Nebraska Huskers Football

Mickey Joseph, who was charged with felony assault after a Nov. 30 arrest, is no longer with the Nebraska football program.

The Associated Press noted Friday the athletic department released a statement saying Joseph is no longer affiliated with the team. The Cornhuskers named him their interim coach for the final nine games of the 2022 season after firing Scott Frost following a 1-2 start.

Joseph was charged with assault by strangulation or suffocation after a woman said he punched her, pulled her hair and put his hands on her throat.

While he denied the allegations, Nebraska placed him on administrative leave.

The AP noted it is not clear whether Joseph received severance pay following this decision. His contract stated the university does not have to pay out the remaining money if he is fired for cause following a misdemeanor or felony conviction.

Joseph is due in court on Jan. 30.

The Cornhuskers announced the hiring of former Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule on Nov. 26. It wasn't clear in the immediate aftermath of the Rhule hiring whether Joseph would remain on the staff in another role.

The Lincoln Police Department announced Wednesday that Nebraska interim head coach Mickey Joseph was arrested for strangulation and third-degree domestic assault, and new details about the case emerged Thursday.

According to TMZ Sports, court documents stated a woman told police Joseph "pushed me on the couch and strangled me" and then "grabbed her hair from behind and pulled her backward, causing her to fall to the ground" after she initially escaped.

She said he then punched her in the face, and police observed swelling around her eye when they arrived at the scene.

A witness corroborated what she said.

TMZ Sports noted Joseph faces up to three years in prison if he is convicted on the felony charge of assault by strangulation or suffocation.

The Lincoln Police Department said "the high-profile nature of the person involved and, in an effort, to provide transparency on an arrest involving a public figure" is why it made an announcement even though it typically doesn't for domestic violence-related arrests.

According to KSBN Local 4, Joseph, who denied punching and grabbing the hair of the woman, appeared in court Thursday and will do so again on Jan. 30. He was ordered not to contact the woman.

"I was made aware of the charges against Coach Joseph and given the nature of the allegations and based on University policy he has been placed on administrative leave," Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts said in a statement. "We will have no additional comment at this time."

Nebraska named Joseph the interim coach after it fired Scott Frost following a 1-2 start to the 2022 season.

It has since hired Matt Rhule to be the new head coach, and it had not yet been announced whether Joseph would be retained on the coaching staff.

Nebraska Cornhuskers interim head coach Mickey Joseph was arrested on Wednesday afternoon on suspicion of strangulation and third-degree domestic assault, according to the Lincoln Police Department.

Officers were dispatched to a house on a domestic disturbance call and after investigating the situation arrested Joseph.

The Lincoln PD noted that it generally does not provide a press release after a domestic assault arrest but did so in this case "due to the high-profile nature of the person involved and, in an effort, to provide transparency on an arrest involving a public figure."

"I was made aware of the charges against Coach Joseph and given the nature of the allegations and based on University policy he has been placed on administrative leave," Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts said in a statement (via KSBN Local 4). "We will have no additional comment at this time."

Nebraska fired former head coach Scott Frost this season after a 1-2 start to the 2022 campaign and a 16-31 record in parts of five seasons. Joseph was hired to serve as the interim head coach and led the Cornhuskers to a 3-6 mark the rest of the season.

The school hired former Temple, Baylor and Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule to take over the position earlier this week, signing him to an eight-year, $74 million contract.

Joseph previously spent time on the coaching staff at Alabama State (2000), Nicholls State (2001-03), Central Oklahoma (2004-05), Langston University (2008-12), Alcorn State (2013), Grambling State (2014-15), Louisiana Tech (2016) and LSU (2017-21).

Former Carolina Panthers and Baylor head coach Matt Rhule has been selected to replace Scott Frost as head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Amie Just of the Lincoln Journal Star reported the sides agreed to an eight-year contract.

The news of Rhule's hiring comes as little surprise after ESPN's Chris Low reported Friday that Nebraska had "zeroed in" on him as its top head coaching candidate.

Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, Kansas head coach Lance Leipold and Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell were also reported candidates for the Nebraska head coaching job.

Rhule spent the last three seasons as head coach of the Panthers, though he was fired during the 2022 campaign amid a 1-4 start.

