Mickey Joseph radio interview..

[Bootleg11]

Joseph in radio interview: 'We want to be the engine that makes the car move'

247sports.com

Thought this was good

 

[vailhusker]

Joseph in radio interview: 'We want to be the engine that makes the car move'​

ByBRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON 50 minutes ago

Mickey Joseph is understandably getting lost in the stadium he used to play in on occasion this first week back. That's because everything's not exactly in the same place. And everything is, just, bigger than it was.

That's fine with Joseph, the new wide receivers coach and passing games coordinator for Scott Frost's staff. He knows Husker football has to think big as it attempts to be big in college football again.

"This is what you got to do today in college football," Joseph said during an appearance on the 'Sports Nightly' radio show on Monday night. "You've got to have facilities. This is what they impressed about. They impressed about the locker room, the game room, just everything, the meeting room. Very impressionable kids, where they want to be impressed by something. Facilities is one of them."

While acknowledging he was at one point during his own recruitment process long ago leaning toward Oklahoma over Nebraska, the former Husker QB said his mom stepped in and "she made it clear where I was going." Added Joseph, "She said you're going with Coach Osborne, you're not going to Oklahoma. She never said the coach's name (at Oklahoma), but she said Coach Osborne's name. So she kind of made me see the light of it."

That history of course matters now. Because of it, Nebraska is the school in the former LSU assistant coach's blood, a program that has remained very dear to him and one in which he's eager to "come back and contribute to my alma mater, my school."


When LSU played at night, he'd watch the Huskers if they played early. It would take some energy out of the alum taking the ride with his old school. Now he gets a chance to help try to make it a better ride.

While Joseph has been on the fly and hasn't yet spoken to Osborne, he said on the radio show his brother Vance Joseph good-naturedly told him today, "You better get in touch with T.O." Mickey concurred. Of course Osborne knows his former QB is on the move for the Husker cause right now.

So, to the point, why'd he come back and join this operation?

"I truly believe that Scott has this program going in the right direction. And I'm sure people are looking at wins and losses. As a coach, we look around that sometimes and see what's going on," Joseph said. "So there's a few pieces he has (that) he has to put in place. And he's on the right track with it. I see a well-coached football team on Saturdays. I see a team that's playing hard. Did they come up short? Yeah, they up short a few times. So I think Scott's going to figure that out, we're going to figure that out on offense with Whip."

Yeah, new Husker offensive coordinator Mark Whipple already has the nickname you'd expect.

"We've got new guys on offense, so we're going to figure it out and see what we got to do to score more points. Because the team that has more points wins. And we've got to figure that out. But I think right now Scott's going in the right direction. We're here to help him," Joseph continued. "We're here to help get him over the hump and he's given us full reign. He's given us full reign to do things the way we see it. And I think that's hard for some coaches sometimes, especially because Scott's a great offensive mind. He's a great offensive mind, but he knows right now he needs to be the CEO and run the entire ship. And he's going to do it."

When it comes to the veteran coach Whipple, fresh from his work leading Pittsburgh's offense, Joseph is impressed.

"You talk about a resume and a guy that is well-respected on an NFL level and a college level – everybody knows him. He's a bright guy. Just being here the last couple days, he sees things really fast. I'm like, 'Hey, can you run that back?' But he sees it really fast. And he has a foundation in this profession. ... He's been in it for 40-plus years, so there's nothing that he hasn't seen that's going to make him panic."

Whipple showed Joseph a clip of a fourth-and-1 his Pitt team had against Virginia. Joseph, even as a receivers coach, was thinking 'run it.' Whipple's guys threw it over the defense's head for a touchdown.

"And now, I'm saying to myself, 'OK, now I know what I'm dealing with.' My guys got to be ready because he's not going to panic as a playcaller. He's going to be confident as a playcaller. And there's nothing he hasn't seen that he's going to say, 'OK, we can't do this.'"

This doesn't mean Frost is just checking out of the offensive meetings or anything.

"We're still going to need him, because he's such a great playcaller, and he's such a good offensive mind. We're still going to need him. But I'm sure he feels like the kids need him more right now, and that's what he's doing."

