Meet the Media: Coach Mickey Joseph

Nebraska interim head coach Mickey Joseph met with members of the media on Tuesday to discuss practice preparations during the Huskers’ bye week ahead of an Oct. 1 home game against Indiana.

A full transcript of Coach Joseph’s session with the media can be found below.

Nebraska Football Press Conference
Interim Head Coach Mickey Joseph
Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022
Memorial Stadium

Opening statement
“I challenged the kids to get better this week. Our model this week was Nebraska versus Nebraska. We are not worrying about Indiana, but to get ready and to get better as an individual team and to get the fundamentals cleaned up and get better in all three phases of the game.”

On responding to a lopsided game
“Like I said on Saturday that was on me. I should have slowed the ball down and huddled and took some possessions away from Oklahoma, and I did not do that and that is on me. They responded great today. They responded great yesterday.”

On decision to remove Erik Chinander as defensive coordinator
“Chinander is a good man and a good coach, but the numbers did not add up. I did not see us getting better. For four weeks, I did not see us getting better from week one to week four. I had to make a decision, the best decision for the kids because it is about the boys, so I had to make the best decision for the boys.”

On improving in a short time
“Fundamentals lining up, getting lined up, tackling, being in your gap, being where you are supposed to be in your coverage. So it just goes back to basic fundamentals.”

On a player stating that the team had not been tackling in practice
“I do not know. I had not been here for four years. We tackled when I took over, and we tackled in scrimmages before that.”

On running back Ajay Allen
“He had surgery yesterday. He is back home. His mother is in town. He is doing fine. He came out of surgery well. He is going to miss the rest of the season, and it is going to hurt us, but Gabe (Ervin Jr.) is a back capable of getting it done.”

On the special teams plan
“Joey Connors is going to take over, but the coaches that have been involved with special teams: Coach Ruud, Applewhite, Beckton, Fisher, they are still going to do their part. Busch will still look around and making sure things are OK, but Joey Connors is capable of doing the job.”

On the possibility of new defensive faces
“I do not know, but I will be able to tell you next week. Right now we are competing. It is Nebraska versus Nebraska, so everything is a competition right now.”

On Bill Busch
“He is going to detail it. I met Bill in 2018 when he came to us at LSU. He spent a lot of time with Dave Aranda. Dave Aranda is probably one of the best D coordinators in the country. He is going to detail it. He is going to take it step-by-step. He is going to make sure the fundamentals are solid.”

On slowing the ball down during a game
“It was too late when I thought about it. It was 35-7. I should have made that decision on Thursday. That is why I said that is on me. I made that mistake and I can own it.”

On if that is due to lack of head coaching experience
“If that is what you want to say. Probably so. That is what my mom said.”

On how slowing the ball would have helped game flow
“I do not know, but I have to do everything in my powers to help the kids when we are in a situation like that. I do not know how it would have ended. It could have ended the same way, but I have to do a better job at that.”

On approaching the offensive tempo going into Big Ten play
“We will slow it down. It is going to be opponent by opponent, but we will slow it down. It will help the defense out a little bit.”

On if Coach Whipple wants to slow it down
“Yes, he understands that. Whipple has been a head coach before, so he understands what we need to do.”

On how to help keep the team positive
“Keep encouraging them and let them know that I have their best interest at hand. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure I make them a better football team. I’m going to hold everybody accountable from the coaches all the way to the players, and keep encouraging them that we can get better if we give effort. We have to keep their chins up, because they have been through some change.”

On how much he draws on his experience at LSU
“A lot. I go back to how we practice at LSU with less reps and speed it up a little bit more. Cut down on it and simplify some things and not coach the athleticism out of them. Get them playing fast on all three sides of the ball.”

On the outside noise and how the players are handling it
“We talk to them about blocking out the noise. That’s what fans do. They aren’t going to control the way I think and what decisions I’m going to make, but as fans they have the right to do that. It’s America. They can do that and they can express themselves, but you’ve got to block it out. If you don’t want to hear it, don’t read it.”

On any more coaching changes
“I don’t know. I can’t tell you. I wish I could, but I can’t tell you.”

