By T. Scott Boatright
Year 2 of the Mickey Joseph era for Grambling State football kicks off at 7 p.m. Saturday against Langston University inside Shreveport’s Independence Stadium.
Grambling is coming off a 5-7 campaign in Joseph’s first year as head coach of the G-Men after going 1-4 in the final five games of the season.
Langston went 6-4 in 2024 under Coach Quinton Morgan, who served as defensive backs coach when Joseph was assistant head coach for the Lions from 2008-10 and head coach from 2011-12
And both grew up in the New Orleans suburb of New Orleans. Joseph went on to play quarterback for Nebraska while Morgan played defensive back, wide receiver and running back, first at Jackson State (2003) before transferring to Langston for the 2004-05 season.
Joseph said the ties between the two will make Saturday’s contest an emotional one for both coaches.
“Grambling might not be that familiar with (Langston), but I am because I was once the head coach there,” Joseph said. “And their coach now (Quinton Morgan) is like family for me. This is going to be a very emotional game for me against Langston.
“Langston gave me my first shot as a head coach. So, it’s going to be some ups and some downs with emotions on both sides because I’m still close with some people at Langston and I have family on both sides. I still have two daughters at the University of Oklahoma that are still connected to Langston. So, it’s a game that I’m looking forward to, and it’s a game that I’m not looking forward to because of the emotions that will be running through me because Langston shaped me into the coach I am today.”
Joseph said he’s ready to get the 2025 season kicked off.
“I’m very excited about this football team.” Joseph said of his Tigers. “I think this is a very mature football team, I think this is a talented football team and I also think this is a very close football team that are about going about their business.”
Maybe the biggest question GSU has heading into the season opener is who will take the first snap for the Tigers at quarterback.
During a press conference earlier this week, Joseph steered clear of naming a starter, saying he first had to meet with quarterbacks coach Shyrone Carey.
It’s a two-man race between redshirt sophomore C’zavian Teasett and redshirt junior Ashton Frye.
Frye played in four games for GSU last year, completing four of his seven pass attempts for nine yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
Teasett played in 10 games in 2024 as a Southern University quarterback, completing 71-of-129 pass attempts for 941 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions.
As of Thursday, Joseph had not named a starter and admitted he might not make that announcement until gameday.
“I’m going to meet with Coach Carey sometime,” Joseph said. “I know what I want to do. I want to see what he’s thinking. I kind of know what he wants to do. I’ve been knowing Coach Carey since he was 13 years old, so we’re on the same page. I just want to hear it come out of his mouth.
“It’s been a great quarterback battle between Frye and Teasett. We’ll let that be known when the proper time comes. You’re going to know the day of the game. I know right now what I’m going to do, but I’m not telling anybody because what I don’t want to do is take momentum from the kid that’s not going to play that first snap at quarterback. So, I’m going to hold that until I sit down and talk to him about his role.”
And while Joseph said he won’t replace a quarterback with a hot hand, Joseph indicated there’s a definite possibility both Frye and Teasett will play against Langston.
“It could easily be 60-40 (percentage of plays between the two quarterbacks),” Joseph said. “We kind of did that at Nebraska (where Joseph played collegiately and later served as offensive coordinator and interim head coach). I know people say, ‘You keep going back to your Nebraska roots,’ but I won a lot of games at Nebraska as a player, and I could see what Coach (Tom) Osborne did at Nebraska playing a two-quarterback system and how to do it.
“You make it one gameplan, but (the opposing defense) has to get ready for two quarterbacks. So, I understand exactly what we need to do, but it should be 60-40 (%).”
Joseph said he doesn’t know how long a two-quarterback system would continue if that’s the way he decides to go.
“It might be over after the first half if somebody doesn’t play well,” Joseph said. “They’re going to be on a short leash like anybody else. “We’re going to treat this position totally different than we did last year. I’m not going to hang in there forever with you making mistakes.
“So the quarterback is going to be treated like anybody else. If you don’t perform under center, you’re coming out.”
Joseph is hopeful his running back corps takes some of the pressure off of his quarterbacks and that he’s hoping to use the run game to set up GSU’s passing attack.
“I think any quarterback that has a lot of success, the running game is a big part of it because he can turn around and hand it off and get a plus-three or plus-four (yard gain),” Joseph said. “Now, as a coach and a playcaller, we can’t get bored with that. We can’t get bored with three yards a pop and now it’s fourth-and-one. But I’d rather be fourth-and-one than third and 10, where it isn’t a manageable third down.
“So, we’re going to be trying to run the ball on first and second down and throw the ball some when we want to. Third-and-six might be a run down because we’re probably going to go for it on fourth down. People say, ‘You’re giving away your secrets.’ But there are no secrets in football anymore. There’s too much media coverage. So, we’re going to establish the run game with this quarterback and hopefully he can get us in the right place. But if he can’t get us in the right place, we know how to get the team in the right place. Coach Carey is doing a great job with those guys.”
Joseph said he’s determined not to let his Tigers overlook the Lions.
“When they get off the bus, they’re going to look like us,” Joseph said. “They’re going to be a very confident team. Their recruiting strategy is the same, from Oklahoma City to Dallas down to Houston and then jumping over to Louisiana.
“And Coach Morgan has won over 70% of his games at Langston. I know some people might not think that’s a big thing, but it is. It’s hard winning in this profession. They’re digging into high school football (players) from Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana, and that’s where a lot of good football players come from.”
