By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations
NATCHITOCHES – First-year Northwestern State football coach Blaine McCorkle has rounded out his initial staff, announcing the addition of two assistant coaches – one of whom is no stranger to the Demon program.
McCorkle named Norman Joseph his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and added Cade Camp as NSU’s offensive line coach. McCorkle made the announcement Friday with both hires subject to approval from the Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana System, which governs Northwestern State University.
“I am very excited about finalizing our full time staff at NSU,” McCorkle said. “I think we have assembled an extremely energetic and talented group of men who will help develop our team into one we can be proud of on the field. Just as important is the fact that they are all great men and will be tremendous role models who will help shape our players into great men the Natchitoches community will be proud of off the field as well”
Joseph begins his second stint as an NSU assistant after a two-year run as the Demons’ passing game and recruiting coordinator in Natchitoches in 1988 and 1989 under legendary head coach Sam Goodwin.
In the three-plus decades since leaving Natchitoches, Joseph has enjoyed success as both a head coach and offensive coordinator.
He was the first head coach in Belhaven College history, bringing the Blazers from scratch to a 16-15 mark in four seasons, including a 13-9 mark in his final two campaigns of 1999 and 2000. Joseph returned to Louisiana as the head coach at Louisiana Christian in the 2004 season before beginning a nine-season stretch as the head coach at Mississippi College.
In Joseph’s first season, the Choctaws went 2-8 before winning 27 games in the next four seasons. Joseph led Mississippi College to a 9-3 record and the 2009 American Southwest Conference championship, winning a first-round game in the NCAA Division III playoffs. That season, Joseph earned the American Southwest Conference Coach of the Year honor.
Joseph’s decorated career was just taking off during his first stop at Northwestern State. Joseph moved from Northwestern State to then-Northeast Louisiana University (now ULM) for a four-year stint as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, helping bring home Southland Conference championships in 1990 and 1992.
A Vicksburg, Mississippi, native, Joseph spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Southern Miss (1994-96), two seasons in the same capacity at San Jose State (2001-02) and at Midwestern State (2003).
Following a year out of coaching after his tenure at Mississippi College, Joseph returned to college coaching in 2015 as Millsaps’ quarterbacks coach before a two-year stint as the offensive coordinator at Columbia Academy. He jumped back into college coaching as the offensive coordinator at Southeastern University in Florida, helping lead the Flames to a conference title in 2018.
A 1977 graduate of Mississippi State, Joseph was the head football coach at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in 2021 and 2022 before spending this past season as the offensive coordinator at Stetson University.
He began his coaching career as a volunteer coach at Vanderbilt in 1977 before spending the next nine seasons at then-NLU coaching defensive backs, quarterbacks and wide receivers.
“I am personally very humbled to have coach Joseph join our initial staff here at NSU,” McCorkle said. “He is truly an icon in our profession and as respected as any one you will find anywhere. I have admired and looked up to him for a long time. He has tremendous football knowledge and a wealth of experience that will help grow our offense in an exciting direction.
“He also is the only guy in the building who owns a Southland title ring from his time here with coach Goodwin and that is invaluable. He knows what it looks like to win here and will be a huge part in helping us bring those days back to campus.”
Like Joseph, Camp is familiar with the Southland Conference.
A first-team All-Southland Conference offensive lineman at Central Arkansas, Camp spent the 2023 season at Midwestern State where his offensive line helped pave the way for the No. 19 rushing attack in Division II, averaging 204.3 rushing yards per game.
Camp’s offensive line helped Midwestern State rank sixth nationally in fewest sacks allowed, giving up just 0.7 sacks per contest.
That followed a 2022 season in which Camp coached the offensive line at Arkansas Tech, helping the Wonder Boys rank 12th nationally in rush yards per carry (5.44) and 24th in rush yards per game (205.7). The Wonder Boys allowed the 11th-fewest sacks in Division II with 11 and ranked fifth nationally in fourth-down conversions at 72 percent (18-for-25).
Camp spent the 2020 season at Arkansas State, coaching the Red Wolves’ offensive line as Arkansas State led the Sun Belt Conference in total offense (470.1 yards per game) and ranked second in FBS in passing yards per game (364.4). Following that season, Camp stayed with head coach Blake Anderson, moving to Utah State.
A product of Allen High School, who helped the Eagles win the 2012 Class 5A UIL state championship, Camp made 25 career starts at Central Arkansas, earning first-team All-Southland honors in 2017. At UCA, Camp was part of two FCS Playoff teams and averaged 10 wins per season.
Camp began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at South Alabama.
“Coach Camp is a great young coach that I am excited will be a part of rebuilding our offensive line,” McCorkle said. “Everything you do starts and stops with the big guys up front, and coach Camp is a guy who has the knowledge and energy to mold that group into a unit that can lead our team. He was a standout player himself in the Southland and that should bring him instant credibility, but he is also a great teacher and student of the game and will be a tremendous asset to our staff.”