Mickey Joseph and Tommie Robinson to join LSU's staff

BATON ROUGE — LSU head football coach Ed Orgeron hired two assistant coaches on Tuesday — running backs coach Mickey Joseph from Louisiana Tech and running backs coach Tommie Robinson from USC. It was reported Monday that he was close to hiring both.

“We are very excited to bring on board two outstanding coaches in Tommie Robinson and Mickey Joseph,” Orgeron said in a LSU sports information department release. “Mickey is well-known in our state, and he has strong ties to New Orleans. He’s an outstanding coach with a great deal of experience on the offensive side of the ball. He’s an outstanding recruiter with a great work ethic and will be a tremendous addition to the staff."

Orgeron coached with Robinson in 2013 at USC.

“Tommie was recently named the Pac-12 Recruiter of the Year and is considered one of the top running back coaches in college football," Orgeron said. "Tommie brings an impressive resume to our staff, one that includes six years of coaching in the NFL. He’s going to be a tremendous asset to our program and will be a great resource for all of us.”

Joseph, a New Orleans-area native who played at Shaw High School and is known as a top recruiter, will be very active in recruiting the New Orleans area as the wide receivers coach at LSU. Robinson, who is also known as a very good recruiter, will be LSU's running backs coach and recruiting coordinator. Joseph replaces Dameyune Craig, whom Orgeron fired last week after one year on the job. Robinson will replace Jabbar Juluke, whom Orgeron planned to have reassigned in the athletic department, but Juluke has been hired by Texas Tech. Juluke was headed to Texas Tech from Louisiana Tech after the 2015 season, but former LSU coach Les Miles hired him away.

Joseph, 48, is expected to get a major raise at LSU. His salary was No. 765 among assistant coaches in the nation at $100,000 last year, according to USA Today's coaching survey. Craig was the 67th-highest paid assistant in the nation last year at $565,000. Juluke was No. 340 at $280,000 a year. Both Craig and Juluke are owed their salaries by LSU for the 2017-18 fiscal year as each were on two-year contracts. What Juluke now makes from LSU will be decreased somewhat by what his salary at Texas Tech will be. That will be the same situation for Craig if and when he accepts another job, which is expected.

The hiring of Joseph is expected to soothe some of the anger felt by some high school coaches in the New Orleans area who have been upset about the handling of the firing of Juluke, a former high school coach in New Orleans. Orgeron had decided to fire both Craig and Juluke last December, but kept each through national signing day last Wednesday so as not to hurt recruiting. This is a common practice among college head coaches who are changing their staff. Some New Orleans high school coaches were considering a boycott of LSU that would include steering prospects away from LSU.

Joseph, who played quarterback at Nebraska from 1988-91, coached wide receivers at Grambling State in 2014 and '15 and at Alcorn State in 2013. He also coached wide receivers at Alabama State in his first year as an assistant coach in 2000 before coaching quarterbacks at Nicholls State from 2001-03. He was a running backs coach at Central Oklahoma in 2004 and '05 and was an assistant at Langston from 2008-13. Joseph's younger brother Vance Joseph is the head coach of the Denver Broncos in the NFL.

Robinson, 53, returned to USC for the 2016 season after spending the 2014 and '15 seasons at Texas as running backs coach. He has six years experience as a NFL coach - 1998-2000 as a receivers and special teams coach with Dallas and 2010-2012 as the running backs coach at Arizona. Robinson coached running backs under Miles in 2001 when Miles was in his first year as Oklahoma State's head coach. He had been an assistant with Miles on Dallas' staff from 1998-2000. He was also an assistant coach in college at Utah State, TCU, Georgia Tech, Memphis and Miami, coaching running backs, tight ends or wide receivers.

ORGERON ON STORMS: Orgeron released a statement concerning the storms that hit parts of Louisiana on Tuesday, including eastern New Orleans and Donaldsonville.

"I want to express our sympathy and prayers for everyone in Louisiana and in the New Orleans area impacted by today's storms," he said. "We are all one Louisiana, one heartbeat, when our neighbors need help. The Tiger Family is with you, and we will be with you as we rebuild."

Glenn Guilbeau covers LSU sports for the USA Today Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter at @LSUBeatTweet. Coverage of LSU and commentary by Guilbeau supported by Hebert’s Town & Country Automobile Dealer in Shreveport located at 1155 East Bert Kouns Loop. Research your next Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep or Ram at http://hebertstandc.com/.)