| ||||||||||
Joe Palcic is in his fifth season as the Hoosiers' co-defensive coordinator and his first year as secondary coach. He shares defensive coordinator duties with defensive tackles coach Brian George. Palcic served as the team's cornerbacks coach from 2005-08.
Indiana's defense was ravaged by injury with six starters missing 27 games, including season-ending injuries to senior cornerback Christopher Phillips (nine games) and junior safeties Austin Thomas (seven) and Nick Polk (five).
Despite the injuries, the Hoosiers still finished fifth in the league with 31 sacks, the fourth-highest total in school history, and sixth in the league in turnover margin (plus-1).
Junior defensive end Jammie Kirlew was one of six finalists for the Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award and was voted first team All-Big Ten by the conference media and second team by the league's coaches. He finished the season with 10.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss, both ranked fourth on Indiana's single-season list.
The team set a new school record for sacks (42) and also posted a conference-leading 19 interceptions and 31 takeaways in 2007. Senior cornerback Tracy Porter set a new personal mark with six picks on the year, as he was named first team All-Big Ten by the conference media and second team All-Big Ten by the conference coaches. He finished his career second on the school's all-time list with 16 picks. Phillips (three) and senior Leslie Majors (two) each had career highs in interceptions.
Both of Palcic's starting cornerbacks reached the NFL ranks following the season. Porter was selected in the second round (40th pick) in the 2008 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, while Majors signed a three-year rookie free agent deal with the Chicago Bears. Four of the last five cornerbacks who have started for Palcic and graduated (Porter, Majors, Alphonso Hoge and Darrell Hunter) have all moved on to the NFL.
Palcic's 2006 defense showed significant improvement, led by Porter, who earned second team All-Big Ten honors after posting four interceptions and eight passes broken up. Porter and safety Will Meyers helped the Hoosiers collect 13 interceptions on the season, the fifth-highest total in the Big Ten.
Four starters from Indiana's 2005 defensive unit - linebackers Kyle Killion (Indianapolis Colts free agent) and John Pannozzo (Atlanta Falcons free agent) and defensive ends Ben Ishola (Miami Dolphins free agent) and Victor Adeyanju (St. Louis Rams fourth-round draft pick) - participated in NFL training camps in 2006. Adeyanju is currently with the Rams, while Ishola is with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Prior to coming to Indiana, Palcic and George also served as co-defensive coordinators at Miami (Ohio). The duo spearheaded a defensive effort that saw the RedHawks hold 13 of their last 26 opponents under 100 yards rushing, including seven under 50 yards. In regular-season conference play, Miami held opponents to 77.5 yards rushing per game, including a season-low nine yards rushing against Ohio.
A former Miami linebacker, Palcic coached the RedHawk linebackers in his first season as a full-time assistant (1999), which was highlighted by Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year Dustin Cohen. After Palcic switched to defensive backs coach in 2000, junior safety Matt Pusateri was named third team Freshman All-America by Sporting News in 2001 and led Miami in tackles his last two years. In a big-play defense that forced 33 turnovers in 2004, 10 came via interception by the secondary. He also mentored Hoge, who was invited to play in the 2005 Senior Bowl and is currently with the Cincinnati Bengals and Hunter, who is currently with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Palcic played three years for Miami's linebacking corps, and upon receiving his degree in sociology from Miami in 1998, Palcic served as a graduate assistant at Eastern Michigan for one season, where he worked with the offensive line.
The Palcic name is well-known in the football coaching ranks as Palcic's father, Bob, has served as an assistant coach with Arizona, Ball State, Ohio State, USC, Wisconsin, the Atlanta Falcons, the Detroit Lions, the Cleveland Browns, the New Orleans Saints and is currently the offensive line coach at UCLA. In addition, Palcic's brother-in-law is New Orleans Saints linebacker Mark Simoneau.
Joe and his wife, Courtney, have one son, Nicholas (1).
