Nebraska offered LSU wide receivers coach Mickey Joseph a position to return to his alma mater and serve as the passing game coordinator and associate head coach.
Joseph, on the heels of the Tigers winning their first national championship since 2007, turned it down, according to The Athletic’s Brody Miller. Miller covers the Tigers.
A source confirmed the offer and refusal to Hail Varsity.
Would it be a waste of space to ask if the Joseph name rings any bells? A quarterback in Lincoln from 1988-1991, Joseph played in two Orange Bowls, a Fiesta Bowl and a Citrus Bowl.
Joseph’s claim to fame right now, however, is the wideout room he has cultivated in just three short years at LSU. Ja’Marr Chase, a 6-foot-1 sophomore with 23 catches for 313 yards in his first season, won the Biletnikoff Award as the top receiver in college football. His 1,559 yards ranked second in the country, his 18 touchdowns was tied for first, and his 20.8 yards-per-catch average ranked sixth. Justin Jefferson followed up a breakout 2018 season with a 1,434-yard, 18-touchdown, 102-catch season. Only two other players caught more balls than Jefferson in 2019 and his yardage ranked third nationally behind Chase.
Joseph, a Louisiana native, has been coaching wideouts in the state of Louisiana since 2014, and with the departure of Joe Brady for the NFL as the Tigers’ own offensive coordinator, Joseph could be in line for a larger role and/or more pay on the LSU staff moving forward.
Nebraska, interestingly enough, does not technically have a position to offer Joseph. At least not publicly. With the hiring of Mike Dawson to coach outside linebackers earlier this week, the Huskers officially hired their 10th assistant coach. Though Joseph coming over as a passing game coordinator, with offensive line coach Greg Austin being promoted to run game coordinator, would theoretically mean the end of current offensive coordinator and wideout coach Troy Walters’ time in Lincoln.
Nebraska has not announced anything when it comes to Walters’ job.
Nebraska also still needs to find someone to run its special teams. Jovan Dewitt wasn’t just the team’s outside linebacker coach, he was the special teams coordinator as well. There was some question as to whether Nebraska would look to hire a 10th assistant for a special teams-only role or find someone who could double-dip similar to Dewitt. Dawson will only coach outside linebackers.
Instead, the Huskers are looking to hire a senior special teams analyst, a position that doesn’t fall under the NCAA-mandated assistant restraints. Kansas State’s Sean Snyder, son of legendary KSU head coach Bill Snyder, is a name to watch in that search.
Priority for the Huskers appears to be fixing the offense. Austin being promoted to run game coordinator earlier this week sent a public message Frost is tinkering with a Nebraska offense that idled in 2019. The Huskers ranked 20th nationally in Frost’s first year back in yards per play (6.31) but dropped to 72nd last season (5.76). The expectation entering the year was that things would trend in the other direction.
This will continue to be a situation to monitor in the coming days.
Derek is a newbie on the Hail Varsity staff covering Husker athletics. In college, he was best known as ‘that guy from Twitter.’ He has covered a Sugar Bowl, a tennis national championship and almost everything in between (except an NCAA men’s basketball tournament game… *tears*). In his spare time, he can be found arguing with literally anyone about sports.
