DELAND, Fla. — Norman Joseph is adding another stamp to his crowded football passport.

The Vicksburg native has been hired as the offensive coordinator at Stetson University, the Florida school announced Thursday.

It’s the 13th college stop in a 45-year career for the 68-year-old Joseph, who has been the head coach at Belhaven, Louisiana College and Mississippi College in addition to a number of assistant and coordinator positions.

Joseph spent the past three years coaching high school football. He was the offensive coordinator at Catholic High in Baton Rouge, La. in 2020, and the head coach at McGill-Toolen High School in Mobile, Alabama, in 2021 and 2022.

“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,” Joseph said in a release announcing the hire. “I’m glad to have the opportunity to be back with (head coach Brian) Young. We have worked at two other institutions, and I am honored to have this opportunity.”

Joseph, like a lot of football coaching lifers, has had a long and colorful career. After graduating from South Vicksburg High School, he played at Mississippi State and got his first coaching gig as a volunteer assistant at Vanderbilt in 1977.
Assistant jobs at Northeast Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, Northwestern State and Southern Miss followed, before he was hired as the first head coach in Belhaven’s history when the program was started in 1998.

He later spent one season as Louisiana College’s head coach in 2004, and the next nine as Mississippi College’s head coach. He was the American Southwest Conference Coach of the Year in 2009, when Mississippi College reached the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Joseph has a 63-70 record as a head coach, and has earned a reputation as an excellent offensive coordinator at Football Bowl Subdivision programs Southern Miss and San Jose State.

“Coach Joseph brings a tremendous amount of experience, probably the most decorated offensive coordinator we’ve had in school history,” Stetson head coach Brian Young said in a statement.