As most Husker football fans know, Nebraska head football coach Scott Frost dismissed four of his five offensive coaches on Nov 8. They were fired right after a 17-26 loss to Ohio State. With two games remaining in the season, running backs coach Ryan Held, offensive coordinator Matt Lubick, quarterbacks coach Mario Verdruzco and offensive line coach Greg Austin were all let go. Conventional wisdom was (or so I thought) that Frost’s first hire would be a new OC. The reason? I thought the three other offensive assistants would need to know who the OC was going to be before they agreed to come to Nebraska.
But that didn’t happen quite like that. Instead, Husker OC Mark Whipple was the second new assistant hired. On that same day, Donovan Raiola was announced as the new Husker OL coach. Those two were followed by the hiring of special teams coordinator Bill Busch on Jan. 10. New RB coach Bryan Applewhite wasn’t hired until Jan. 13. (Defensive line coach Tony Tuioti resigned his position and Busch was hired to fill his spot. Existing outside linebackers coach Mike Dawson will assume the D-line duties this fall.)
But it was the Dec. 3 hiring of wide receivers coach Mickey Joseph that turned out to be Frost’s very first new offensive assistant hire.
Joseph, as many Husker fans remember, played QB for Nebraska from 1988-1991. During that time, he played in 34 games. In those four years at Nebraska, the Huskers went 39-9-1.
Both Joseph and Frost were starting QBs at Nebraska under the tutelage of Hall of Fame head coach Tom Osborne. Both Frost and Joseph have a love and passion for Husker football. But why would Joseph, who had two years remaining on his contract at LSU, come to a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2016? True, former LSU head coach Ed Orgeron and his staff were dismissed during the ’21 season. But still, why would Joseph leave the comfort of the SEC where he developed into one of the best recruiters in the country?
Good questions.
I had the pleasure of meeting Joseph last week in Omaha at a function in which he was the featured speaker. Before he spoke, I spent some time with him and came away very impressed.
Among Mickey’s many quotes was this one: “If I didn’t think that Scott Frost was the best person to lead this team, I would never have agreed to come back here.”
He also said Frost is the best play caller in college football. But Joseph also knows that Frost needs to give up some of those duties and become more of a CEO.
“While he’s focusing on calling plays, he might be missing some other aspects of the game. That’s why Frost hired Mark Whipple to run the offense. Whip is somebody who’s forgotten more about the game of college football than most people will ever know.”
What brought Mickey to Nebraska in the first place?
“Coming out of high school, my mother wanted me to leave Marrero, Louisiana to get away from the crime and gangs. She felt that Tom Osborne would take better care of me than Barry Switzer. I owe everything to the state of Nebraska, the great fans and the coaching staff that taught me how to be a man. Even after I’m no longer a coach at Nebraska, I will continue to bleed Husker red.”
Those are some powerful words. The skeptics will say talk is cheap. The new assistant coaches on offense have yet to coach a down of football at Nebraska and haven’t won or even coached a single game yet.
But Mickey seems to be the real deal. He has a smile that could light up the darkest of rooms. He’s someone who is clearly comfortable in his own skin. He has an engaging personality – there doesn’t seem to be a phony bone in his body.
When Joseph was asked by Frost what recruiting areas he wanted to focus on, he said, “Omaha and Lincoln. We need to put a gate around the state of Nebraska. The days of losing players to schools like Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin are over.”
Of course the audience ate it up. Time will tell, of course, how Mickey and the rest of the new hires will fare. For one Mickey Joseph, the future is now.
Westerkamp on “How ’Bout Them Huskers”
My grandson Will and I had the pleasure of having former Husker WR great Jordan Westerkamp as our only guest on our latest podcast. You don’t want to miss a minute of our interview. In fact, Jordan posted the entire interview on his Twitter account!
Just download the app, “How ’Bout Them Huskers.” Write me at HuskerDan@cox.net and let us know what you think.
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