Before serving as head coach of the Panthers, Rhule spent three seasons as head coach of the Baylor Bears from 2017 through 2019, going 19-20 and 1-1 in bowl games. He was also head coach of the Temple Owls from 2013-16, leading the team to a 28-23 record in his four seasons. However, the Owls were 0-2 in bowl games.

Rhule will take over for Mickey Joseph, who was named interim head coach after Frost was fired.

Nebraska fired Frost after a 1-2 start to the 2022 campaign. The Cornhuskers began the season with a 31-28 loss to Northwestern and a 45-42 defeat to Georgia Southern.

In five years with Nebraska, Frost led the school to a 16-31 record and no bowl game appearances.

The Cornhuskers finished the 2022 campaign with a 4-8 record.

Rhule will now be tasked with leading the school to its first winning season since 2016, when it went 9-4 under Mike Riley.

Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell and Kansas head coach Lance Leipold have reportedly emerged as the "three leading candidates on top of Nebraska's wish list" amid its head coaching search.

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reported Tuesday that trio leads a group of 11 potential targets to replace Scott Frost, who was fired following a Sept. 10 loss to Georgia Southern. The Cornhuskers' list includes one internal option: interim head coach Mickey Joseph.

Here's a look at the other coaches linked to the Huskers, per Feldman:

• Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman
• Washington State head coach Jake Dickert
  
• Coastal Carolina head coach Jamey Chadwell
  
• Former Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall
• Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule
  
• Texas special assistant Gary Patterson
  
• Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard
  

Frost seemed like the perfect hire to get Nebraska football back on track. He's a Lincoln native who helped lead the Huskers to a share of a national championship as a quarterback in 1997, the last time they reached the mountaintop of college football.

He arrived after leading UCF to a 13-0 season in 2017, which provided a major boost to his coaching stock, but it simply didn't work out at his alma mater. The Cornhuskers posted a 16-31 record during his four-plus-year tenure with no winning seasons.

It raises uncertainty about what type of coach is needed to turn the tide back in the program's favor, and athletic director Trev Alberts noted after Frost's dismissal that he's going to seek outside guidance from other coaches to answer that question.

"If you hear that Trev Alberts reached out to XYZ coach, it might very well be true. Doesn't mean that I'm trying to hire that coach," Alberts told reporters. "I'd like to get that perspective. I'd like to get a perspective of a coach who isn't here right now about our job, and what the uniqueness is and the needs and those sorts of things."

While there are some marquee names on the candidates list—Campbell has been linked to numerous high-profile jobs in recent years and O'Brien owns success both in college and the NFL—Leipold may be the most intriguing option if the program is willing to have patience.

Kansas' head coach is a builder. He constructed Wisconsin-Whitewater into a Division III powerhouse, helped turn Buffalo into a consistent MAC contender and has already helped the Jayhawks show signs of turning a corner after an extended downturn.

It doesn't necessarily happen overnight, as a 2-10 record during his second year in Buffalo shows, but his ability to steadily lay a foundation has been impressive at every stop.

Leipold wouldn't arrive and land a ton of 5-star, top-10 prospects right away, but he'd bring in players who fit his system to help create that groundwork for future success. It happened in Buffalo, and it's already taking place at Kansas.

That's what Nebraska needs right now. It's no longer realistic to think the Huskers are going to contend for a national title in the immediate future, so hiring a coach who can build a culture that can pay dividends down the line should be the mindset.

So far, Alberts and Co. haven't shown extreme urgency to fill the void, which will give Joseph a chance to impress in the interim role. But it would be a surprise if Leipold, if he's interested, isn't one of the finalists as the list begins to shrink.

Nebraska officials and Urban Meyer haven't been in contact as the school looks for a replacement for former head football coach Scott Frost, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Thamel reported Meyer is expected to continue working as an analyst with Fox moving forward and "not pursue coaching opportunities."

Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com reported Saturday that Meyer and the Cornhuskers had spoken with one another, though the purpose of the conversation was unclear.

Fox took its Big Noon Kickoff pregame show to Lincoln, Nebraska, this weekend for Nebraska's clash with Oklahoma. That allowed some Cornhuskers fans to lobby Meyer directly.