On his recruiting plan
“We’ve got to recruit like we are going to be here. That’s the right thing to do. We’re going to send coaches out on Wednesday. They’ll get back in here on Saturday, the ones who don’t have a game. I’ll be on the road Friday. I’ll be in Monroe on Friday, and I’m in New Orleans on Saturday. I’ll be back here Sunday. We’re going to do the job the right way. We’re not going to sabotage the place. The best and most efficient thing to do is do things the right way.”

On Myles Farmer’s comments
“Kids are emotional. You ask them questions and they’re going to give you an emotional answer. I keep telling them don’t make business decisions with your emotions. I’ve got to do a better job when they get in front of press because that’s the second time one of my players said something. They can’t be emotional when talking to you guys. Got to tell the truth, but not be emotional.”

On recruiting
“Just speaking to the recruits last weekend and talking to them the last two weeks on the phone, they’re all in because we sell them the University of Nebraska, no matter who sits in this chair. You’re committed to the University of Nebraska. So, we sold the university, like I said, we’re going to do things the right way. We’re not going to try to sabotage anything. If we don’t get the job and we have to leave here, they’re going to say we left this place better than we found it. We’re going to do things the right way. I expect my coaches to do it. I expect everybody to do their job.”

On Bill Busch‘s transition
“We’re going to use the same lingo – probably less calls, but we’ll use the same lingo. Bill is built for this. He’s sharp, he’s going to be detailed, and his qualities – he’s a really good football coach, and he’ll take care of it. I understand and Bill understands what I want. We spent time together at LSU and we talked a lot when we were at LSU. He was the safety coach, I was the receivers coach, so we got to compete against each other and share notes and get at each other on the field. Some people think we don’t like each other, but we do. We just get after each other on the field.”

On what kind of defense he wants
“A defense that stops the run and stops the pass and shuts people out. That’s a good defense.”

On if there’s anything schematic with the new defense
“It’s what Bill wants to do. He knows what he needs to do. I don’t need to get into all of that because he’s a new coordinator, so we try to put less out there right now. No disrespect, though.”

On if Busch will coach the backs
“Coach Busch will take the safeties and the nickels.”

On the players’ goals and what the team wants to accomplish
“Well, we control our own destiny right now. We have eight conference games left. We’re going to compete against ourselves this week and we’ll get ready for Indiana next week. We’re going to take one stop sign at a time and the stop sign this week is Nebraska and getting Nebraska better. Next week, it will be Indiana. They understand what they can do. We told them today, the ball is going to be in your court here pretty soon. It’s about what you’re going to do with it.”

On how the receivers have played up to this point
“I was disappointed that we put the ball on the ground twice because they know the rules – the person that’s going to strip the ball is the person you don’t see. It happened twice with Trey (Palmer) and Isaiah (Garcia-Castaneda), so I’m disappointed with that. And they understand that, and Cass (Mike Cassano) is going to get that fixed. We’re not happy about that. And Casey (Thompson) has got to make throws, he’s got to make third down throws and he understands that.”

On if Ajay Allen will redshirt
“Yes, he’s going to redshirt. He’s out for the year – going to redshirt.”

On what he learned in a week of being head coach
“I know that there are things I need to fix and things I need to focus on. And I can’t assume anything. Everything from A to Z – I have to make sure that I cross every T and dot every I. I learned a lot from that first game, it was a quick turnaround for me, but it’s no excuse. I have to handle that better. Like I said before, I walked up to that mic and I said, it’s on me. It’s not on my kids. It’s not on my coaches. That was on me.”

On what he took away after the game, other than the tempo
“I would probably get the young guys in quicker than we did. Let the young guys get in there, so we can get them on film and see what they can do.”

On Brian Buschini’s injury
“Brian is fine. He just has a sprained ankle. He’s going to be good. He finished punting and that was tough for him to do, but it did happen on the tackle.”

On if the bye week came at a good time
“Absolutely. You know that, Sip (Steve Sipple). You asked me that question. We needed this bye week. We need this bye week to reset. These kids haven’t had a chance to reset. It wasn’t like it wasn’t the Oklahoma panhandle coming in here. It was OU coming in here, so let’s be real about it. So yeah, that was a good bye week.”

PLAYERS MENTIONED