Vance Joseph leaving Bengals to become Dolphins defensive coordinator

Cincinnati Bengals defensive backs coach Vance Joseph is leaving Cincinnati to become the next defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins, according to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

Dolphins hired former Bengals asst coach Vance Joseph as their defensive coordinator, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 12, 2016

Adam Gase was hired on Saturday as the new head coach of the Dolphins. When reports over the weekend brought up Joseph as a top candidate for the Miami defensive coordinator job, it was suggested that Bengals linebackers coach Matt Burke and Bears defensive line coach Clint Hurt would join them in Miami. Cowboys secondary coach Jerome Henderson was also reportedly part of the move but more recent reports have him staying with the Cowboys.

Joseph just completed his second season as co-secondary coach for the Bengals (Mark Carrier being the other defensive backs coach). Prior to that, he spent six years with the 49ers and three years with the Texans, all as a defensive backs coach. Joseph played college football at Colorado University as a quarterback and running back.

Joseph was a coaching favorite within the Bengals organization, and someone to whom the Bengals refused to grant interview opportunities for defensive coordinator vacancies in Denver and San Francisco last offseason. This time around, the Bengals couldn't block Joseph from taking a job with another team as his contract is up at the end of the season, essentially making him a free agent.

Over the offseason, Dre Kirkpatrick told our own Rebecca Toback of Joseph, "He pretty much helped me understand how to break down film so much better and more efficiently," Kirkpatrick said. "It helps in such a big way to learn better off-the-field studying, which makes the game easier on the field."

While the Bengals blocking Joseph last season cost him a chance to advance his career, he said he felt very fortunate to be with the Bengals, as he told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

"I'm blessed to have a great job, great organization, great owner, great family, great room to coach," Joseph said. "For me, it's a blessing either way. You work your entire life in coaching to have advancement, and I want to be a coordinator, obviously, so that part, obviously, stung a little bit, but the business side and having a contract, that's the business side. It's like being a player. A player can't just leave under contract. That's the way I looked at it. It wasn't a personal issue at all. I have a great job, great room."

Rebecca Toback contributed to this story.