Joseph G. Echols (March 23, 1917 – March 28, 1977)[1] was an American football coach, college athletics administrator, and Negro league baseball player.

Raised in Englewood, New Jersey, Echols played prep football at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood.

[2][3] In 1939, Echols played for the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League.

[4] Echols served as the head football coach at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia from 1950 to 1954 and at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia from 1955 to 1960.

The home basketball arena on Norfolk State's campus is named Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall in his honor.