Nebraska coach Mickey Joseph arrested on domestic assault charges

Former Nebraska interim head coach Mickey Joseph was arrested Wednesday, the Lincoln Police Department announced. He was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with strangulation and third degree domestic assault and is being held in the Lancaster County Jail.

Joseph initially joined the program as wide receivers coach, but took over as interim head coach after Nebraska fired Scott Frost. During his time running the program, the Cornhuskers went 3-6 before ultimately opting to hire Matt Rhule, who was fired from the Carolina Panthers in October.

On Wednesday, November 30, 2022, at 1:54 p.m. officers were dispatched to a residence near South 34th and Tree Line Drive on a domestic disturbanceUpon concluding the investigation, Robert ‘Mickey’ Joseph, age 54 of Lincoln, was arrested at a separate location, for Strangulation. pic.twitter.com/7zZ9UilPWQ

— Andrew Ozaki KETV (@ketvlincoln) November 30, 2022

While in his role as interim head coach, Joseph helped Nebraska bring in a high-profile recruit. Malachi Coleman announced his commitment to the Cornhuskers last month, which was quite a victory on the trail. Coleman is a four-star recruit and the No. 1 prospect in the state of Nebraska, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Before he returned to Lincoln, Joseph served as the wide receivers coach at LSU from 2017-21. He added the title of assistant head coach during his last two years in Baton Rouge and played a key role in recruiting.

Joseph’s future with Nebraska has been unclear since Rhule’s hiring, and he previously said he’d support whatever decision the university made.

“I can’t give [the job] to myself,” Joseph joked with Big Ten Network’s Rick Pizzo after Nebraska’s season-ending win over Iowa. “I’m going to celebrate with the team tonight, be on the couch tomorrow with my kids and then, they’ll make a decision and I’ll be OK with whatever decision they make.”

During Rhule’s introductory press conference, he said a conversation was going to occur with Joseph about a potential role on the staff.

“I reached out to Mickey right when I got the job,” Rhule said. “Looking forward to talking to him at some point here and talking to the rest of the staff. I’ve been on both sides of it. I’ve been an assistant coach on a staff that’s been let go and I’ve always appreciated the coach coming in and talking to me, so I’ll try to be thorough with that process over the next couple of days.”