RUSTON ? Louisiana Tech head coach Derek Dooley announced Wednesday that he has hired Terry Joseph as a defensive assistant on his Bulldog staff.

Joseph?s hiring is pending approval of the Louisiana Tech Athletic Council and the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System.

?Terry is a bright young coach with a tremendous future in this profession,? Dooley said. ?He has an impressive football pedigree, and his ties throughout the state of Louisiana make him a great fit.?

The 33-year-old brings a wealth of knowledge of Louisiana high school football with him ? especially south Louisiana ? after working as an assistant coach at Destrehan High School for three years and at Archbishop Shaw High School for three years.

Joseph also comes from a football coaching family as his cousin Vance Joseph is the secondary coach for the San Francisco 49ers and his cousin Mickey Joseph is the head coach at Desire Street Academy located in Baton Rouge.

Joseph, who was a two-time GTE Academic All-American in baseball at Northwestern State in 1993 and 1995, served as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Destrehan from 2002 through 2005.

Prior to his time at Destrehan, Joseph served as the secondary coach and special teams coordinator at Archbishop Shaw from 1999 through 2002.

?This opportunity comes at a great time for me,? Joseph said. ?Coach Dooley is going to build a great program here, and I look forward to being a part of many conference championships and bowl appearances. He is going to build this thing the right way.?

This past year Joseph served as a defensive graduate assistant football coach for Les Miles and the LSU Tigers in 2006.

While working under Tiger defensive coordinator Bo Pelini, Joseph helped in numerous aspects of game preparation for an LSU defensive unit that finished the season ranked No. 3 nationally in total defense (242.77 ypg), No. 3 in pass efficiency defense (92.19), No. 3 pass defense (145.69 ypg) and No. 4 in scoring defense (12.62 ppg).

Joseph, who was the 1995 Southland Conference baseball Player of the Year and spent four years in the Chicago Cubs minor league system, earned his bachelor?s degree in business administration from Northwestern State in 1996.