Nebraska parts ways with ex-interim coach Mickey Joseph after domestic assault arrest
Mickey Joseph is no longer employed at Nebraska.
The school announced Friday that it had parted ways with its former interim coach. Joseph was arrested after an alleged domestic dispute on Nov. 30 and charged the following day with assault by strangulation or suffocation.
Joseph was arrested less than a week after Nebraska hired former Carolina Panthers and Baylor coach Matt Rhule to be its next head coach.
According to the arrest affidavit, the woman Joseph allegedly assaulted told police that he pushed her onto a couch and put his hands around her throat in the midst of an argument. She said that he strangled her until she pushed him off. Joseph then allegedly grabbed the woman by her hair and hit her in the head with his fist.
Joseph served as Nebraska’s head coach for the final nine games of the 2022 season after Scott Frost’s firing. Frost was fired three games into the season after a Week 3 home loss to Georgia Southern that dropped Nebraska to 1-2. Joseph, a former Nebraska quarterback, was the team’s assistant head coach and passing game coach on Frost’s staff.
The Huskers went 3-6 in Joseph’s tenure and ended the season with a road win over Iowa to finish 4-8. When he was appointed head coach, Joseph became the first Black head coach at Nebraska. His brother Vance is the former head coach of the Denver Broncos and current defensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals.
Joseph was placed on administrative leave after his arrest and had a contract that went through 2023. According to multiple reports, that contract had a clause that allowed Nebraska to fire Joseph for cause if he was charged and convicted of a crime that interfered with his job duties. If he is convicted, Nebraska would not have to owe Joseph any money for ending his contract early.
