Vance Joseph Hired as Dolphins Defensive Coordinator: Latest Details, Reaction

Adam Gase made his first major hire as Miami Dolphins head coach on Tuesday, tabbing Vance Joseph as the team's defensive coordinator.

On Wednesday, the Dolphins confirmed the hire. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the news on Tuesday. Joseph, 43, has spent the last two seasons as the Cincinnati Bengals' defensive backs coach. 

He and Gase have been tied to one another in coaching circles for some time, with Alex Marvez of Fox Sports reporting there was a "strong assumption" Joseph would follow the former Chicago Bears offensive coordinator.

Having just finished his 11th season as an NFL assistant coach, Joseph had been considered a candidate for some type of defensive coordinator job for some time.

The Bengals have ranked in the top 10 against the pass each of the last two seasons, according to Football Outsiders' DVOA metric, and they had solid counting stats as well. They were one of only two teams (along with the Carolina Panthers) with more interceptions than touchdowns allowed through the air, and opponents had the fifth-worst quarterback rating against them.

"My boss and owner sees him as a star," Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said on NFL Insiders of Joseph last year (h/t ESPN.com's Cole Harvey), "and a guy that, as I told Vance, he could be sitting in my chair very quickly."

Last season, the Bengals blocked Joseph from taking the defensive coordinator job with the Denver Broncos. Joseph had worked under Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak in Houston and was looking to follow him, but Cincinnati forced him to honor his contract.

Kubiak hired Joseph away from the San Francisco 49ers in 2011 to serve as his defensive backs coach. Joseph worked with the secondary in San Francisco from 2005 to 2010, his first pro job.

The situation Joseph inherits in Miami is dire. The Dolphins finished 29th in pass defense DVOA this season, down from 16th in 2014. Opposing quarterbacks threw for 31 touchdowns against 13 interceptions against Miami's secondary and posted a 97.4 rating. 

Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald offered Joseph advice:

At the very least, Joseph will have some talent to work with. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh should be primed for a bounce-back year after his lost 2015 campaign, Reshad Jones has emerged as one of the best safeties in football and cornerback Brent Grimes still has talent despite his enigmatic personality.

The Dolphins should target a cornerback early in April's draft, but there are pieces here for Joseph to at least get Miami back near league average in 2016.

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.