Joe Vitt
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: | August 23, 1954 |
| Place of birth: | Syracuse, New York |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Highland (NJ) |
| College: | Towson State |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
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| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season: | 9–12 (.429) |
| Career: | 9–12 (.429) |
| Coaching stats at PFR | |
Joe Vitt (born August 23, 1954) is an American football coach who was the assistant head coach and linebackers coach of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He was the interim head coach for the New Orleans Saints during the 2012 season.
Vitt was raised in Blackwood, New Jersey where he graduated from Highland Regional High School in 1973 before spending a year at Staunton Military Academy in Virginia. He was a three-year letterman (1974–75, 1977) as a linebacker at Towson State University despite being an undersized 5'10" and smallish 190 pounds.
He entered the National Football League (NFL) as the strength/quality control coach for the Baltimore Colts from 1979 through 1981.
Vitt was the Seattle Seahawks' strength coach when Chuck Knox came to be head coach in 1983. He quickly promoted Vitt to defensive backs coach. Vitt moved with Knox to the Los Angeles Rams, where he worked, along with Mike Martz, on his staff from 1992 to 1994.
Vitt has also been an assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers. He served under former St. Louis Rams coach Dick Vermeil for the Kansas City Chiefs for three years until Martz brought him to St. Louis as the assistant head coach and linebackers coach. It marked Vitt's eighth time in the National Football League, and the second with the franchise. During the 2005 NFL season, Vitt served as the interim Head Coach of the Rams while Martz was out due to a bacterial heart infection. He coached the team from Week 5 until the end of the regular season; soon afterward, Martz was fired. Vitt had a record of 4–7, and was replaced by Scott Linehan in the off-season. Fans and media alike enjoyed Vitt's "Jersey Joe" persona. Vitt had "Vittisms" like "I can't sing or dance so I coach football" and "no excuses play like a champion," which have made him a cult icon in some hardcore Rams fan circles.
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