Ex-Husker reflected, then found life's role

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LINCOLN — Mickey Joseph once considered separating himself from football for good.

His Nebraska quarterbacking career had ended and potential professional playing opportunities seemed distant. Gone was the attention, the acclaim, the pressure and quite possibly, even some of Joseph's purpose.

Football had been his life since age 6.

But suddenly, when he realized it was over, he started thinking. Time to find a new passion.

"I was burnt out with the game," said Joseph, a four-year letterwinner at Nebraska from 1988 to 1991. "I had just graduated — I was 23 or 24 — and I said, 'I'm tired. I don't want to do this anymore.'"

Joseph should have known better.

Soon after that personal vow, he started helping out as a coach at Omaha North. He figured it was harmless.

Today the 43-year-old former Husker is the interim head coach at Langston (Okla.) University, a historically black college that competes at the NAIA level. He was promoted last month.

Joseph has been at Langston since 2008, formerly as receivers and special teams coach. He's also had stops at Tulane and Nicholls State. Before Langston, he was the head coach and athletic director at New Orleans' Desire Street Academy for four seasons, earning Louisiana coach of the year honors in 2007.

Joseph's future was supposed to be football-free. Actually, even his college coach, Tom Osborne, didn't expect Joseph to enter the profession.

"Mickey was smart and he had leadership ability," said Osborne, now Nebraska's athletic director. "It's something that's kind of evolved, which often happens. When you're 22, 23, you find that life's paths are quite different 10 years later."

Joseph seemed on the path to stardom as a New Orleans-area high school player in the 1980s. He led Archbishop Shaw High School to a state title in 1987, the same season that he was named USA Today's offensive player of the year. Lou Holtz had stopped by his house before signing day. Barry Switzer came. Then Osborne.

Joseph signed with Osborne. And in 1990 he guided Nebraska's option offense to eight straight wins to open the season. The Huskers were 9-1 heading into the regular-season finale at Oklahoma.

But early in the game, the stutter-stepping, quick-footed Joseph was hit late out of bounds. His momentum carried him deep into the OU sideline, where he hit a metal bench that gashed his leg.

Cousin Terry Joseph, preparing to play in a high school playoff game later that night, was watching on TV, horrified as commentators said blood was everywhere. Osborne remembers surgery requiring at least 50 stitches.

Mickey spent most of his senior season in '91 backing up Keithen McCant. But off the field, Joseph seemed unfazed, according to former NU quarterback Tom Haase.

"Mickey was an awesome teammate, from the get-go. He had the charisma, he had the leadership," said Haase, a walk-on from Aurora, Neb., who ended up playing much of the Citrus Bowl at quarterback against Georgia Tech. "That was a very serious injury, but I remember getting put into that game (against Oklahoma) and Mickey was the biggest cheerleader on the sideline. He's always been a team guy."

Joseph says staying positive wasn't difficult. Still, he did start to focus a bit more on academics as he gradually realized he needed a new post-college plan. Then he came to the conclusion that he wanted a break from football.

The sport soon merged its way back into his list of objectives, though.

"Once I started coaching college football, my goal was to become a college head coach. Work my way to the top," Joseph said. "My eyes were opened. You're only one play away from leaving the game, but you've got a bunch of plays outside the game to make."

That's one of many points he's been stressing at Langston over the past few weeks. Discipline and focus are key themes of Joseph's lectures as well. He already has a go-to catchphrase: "Say it once, rep it 1,000."

Any questions and he can simply call up cousin Terry, the recruiting coordinator and defensive backs coach at Tennessee. Or Vance Joseph, Mickey's brother, who is the Houston Texans' secondary coach. In fact, the three all try to talk every Monday during the football season.

Mickey also gets guidance from Burton Burns, a former Nebraska player now serving as associate head coach at Alabama who has strong ties to New Orleans. Legendary Louisiana preps coach Hank Tierney, now at Ponchatoula High School, coached all the Josephs at Shaw.

There have been other mentors, too. Plenty more.

And maybe that's why Mickey fell back in love with football so quickly, Terry says. The game shaped his life, opened up opportunities and provided memories.

Mickey now can try to create that chance for others.

"Your dream is to play at the professional level, especially when you're a guy that's as highly recruited as he was," Terry said. "But at the end of the day, God taps all coaches on the shoulder and tells them they can't play anymore. Mickey had to find himself."

Contact the writer:

402-473-9585, jon.nyatawa@owh.com, twitter.com/JonNyatawa

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