Joe Bolden


Joseph Daniel Bolden is an American football linebacker who is a former player for the Michigan Wolverines football team.

High school career

Bolden was born in 1993 and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, attending Colerain High School. He verbally committed to the University of Michigan in April 2011. He was selected as a first-team All-Ohio player in 2011 and played in the 2012 Under Armour All-America Game.

College career

As a freshman during the 2012 season, Bolden appeared in 13 games on special teams and 12 games as a backup at the linebacker position. At the end of the season, he was named to the All-Big Ten Conference freshman teams selected by ESPN.com and BTN.com. As a sophomore in 2013, Bolden appeared in 13 games as a linebacker and was a starter in four games.
During the 2014 season, Bolden was Michigan's second leading tackler with 102 tackles, including 55 solo tackles.
In April 2015, Bolden was placed on the watch list for the Lott IMPACT Trophy. He was selected as a co-captain of the 2015 Michigan team. During the 2015 season, Bolden led Michigan with 83 total tackles.

NFL career

Bolden went undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft. Bolden subsequently tried out with the Washington Redskins during rookie mini-camp.

Coaching career

Following his playing career, Bolden was a graduate assistant for one year at Michigan in 2016 before a brief stop at Florida Atlantic and then on to Washington State for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. In 2019, he served as the special teams quality control analyst at USC.
In 20202, Bolden joined Ohio State coaching staff asa quality control coach on defense.