Having been on the road recruiting with the red 'N' on his polo over the last week or so, Joseph said people on the outside are curious, "but I think the brand's still there." Flip it to a winning season, "get on the plus side and it starts building back up."

Added Joseph, "Nobody knows when Scott took this program over what kind of shape it was in. The only person who knows is Scott." Joseph is convinced there are just a few missing pieces. "We've got to figure out what the pieces are, fix them, and get to the plus side, and get to a winning record. And I truly believe in my heart we can."

Joseph met the entire wide receivers corps the first day, and he just sat down with Omar Manning and Zavier Betts to get to know them. But right now a lead focus is finishing up recruiting and getting with Whipple when possible to get some offensive plans circulating.

But as for the initial impression, "Meeting them for the first time, they're really good kids ... and my big thing is we're going to do things the right way. There's only one way to do things and that's the right way. It's how we do everything. Nothing's a small problem. Everything's a big problem. That's the way we're going to treat it, and we want to be the engine that makes the car move."

Block, run routes, catch it, be in class on time all the time, study hall sessions. Even perceived little things have to be big.

Joseph also told Betts and Manning these people in this state have your back. This fan base hasn't stopped caring about this team. And he told them this program is going to get flipped.

And Joseph will know his way around the corners of that bigger stadium soon enough too.

"It's a weird feeling coming back in. You feel the butterflies, just seeing the stadium and seeing the city, and seeing how the city has grown," Joseph said. "You're really like, 'OK, this is not the Lincoln I left, but this is the Lincoln I'm just going to embrace with my family.' Just try to get things going."

Joseph has been doing this long enough to know that with a new-look offensive staff, you may also see some players rise up who you haven't heard from before.

"Sometimes new coaches and new faces mean new life for some kids. A breath of fresh air. Everybody's on a clean slate. So you'll probably see some kids step that hadn't been stepping up. Because they feel like, 'OK, it's new life.' The depth chart is written in sand...' The receivers are going to know that. I think everybody on our offense is going to know that."


It's a group Joseph knows statistically speaking was making some big plays last year. "They just weren't making enough."

Such begins the quest. As for the QB alum, turned key Husker assistant, "I truly believe we're going to get back to the days we deserve to have."

 

[ThomOsborneMD]

Vance and Mickey Joseph 2022

 

[MtnHusker]

Vance and Mickey Joseph 2022

I think that would be a lethal combo. Hate the idea of a Buff sporting the N but I have no doubt we would have a well coached and unified team. Plus their personalities are the types that players will gravitate to, want to play for. They have a gift when it comes to communicating and connecting with players.

 

[kenyanfeline]

Good stuff.

Mickey is east to like and says all the right things so far, I have a good feeling about him.

I also think we have two NFL-caliber receivers already on the roster and the combo of Mickey and Whip might be exactly what they need to explode if we can find a QB to get them the ball.

 

[Bootleg11]

Good stuff.

Mickey is east to like and says all the right things so far, I have a good feeling about him.

I also think we have two NFL-caliber receivers already on the roster and the combo of Mickey and Whip might be exactly what they need to explode if we can find a QB to get them the ball.

You think they are both NFL caliber? I dunno

 

[BIGSTICK67]

You think they are both NFL caliber? I dunno

Coaching matters.

 

[Skerz4Life50]

So do we believe Joseph in this interview where he says Frost has given him and Whip full reigns to do things the way they want?

 

[Bootleg11]

So do we believe Joseph in this interview where he says Frost has given him and Whip full reigns to do things the way they want?

No clue

 

[ChocaEgg]

So do we believe Joseph in this interview where he says Frost has given him and Whip full reigns to do things the way they want?

Seems plausible since it will likely afford Frost more time for Golden Tee, Busch Lattes, and Gate 25 debauchery.

 

[...TrueColors...]

You think they are both NFL caliber? I dunno

I think both Manning and Betts should be extremely productive Big Ten WRs. Whether that means either of them turn pro or not is a question for a smarter man than I. I do think Betts is the one with the most potential to be a guy who plays a big role on a team in the NFL.

 

[kenyanfeline]

Hopefully Whipple finds a way to utilize Rahmir’s skill set.