After only one football victory in three seasons, Northwestern State announced Sunday that Blaine McCorkle has been dismissed as the university’s head football coach.
Veteran assistant Norman Joseph, who has served as the associate head coach and quarterbacks coach, has been named the interim head coach for Thursday’s season finale at Stephen F. Austin.
“We sincerely appreciate Coach McCorkle and the dedication, commitment and hard work he has demonstrated during his three years leading the Northwestern State football program,” Vice President/Director of Athletics Kevin Bostian said. “During his time at Northwestern State, Coach McCorkle undertook the important task of rebuilding the culture of a proud football program with a rich tradition. His efforts helped establish a foundation centered on accountability, discipline, commitment and pride in representing Northwestern State University.”
Utilizing an approach that he said emphasized “trust, unity, character, accountability and toughness,” McCorkle’s teams raised the program’s cumulative grade point average to nearly a 3.0 while four student-athletes were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Teams in the past two seasons.
While there were statistical trends and some recent recruiting successes indicating progress, on-the-field wins evaded the Demons, who were just 1-34 overall in his three seasons, and have lost their last 22 games following a 20-10 victory over Alcorn State opening the 2025 season. The team is 0-11 entering Thursday’s season finale, although recently it had dropped one-score decisions to Southland Conference opponents McNeese, Nicholls and Houston Christian.
After beating Alcorn last season, NSU had near misses at eventual Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Prairie View, at HCU and at Nicholls.
McCorkle, 50, a former LSU player, brought a 31-25 record with him after six seasons, the last three highly successful (24-7), in rebuilding a downtrodden NCAA Division III Belhaven program. In December 2023. He took over a Demon program in shambles. Former president Marcus Jones suspended the 2023 season with four games remaining in the wake of the shooting death of a player at the Quad apartment complex.
“We recognize the time and energy coach McCorkle invested in our student-athletes, coaching staff, and the university,” Bostian said. “We are grateful for his service and wish him and his family nothing but success in their future endeavors.
“While this decision marks the beginning of a new chapter for Northwestern State football, our commitment to building a program that reflects the pride, tradition and expectations of Northwestern State University remains strong. We believe in the future of Demon football and are committed to positioning this program for sustained success.”
NSU has not enjoyed a winning season since 2008, when Scott Stoker led the Demons to a 7-5 finish but was dismissed with a 43-37 overall record. There were breakeven seasons (6-6) under Jay Thomas in 2013 and 2014, and notably a 30-27 win at Louisiana Tech early in the 2014 season.