Meyer was naturally going to become linked with the Cornhuskers job from the moment Frost was ousted. The 58-year-old is a coaching free agent, so you can hire him right now. He's a proven winner as well, lifting three national titles and compiling a 187-32 record.

Meyer is coming off a disastrous stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who fired him before he could complete a full season. But struggling at the pro level hasn't stopped marquee college coaches from landing on their feet again.

Many however will argue Meyer isn't deserving of another chance after the circumstances that led up to his brief retirement in 2018. Ohio State suspended him for three games after he failed to adequately handle domestic violence allegations made against assistant coach Zach Smith.

Before that, the Ohio native left behind a mess in Florida when he stepped down following the 2010 season.

Leaving all of that aside, Nebraska simply isn't a good fit for a head coach who seems to have a physical aversion to losing.

The Cornhuskers haven't finished a season in the Associated Press Top 25 since 2012. The new transfer rules allow a program to get an immediate injection of talent—as was the case for USC this offseason—but Nebraska requires a total rebuild. Is Meyer willing to sign up for that?

Based on Thamel's report, we have our answer.

Mickey Joseph's first game as interim head coach for the Nebraska football team went a lot like many of games during the Scott Frost era.

Speaking to reporters after the Cornhuskers' 49-14 loss to Oklahoma, Joseph shouldered the blame for his team's performance.

"This is on me, not my players, not my assistant coaches," Joseph said. "I've got to do a better job, and I will. I've got to accept responsibility for it, and I have. We've got eight games left, and we're going to get ready to win some games."

Joseph was originally hired as an associate head coach, wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator on Frost's staff in December. He spent the previous five seasons as an assistant at LSU.

After a 1-2 start to the season, which included blowing an 11-point lead against Northwestern and a loss to Georgia Southern, Frost was fired as head coach on Sept. 11.

Joseph took over on an interim basis. The 54-year-old played quarterback at Nebraska from 1988-91.

The Cornhuskers got off to a good start against the sixth-ranked Sooners. They went 77 yards in six plays on their opening drive, capped by Casey Thompson's 32-yard touchdown pass to Trey Palmer for a 7-0 lead.

Oklahoma went on to score 49 unanswered points before Nebraska broke the streak with a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

It's dark times for the Nebraska football program right now. The team hasn't had a winning record since 2016 and hasn't won a bowl game since the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl when Mike Riley was head coach.

Things have gotten so bad that the crowd at Memorial Stadium was chanting for Urban Meyer before kickoff and during the game.

Nebraska, perhaps mercifully, has next week off to regroup before hosting Indiana on Oct. 1.

Nebraska reached out to Urban Meyer as part of its coaching search following the firing of Scott Frost, according to CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd.

Dodd cautioned that "it was not made clear whether Meyer was asked about his interest in holding the job." He posited the Cornhuskers may have sought the 58-year-old's input on other candidates.

A section of Nebraska fans made their opinion known when they chanted "We want Urban!" during Fox's pregame show in Lincoln:

One fan also went so far as to make a customized shirt lobbying on his behalf:

Meyer is coming off a disastrous stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was fired following a 2-11 start, and the fact that he failed to make it through even one full season spoke to how much things unraveled behind the scenes.

Meyer's record at the college level speaks for itself, however. He has a 187-32 record and three national titles. The allure of hiring a coach with his resume is obvious for a program like Nebraska, one that's attempting to return to national prominence.

The circumstances leading up to Meyer's departure from Ohio State have led many to argue his coaching days should be over. He was suspended for three games in 2018, his final season with the Buckeyes, after he failed to properly handle domestic violence allegations that had been brought against assistant coach Zach Smith.

Even aside from that, bringing Meyer in could potentially be disastrous for Nebraska.

His distaste for losing is almost legendary, and he'd be inheriting a significant rebuilding job. How might his demeanor change if the Cornhuskers start slowly in Big Ten play?

Meyer's authoritarian act might wear thin, too, in an era when players have more freedom to transfer. A coach's duties in recruiting now extend beyond landing blue-chip recruits and include keeping your own players happy so they don't leave for greener pastures.

It's less than a full week since Nebraska ousted Frost. As much as the idea of Meyer coaching the Huskers is nectar for the content gods, more candidates are bound to emerge as athletic director Trev Alberts examines the full landscape.