‘It’s bigger than me’: After a busy 48 hours for interim head coach Mickey Joseph, changes are already in place | Football

When Mickey Joseph woke up Sunday morning, he didn’t know what was coming.

Within hours, Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts fired head coach Scott Frost and elevated Joseph into the same role on an interim basis, effectively closing the door on an era of Husker football.

Just three games into his tenure as Nebraska’s wide receivers coach, Joseph suddenly had a new challenge to conquer — leading the Nebraska football program from the very top.

“I didn’t wake up Sunday morning knowing this was going to happen, but it did and we have to accept it,” Joseph said. “My message to the team was, ‘I know you’re hurting, Frost is like a brother to me. He gave me the opportunity to come here and coach at my alma mater, so I will always love, appreciate and respect him.’

“I know they were hurting, but at the end of the day that ball’s going to kick off on Saturday.”

Joseph said Nebraska’s players have handled the past 48 hours “like champs” considering the coach who recruited them to Nebraska is no longer around. With nine games ahead of him, it’s clear Joseph has an opportunity to make his mark on the NU football program. Alberts said Sunday that Joseph could factor into his national search for NU’s next head coach, but Joseph said focusing on Oklahoma and his players is his primary goal right now.

“When you accept an interim job as a head coach, that’s the opportunity that you’re working for, is to become the head coach,” Joseph said. “We understand what comes along with this profession — it’s wins and losses, and that’s what it’s going to depend on.

“For right now, my No. 1 focus and the staff’s focus is the players, that we make sure that they’re OK,” Joseph said. “This is about Nebraska football, and it’s bigger than me or anyone else.”

Alberts also gave a public mandate on Sunday that as NU’s acting head coach, Joseph could make any changes he deemed fit.

A few changes are already in place, including a shift to Nebraska’s weekly schedule — players previously had the day off Sunday, but NU will now expect them in the building on that day with Monday serving as the off day.

As he takes over head coach duties, Joseph elevated offensive analyst Mike Cassano into an on-field role as a wide receivers coach. And on defense, Joseph said defensive coordinator Erik Chinander will work with safeties in practice, while defensive backs coach Travis Fisher will work with NU’s cornerbacks and nickels.

Particularly on defense, those changes will aim to address issues that were abundantly clear as Georgia Southern racked up 642 yards — and 45 points — on Saturday.

“I met with coach (Chinander), and we’re going to play faster, we’re going to tackle in practice, we’re going to detail what we’re doing with our kids, we’re going to make our kids hold themselves accountable and we’ll try to fix the problems,” Joseph said.

Needless to say, it’s been a very busy two days of work for Joseph. He met with Tom Osborne, called up the members of NU’s 2023 recruiting class and also spoke with his brother, Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.

Advice from Osborne, Vance Joseph and many of his past coaches will be crucial to his success in the interim role, which offers a challenge different than any he’s faced before.

At every stop of his coaching career, from Tulane to Nicholls State, from Langston University to Grambling State, and from LSU to Nebraska, Mickey Joseph has always had challenges to conquer.

This one might be the toughest of them all.

Nebraska (1-2) welcomes No. 6 Oklahoma — and the national spotlight, including Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show — to Lincoln on Saturday. After that comes an eight-game Big Ten slate, and the chance for Joseph to potentially lead Nebraska to its first bowl game since 2016.

It’s not clear exactly what improvements NU needs to make to get to that point — but rest assured Joseph is ready for the challenge.

“I got the opportunity to be under a lot of really good head coaches, and that prepares you for this moment,” Joseph said. “At the end of the day, I have to be myself.”

What does that look like?

“I’m going to be detailed, I’m going to be high-energy and I expect them to lay it all out on the field,” Joseph said. “They did that today in practice.”