[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 169 (Thursday, October 19, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6638-S6639]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                        TRIBUTE TO NORMAN JOSEPH

 Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to commend Norman 
Joseph of Jackson, a leader in Mississippi athletics, on his induction 
into the Belhaven University Sports Hall of Fame this month. Coach 
Joseph is a Vicksburg native who played quarterback and defensive back 
at Mississippi State University. As a coach in the nearly four decades 
since, he has delivered a tradition of excellence, success, and 
Christian character to student-athletes in Mississippi and across the 
country.
  Norman Joseph has coached on every level of 4-year college football. 
Starting and rebuilding teams became a hallmark of his career. He built 
the Belhaven University football program from the ground up and served 
as its inaugural head coach. Coach Joseph launched Belhaven's 
recruiting program, designed its uniforms, and consulted on the 
creation of practice facilities and a new athletic complex. Under his 
leadership, the football program experienced immediate success and 
achieved a Top 25 ranking for 6 consecutive weeks during its second 
season.
  Coach Joseph has coached at three Jackson-area colleges. In addition 
to Belhaven, he served as quarterbacks coach at Millsaps College and 
head coach at Mississippi College in Clinton for nine seasons.
  At Mississippi College, Coach Joseph took a program in decline and 
established a winning culture. Under his guidance, the team had an 
eight-win season in only 3 years. Within 5 years, the team won the 
conference championship and went to the second round of the Division 
III playoffs. Coach Joseph took his team to NCAA Top 25 National 
Rankings in scoring offense, total offense, passing offense, rushing

[[Page S6639]]

offense, first downs, and fewest interceptions. In 2009, he coached 
Mississippi College to the American Southwest Conference cochampions 
and was named the 2009 American Football Coaches Association Regional 
Coach of the Year and the 2009 American Southwest Conference Coach of 
the Year.
  Coach Joseph began his coaching career at the University of Louisiana 
at Monroe as a position coach working for John David Crow, who was Bear 
Bryant's only Heisman Trophy winner. He later returned to Louisiana 
Monroe as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, delivering 
record offense, four consecutive winning seasons, and three NCAA 
Division 1AA championship berths ranked at number four or higher.
  He took over the Louisiana College football program 3 years after 
that program was reinstated and compiled the school's best record in 
more than 40 years.
  He has also assisted programs at the University of Southern 
Mississippi, San Jose State University, Vanderbilt University, 
Louisiana Tech University, Northwestern State University, and 
Midwestern State University.
  Coach Joseph has set offensive records at every school he has 
coached, including an NCAA Division I record for combined total yards 
in a game, a record set in 2001 that remained intact until last year.
  Coach Joseph's career has been focused on more than gridiron wins and 
records. As a coach, his attention to the development of players as 
individuals has resulted in academic and professional success for many 
young men. Under his guidance, scores of players have earned Academic 
All-Conference, All-American, All-Conference, and MVP honors. He has 
the distinction of coaching three quarterbacks with Super Bowl rings, 
and one of his former players is currently the head football coach of 
the Philadelphia Eagles.
  Coach Joseph has been active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. 
In 2016, he was appointed by Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant to the 
Governor's Commission on Physical Fitness and Sports.
  I am proud to recognize Norman Joseph as an outstanding 
Mississippian. He and his wife, the former Jane Bird of Vicksburg, have 
three daughters, Elizabeth, Grace Anne, and Sara Catherine. Elizabeth 
serves on my staff. This family is active at First Baptist Church in 
Jackson where Coach Joseph serves as a deacon.
  Belhaven University's long tradition of producing successful student-
athletes could not be accomplished without outstanding leadership from 
coaches and staff. I know Norman Joseph provided that leadership and 
character, and I am pleased he will be honored as a member of the 
Belhaven University Sports Hall of Fame.

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