Joel Filani


Joel O. Filani is a former American football wide receiver and current wide receivers coach for the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas Tech.
Filani was also a member of the Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, California Redwoods, San Jose SaberCats and Chicago Rush.

Early years

Filani attended Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix, Arizona and was a student and a letterman in football. In football, he was named to the First-team All-Arizona as a senior when he caught 40 passes for 653 yards and eight touchdowns and also rushed for 559 yards and five touchdowns on 62 attempts and ran up 623 yards and four touchdowns on 16 kickoff returns. In addition to Texas Tech, Filani was recruited by Washington State and Colorado State.

College career

At Texas Tech, in 2006, Filani was again First-team All-Big 12 after catching 91 passes for 1,300 yards for a 14.3-yards per catch and 13 touchdowns. As a junior, he was First-team All-Big 12 in 2005 when he caught 65 passes for 1,007 yards a 15.5-yard average and 8 touchdowns. In 2004, he caught 12 passes for 310 yards and two touchdowns and led team with 17.2 yards per reception In 2003, he played in all 13 games and finished the season with one reception for nine yards. He reshirted in 2002.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Tennessee Titans

He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL Draft.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Filani was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on May 13, 2009. He was waived and subsequently placed on injured reserve on August 19. Filani was released with an injury settlement the following day.

Coaching

In 2015, Filani was hired by his former coach Mike Leach to become an offensive quality assistant at Washington State University.