Vicksburg native Norman Joseph named as offensive coordinator at Stetson University

Story from Stetson Athletics:
DELAND, Fla. – Hatter Football has released its newest hire to the Stetson Family as veteran coach Norman Joseph brings an extensive knowledge of the game and insight of how to improve the Hatter Offensive prowess. Coach Joseph’s immediate philosophical impact is to augment the pass attack by implementing a more balanced attack through different techniques used in offensive line play to open up the run game.

“Coach Joseph brings a tremendous amount of experience, probably the most decorated offensive coordinator we’ve had in school history,” head coach Brian Young said “I think he also brings some stability and continuity to our offense. He has been an offensive coordinator at major division one levels for over half of his career. He will bring multiplicity to our offense. We are going to have a balanced attack with an explosive-scoring, unapologetic offense. It will be a great offense for our kids to thrive in and it will take great advantage of all the talent we have offensively to build an identity for our attacking style.”

A stalwart in the football game as a coach since 1977, and a player at Mississippi State prior to that, Joseph has been associated with success at every stop in his football journey. Building successful programs and establishing some of the most prolific offenses in the country have been trademarks of Coach Joseph’s career. He served as the head football coach at Mississippi College (2005-2013), Louisiana College (2004), and Belhaven College (1998-2000). At Mississippi College, Coach Joseph took a losing program and, within three years, had an eight-win season; within five years, Coach Joseph led Mississippi College to an American Southwest Conference Championship, the school’s first title in more than a decade, and the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. Because of these achievements, he was selected as the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Regional Coach of the Year and the American Southwest Conference Coach of the Year in 2009. As the head coach at Louisiana College, he led the school to its best season in more than 40 years. Coach Joseph started the football program at Belhaven College from the ground up and achieved a remarkable top-12 national ranking in the program’s second season.

“Well one thing we want to do is be as balanced as we can,” offensive coordinator Norman Joseph said “looking at the talent we have here, running backs need to be running the football and lineman instead of retreat pass blocking and pass protecting all the time need to be coming off the ball and attacking people. So, our offense will be an attack offense to attack all areas of the field. We do it not just throwing the ball but running as well. There will be a good mixture of play-action passes, run game that will give our guys a chance to showcase their skills. The offense is an offense that showcases the skill players, but if you don’t have a quality offensive lineman, you’re not going to have success. We are working on that and planning on having a lot of success at Stetson University. I’m excited to be working alongside this coaching staff and eager to get started with some quality talented players to see the production we can achieve on the field. I’m glad to have the opportunity to be back with Coach Young, we have worked at two other institutions, and I am honored to have this opportunity.”

Coach Joseph also served as offensive coordinator at Southeastern University (Florida), Midwestern State University (Texas), San Jose State University, University of Southern Mississippi, and Northeast Louisiana University (now the University of Louisiana at Monroe). At each of these programs, Coach Joseph’s teams set records and achieved success. While serving as the Offensive Coordinator at San Jose State University, Coach Joseph’s offense set the NCAA Division I record for combined total offense in a game (San Jose State University versus University of Nevada – 1,640 yards of combined total offense), and this record remained intact from October 2001 to October 2016.

Some notable achievements also achieved by Joseph’s teams, at Southeastern University, he coached a nationally recognized quarterback who finished season ranked ninth in total offense, fifth in pass yardage, and sixth in pass efficiency and was selected Honorable Mention All-American and conference offensive MVP. That offense was ranked third in scoring offense, fourth in total offense and pass efficiency, sixth in passing offense and sacks against. In 2019 finished the season ranked at #14 in the NAIA Nationally after an 8-1 season.

At Mississippi College the offense held several top 25 NCAA national rankings including scoring offense, total offense passing offense, rushing offense, first downs, and fewest sacks allowed.

At San Jose State, Joseph’s offense, combined with Nevada’s effort, set what was then a record 1,640 yards of offense combined in a single game. That record stood until October 2016 when it took current NFL superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield slugging it out in Lubbock, Texas, to best the number; those two games stand as the top two offensive production games of all time to this day. Of the other records, the Spartans maintain the top spot for passing efficiency with a 298.00 rating, ranked 23 in total offense and 18 in passing offense.

Additionally, Coach Joseph has had coaching stops at Millsaps College, Northwestern State University (Louisiana), Louisiana Tech University, and Vanderbilt University.

Joseph is a Vicksburg, Mississippi, native. He played college football at Mississippi State University and earned Churchman All-American honors. He received a B.S. in speech education from Mississippi State University and Master of Education degree while coaching at Northeast Louisiana University.

In addition to his success on the football field, Coach Joseph has served on numerous college coaching boards and committees with the AFCA, the NAIA Football Coaches Association, and the Mississippi Governor’s Commission on Physical Fitness and Sports. Coach Joseph is also an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.