Interim football coach Mickey Joseph becomes first Black head coach in Nebraska athletics history

After Scott Frost was fired as Nebraska’s football coach, the school’s athletic director promoted Mickey Joseph as interim coach.

The promotion didn’t just make Joseph the first Black football coach in Cornhuskers history, but rather the first Black head coach for any sport in the university’s history. The school was founded in 1869 and currently has 22 sports teams. The fact that the university hadn’t employed a Black head coach before Joseph stunned some fans online. 

“That’s so embarrassing for Nebraska,” wrote one fan on Twitter.

“I’m happy that Mickey is getting the opportunity, but it is still mind-boggling it took this long,” tweeted another.

Frost was fired after the Cornhuskers’ 45-42 loss to Georgia Southern on Saturday. Frost, who led UCF to a 13-0 record in 2017, ends his Nebraska tenure with a 16-31 record. 

“You run a professional organization that has high standards, (and) accountability has to matter,” Nebraska AD Trev Alberts said at a news conference. “Scott and I talked about this: 16-31 was not at a level that was acceptable to us.”

Joseph, 54, is a former Nebraska quarterback, playing for the Cornhuskers from 1988 to 1991. Joseph is in his first year as a coach at Nebraska after spending the previous five seasons at LSU.

As interim, Mickey Joseph is the first Black head coach in Nebraska history.

Not just football. Every sport.

— Amie Just (@Amie_Just) September 11, 2022

“I won’t meddle in Mickey’s decision-making process,” Alberts said. “I encouraged Mickey to be the head coach and make decisions as the head coach. There’ll be some structural changes and things that I think Mickey believes in.”