Former McGill-Toolen head coach Norman Joseph calls his new job quite simply a “God thing.”

The veteran coach was told on Dec. 9 that he would not be retained for a third year as head coach of the Yellow Jackets.

Within 24 hours, he had an offer on the table to return to college coaching. Late last week, Joseph was officially announced as the offensive coordinator at Stetson University in Deland, Fla.

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“It was really strange,” he said. “Their head coach called me the day I was let go, and it developed from there. It was absolutely a God thing.”

Joseph and Stetson head coach Brian Young have a longstanding relationship. Joseph gave Young his first college coaching job at Louisiana College. The two also later worked together at Mississippi College.

“We’ve stayed in touch through the years,” Joseph said. “When he became head coach, he asked me to come with him, but I had given my word to the folks I Mobile. Some people do keep their word, and I’m one of them.”

Joseph went 12-10 in two seasons as the McGill-Toolen head coach, making the Class 6A postseason in the first year. He spent the 2020 season as offensive coordinator at Catholic High in Baton Rouge, La., but developed his extensive resume as a college coach before those two high school stops.

He has had head coaching stints at Belhaven (1998-2000), Louisiana College (2004) and Mississippi College (2005-2013). He started the program at Belhaven. Joseph also has been offensive coordinator at Northeast Louisiana, Southern Miss, San Jose State, Midwestern State and Southeastern University.

He told AL.com on Monday that he is “thrilled” to be back in college coaching.

“I didn’t know if I would ever go back to the college game,” he said. “You just start grinding in whatever situation you are in. I worked as hard as I could at McGill and felt like things were coming along real well there. We were building for the future, so I never thought about another job until the opportunity came up. The decision to get back to college has been reinforced these last few weeks and days. This is where the Lord wants me to be.”

Stetson competes in the Pioneer Football League. The Hatters finished just 4-6 in 2022, suffering through a five-game losing streak at one point. But Joseph already likes what he sees in Deland.

“Florida is loaded with talent,” he said. “There are a lot of athletes here, and I know that from when I’ve coached in Florida before. Also, this level of football is exciting to me. It’s Division 1 FCS so there is a playoff system and, if we are good enough, we can get in and extend our season. I like our conference. It has good teams, good coaches, good players. I feel like what we do offensively will compliment this group of players.”

Young called Joseph “probably the most decorated offensive coordinator in school history.”

“I think he also brings some stability and continuity to our offense,” he said in a school release. “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.”

Joseph said there won’t be a time of adjustment going from high school coaching back to college.

“I’ve coached on every level of college football except the junior college level,” he said. “Really and truly, it’s all the same. Guys want to be disciplined. They want to play in a winning program. They relish the opportunity to work hard. It’s just universal.”

Joseph also said he relishes the chance to recruit again.

“I enjoy meeting people,” he said. “I enjoy talking to them, selling our program, selling what we do on offense. I enjoy selling myself. That’s the big thing. Visiting, talking, building relationships – that is really what coaching is on any level and that is why I got into it.”