By T. Scott Boatright
Minutes after being officially introduced as the new head football coach at Grambling State University, Mickey Joseph let the media and supporters know there are changes ahead for the GSU gridiron program.
Old-school changes.
“We’re going to restore the order,” Joseph said. “They (opponents) need to fear Grambling and that’s what we’re going to set out to do.”
Joseph said setting the proper environment will be key toward reviving the GSU football program.
“My focus is to create an environment where our athletes can excel in the classroom and win championships on the gridiron,” Joseph said. “We want them to be productive citizens in the local community and enjoy prolific careers once they graduate.”
“I’m here to win — on the field and off the field. I’m going to be a guy you can touch. I’m going to go into Walmart. I’m not going to hide. I’m not going to say I’m too big for this. I’m a real one, as the kids would say, and I’m going to continue to be that way.”
Joseph said he knows the standard set by College Hall of Fame Coach Eddie G. Robinson during his 57-year coaching career at GSU and that he will remember lessons learned from the legend as he tries to make his own mark on the Grambling State football program.
“Coach Rob set the stage,” Joseph said. “His shoes can’t be filled. But I know he’d want me to be myself and I know I can lead this program. We have to lead with integrity. You have to do things right by playing hard. … I want everyone to know we’re going to surround these kids with coaches that are going to demand that from them. That’s what Coach Rob did.
“Now we can’t practice like Coach Rob used to practice because now we have a 20-hour (per week) rule. But we’re going to ask the kids to give us their best at the practices — to play hard and do things how we want things done.”
Joseph said passion and aggression will be part of his coaching style on both sides of the ball.
“I’m passionate — I coach with a lot of emotion,” Joseph said. “If my arms are folded that means I’m upset about something. But I have to make the kids feel me. They’re going to take on my personality. We’re going to play hard. We’re going to play to the echo of the whistle. We’re going to be passionate about the way we do things.
“On the offensive side of the ball, we’re going to be very aggressive. We’re going to be an RPO team, we’re going to keep you off balance. On defense, we’re going to come get you and play man. We’re going to be really sound on special teams”
He’ll also focus on the basics before anything else.
“Fundamentals will override the schemes,” Joseph said. “We’re going to be fundamentally sound.”
Joseph, who also served as running backs coach at Louisiana Tech in 2016, was wide receivers coach for LSU from 2017-2021, also serving as assistant head coach from 2020-21. He was most recently assistant head coach and then interim coach at Nebraska for the 2022 season and said that lessons learned from those roles will come into play as he takes over at Grambling.
“Structure,” Joseph said of the biggest takeaway he’ll be bringing with him from LSU and Nebraska. “I’ve talked to (GSU President Richard Gallot and Vice President for Athletics Dr. Scott) about it. By having structure — getting more pieces into the program. It’s 2023, about to be 2024. You’ve got to have help with these kids, because right now if you ask 10 coaches to run behind 125 kids, that can’t happen. So we’re going to bring more structure to the program and we’re going to get these kids to do things right on the field and off the field.”
“We’re going to touch every high school in the state of Louisiana when it comes to recruiting,” Joseph said. “Because I think right here in the state of Louisiana, pound-for-pound it’s the best state for high school football. So we’re going to draw a five-hour radius around Grambling and basically stay in state to recruit these kids.”
As far as staff, Joseph said he hadn’t yet looked at that before Monday’s press conference but left all doors open at that point as far as the potential of keeping any of the coaching staff who served under Hue Jackson, who was fired earlier this month after going 8-14 over two seasons.
“I’m going to sit down and look at that after this is over because that’s one of the toughest things —- talking about the future of this staff,” Joseph said. “ Most of the guys in this building I know. So I have to sit down and look and talk about it, but at the end of the day, we’re going to do what’s best for Grambling.”
Joseph does already have a plan set about the way he’ll handle the NCAA transfer portal.
“I have a plan —- 85-15,” Joseph said about his views on the transfer portal. “That means 15% of the roster will come from the transfer portal, and 85% will be investing in and recruiting high school players. I think that these days with the transfer portal, people are forgetting that the high school kid needs to be developed — that you can’t give up on him after three semesters saying he can’t play.”
Joseph knows it’s the younger players who mean most for the long-term future success of his Tigers.
“What happened at Nebraska is the recruiting fell off —- you have to recruit. That’s your lifeline,” Joseph said. “At the end of the day, good players make good coaches. I was a good (receivers) coach (at LSU) because I had Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and Terrace Marshall Jr. I had all three of those dudes on the field at one time.
“And we want to do that here. We want kids here who want to play in the NFL. So we’re going to recruit NFL-caliber talent. You can’t be scared of those types of kids. I think it’s going to be really competitive around here, but we’re trying to recruit kids who want to play in the NFL.”
Joseph admitted he’s talked to older brother Vance, former head coach of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals who now serves as defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos, about taking over as head coach at Grambling.
“His advice is, ‘Mickey, invest in the kids. When they walk into the building, they’re going to be the most important people,’ “ Joseph said what he was told by his brother. “If we’re in a staff meeting and a kid needs me, we’re going to stop that meeting so I can talk to that kid
“We’re going to invest in those kids, because at the end of the day, if we can get those kids to do right and play hard, we’re going to win more games than we lose. But Vance calls every morning at 5 o’clock — 3 o’clock his time. I don’t know when he sleeps.”
In the end, Joseph believes building team trust is a key to building Grambling back into a consistently winning program.
We’re going to put the fear in our opponents. We want them to know when we walk down that hill (at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium), we’re going to give them 60 minutes of hell. That’s the only way I know how to do it.”
“I think the kids are going to trust me because I’m going to trust them,” Joseph said. “I’m going to have an open door policy. The kids are going to love me and I’m going to love them and we’re going to make this thing work.”
