As the Nebraska football team’s season has marched on, there have been quite a few twists and turns in the search for the man who will formally and permanently replace Scott Frost. One of the bigger twists of the last week to 10 days has been what can be perceived as a rather strong push to get the interim tag removed from Mickey Joseph’s job title. However, while that push does indeed seem strong, one of the questions that have popped up has been, “does he really want the job?”
Enter the Nebraska football interim head coach’s wife, Priscilla Joseph, who in no uncertain terms, asked anyone who wonders whether he husband wants to continue doing the job he’s been hired to do if they’ve lost their damn minds.
Priscilla appeared on the Locked on Huskers podcast with Derrick Pearson, and it took no time at all for him to bring up the question of the day. At first blush, I didn’t see or hear something that should have annoyed or angered anyone.
"“You have just given this man a job with a lot of things to be fixed. What person in their right mind would take a job and not want it for themselves at the very end?”"
Pearson, apparently realizing the question was indeed an odd one, joke whispered that he “had to ask the question,” and the current Nebraska football head coach’s wife expounded on why she felt the idea that Mickey wouldn’t want the job was such an odd one.
She went on to say that when she first met Mickey, “it was always about Nebraska and Nebraska was always something that made him.”
She added that the Huskers are a huge part of who her husband is and because of that she finds it sort of “disgusting” that people would wonder whether he’s driven for the job. She also explained that it struck her as odd that someone would claim he doesn’t want the job considering that the job is taking him away from his family and his children especially.
Finally, she said that in the end, when it comes to naming the next Nebraska football head coach “ya’ll are going to have to take it away from him,” before adding “all I have to say is good luck on trying to take it away from him.”
On social media, the reaction to the comments were varied.
One member of the Husker Online message board said that they believed the comments from Mickey’s wife were akin to a “helicopter parent,” only this time, it was a “helicopter spouse” instead.
Another in the same thread wrote, “Hopefully, she doesn’t make it hard for MJ to stay in a capacity other than HC.” Granted, it’s unclear why saying that her husband does indeed really want the Nebraska football head coaching job would be a bad thing.
Not all Nebraska football fans are against Priscilla Joseph’s comments
On the other hand, there were plenty of Husker supporters that seemed to understand why she was passionate about this issue. She tried to make that clear by bringing up the fact that while she chose to be a football wife, her kids didn’t have a say. Now her husband is working a job that keeps him out of the home an awful lot of the time.
On Twitter, one user made it clear they appreciated what Priscilla Joseph had to say about the issue, writing, “Really enjoyed this podcast with Mrs. Joseph. Helped answer some internal questions I had. Mickey is a natural-born leader and there is no substitute for that in football, life and business.”
“We are blessed to have you taking care of the kids for years to come,” another wrote after thanking Mrs. Joseph for taking the time to do the interview. “I’d send mine. You Two are a blessing to the culture and future of Husker Football.”
While there is a bit of a split vote on whether her interview was a positive or a negative on the whole, one thing is clear, as she put it, Mickey Joseph is all in when it comes to being the head coach of the Nebraska football program, and that should make all Husker fans breath a sigh of relief.