The Dallas Cowboys announced Joe Baker as an assistant secondary coach on February 13, 2012. Baker arrives in Dallas after spending the previous three seasons (2009-11) as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He brings with him 16 years of NFL coaching experience and three years at the collegiate level.
In 2009 he was the defensive backs coach in Tampa Bay, and from 2010-11, Baker coached Buccaneers linebackers. Baker's 2009 defensive backfield helped Tampa Bay finish 10th in the league in pass defense as his unit accounted for 15 of the team's 19 interceptions. Safety Tanard Jackson and cornerback Aqib Talib tied for the team lead with five interceptions.
Prior to landing with the Buccaneers, Baker spent two seasons (2007-08) with the Denver Broncos, first as an offensive assistant, then as the club's linebackers coach. In his first season with Denver, Baker worked with a linebacking corps that was highlighted by D.J. Williams, who was making the transition to middle linebacker. Under Baker's tutelage, Williams finished the season second in the NFL with an AFC-best 141 tackles. Baker crossed over to the offensive side in 2008 as an offensive assistant and helped the unit finish second in the league in total offense (395.8 yards-per-game).
Baker was with the St. Louis Rams in 2006 (defensive quality control/linebackers) where he helped guide St. Louis to 32 takeaways - seventh in the league - with a league-best nine red zone takeaways. Baker spent 2005 with the Green Bay Packers (secondary/safeties) and worked with a defensive backfield that led the league in pass defense, allowing 165.7 yards-per-game - the club's lowest total in 27 seasons.
Baker spent five seasons (2000-04) coaching various defensive positions with the New Orleans Saints. In his time with the club, New Orleans was fifth in the league in takeaways (163) over the five seasons. He started with the Saints as an assistant defensive backfield/assistant special teams coach (2000-01), then was the team's secondary assistant (2002) and finally the secondary coach (2003-04).
Baker made his NFL coaching debut in 1995 as the assistant special teams coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, a position he held through the 1998 season. He first landed with the Jaguars in 1994 as the club's manager of football operations leading into its inaugural season.
In 1999 Baker returned to coach college ball at the University of Wisconsin as the school's outside linebackers/special teams coach. He coached running backs and wide receivers at Samford in 1993 after spending one season as the player personnel coordinator for the Birmingham Fire of the World League of American Football. Baker got his start coaching as a graduate assistant/defensive backs at East Stroudsburg University in 1991.
Baker played wide receiver four years (1987-1990) at Princeton University where he caught passes from Cowboys Head Coach Jason Garrett for two years (1987-88). He was part of Princeton's 1989 Ivy League co-championship squad then earned his degree in history in 1991.
