Vance Joseph acted like a coach, led like a coach and recruited like a coach long before he became a coach.
Joseph arrived at the University of Colorado in 1990 as a 17-year old hopeful of someday becoming the Buffaloes’ starting quarterback. A year later, he unselfishly delivered a blow to those aspirations by becoming one of the lead recruiters bringing fellow Louisiana native Kordell Stewart to CU. Joseph knew Stewart had a good chance to beat him out, which he did, but he never hesitated to give his strongest pitch.
“He was a natural leader as a player and a coach,” said former CU coach Gary Barnett, who coached Joseph (1990-91) and later gave him his first shot as a coach in 1999.