Mickey Joseph arrested on third-degree domestic assault and strangulation charges

On3 imageby:HuskerOnline Staff11/30/22

Mickey Joseph, who served as Nebraska’s interim head coach for nine games this season, was arrested Wednesday afternoon and held in Lancaster County Jail.

According to a news release from Lincoln police, officers were dispatched to a residence near South 34th Street and Tree Line Drive on a domestic-disturbance call. Upon concluding the investigation, Joseph, 54, was arrested at a separate location for strangulation, a felony, and third-degree domestic assault, a misdemeanor. He was booked at 4:03 p.m. in Lancaster County Jail.

Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts released the following statement: “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. We will have no additional comment at this time.”

Joseph was originally hired as a Nebraska assistant coach last December, joining the staff as wide receivers coach and passing-game coordinator. When Alberts fired head coach Scott Frost on Sept. 11, he immediately named Joseph as interim head coach, and Nebraska finished 3-6 under his watch.

Joseph, a native of New Orleans, came to Nebraska from LSU, where he was an assistant coach for five seasons, developing high-level receivers who helped the Tigers to the 2019 national championship.

He was considered a candidate for Nebraska’s head-coaching opening, with Alberts telling reporters Monday that Joseph “walked me through his vision” for the program during the athletic director’s search process.

Alberts ultimately decided to hire Matt Rhule, who was formally introduced Monday. In the wake of that announcement, many Nebraska fans wondered if Rhule would include Joseph on his staff of full-time assistants. As of late Wednesday morning, there had been no official word on Joseph’s future at NU. Then came news of his arrest.

Joseph established strong relationships with Nebraska players this season and is highly regarded as both a coach and recruiter.

While the Lincoln Police Department does not normally provide a news release for a domestic-related arrests, due to the high-profile nature of the person involved and in an effort to provide transparency on an arrest involving a public figure, notification of the arrest was made, according to the LPD release.

To protect the victim in this case and in compliance with Nebraska state law, additional information, including the identity of the victim and any injuries, is not being released.

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