Mickey Joseph addresses if he wants the full-time head coaching job at Nebraska

Mickey Joseph realizes the opportunity he has at Nebraska. After the Cornhuskers fired Scott Frost three games into his fifth season, Joseph was named the interim head coach for the remainder of 2022.

Joseph met with reporters on Tuesday for the first time since the announcement, where he opened up about his goals. That includes proving himself worthy of the full-time head coaching position, and he knows what he must accomplish to pull that off.

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

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Nebraska has not looked like a team capable of winning many games so far this season, but perhaps a change in leadership can correct that. The Cornhuskers are 1-2 so far this season, including an embarrassing 45-42 loss to Georgia Southern this past week.

Mickey Joseph was in just his first season as the Nebraska receivers coach and associate head coach prior to being promoted to the interim position. He was previously the receivers coach at LSU and added the associate head coach label to his resume there in 2020.

Joseph’s only head coaching experience comes at Langston University, a historically black college that plays on the NAIA level in Oklahoma. He led the Lions in both the 2011 and 2012 seasons. After that, he left to accept an associate head coach and receivers coach position at Alcorn State.

Joseph will face a major test in his first game as the Nebraska head coach, as the Cornhuskers are scheduled to face No. 6 Oklahoma at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday.

“Right now, my number one focus and the staff’s focus is the boys, is the players,” Joseph said. “That we make sure that they’re okay. This is about Nebraska football. It’s bigger than me than anyone else. I want y’all to understand that. It’s bigger to me than anyone else.”