
Following his playing career, Bolden was a graduate assistant for one year at Michigan in 2016 before a brief stop at Florida Atlantic and then on to Washington State for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. In 2019, he served as the special teams quality control analyst at USC.[10] [11]
In 2020, Bolden joined Ohio State coaching staff as a quality control coach on defense.[11]
In January 2022, Bolden got his first full-time coaching position when he was hired as part of Ken Wilson's inaugural Nevada Wolf Pack staff. He will serve as the special teams coordinator, while also coaching the outside linebackers.[12]