One of the bright spots for the Gophers in 2009 was the improvement of the Gopher defense. This improvement was in large part to defensive co-coordinator, Kevin Cosgrove who joined the staff last off-season and made an immediate contribution to the Gopher program. When I spoke with Coach Cosgrove a year ago, he was one of the most controversial Gopher coaching hires, but in a short time, he has earned the respect of many fans. In the 2007 season, the Gophers had the worst total defense in the nation and ranked #119, Ted Roof turned that around in 2008 to finish #73, and Cosgrove was able to improve upon that even more to a #62 ranking. Cosgrove himself admits there is a long way to go, but it is certainly moving in the right direction.

GopherHole’s Nadine Babu recently caught up with Cosgrove again to learn about his first season at Minnesota, how he looks as his defense as a true team effort, the areas of improvement he hopes to build on in 2010 and his thoughts on living in the Twin Cities.

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GH: What do you think your biggest success was this past year?

Cosgrove: We made some improvements this past year. We aren’t where we want to be but it’s exciting to see improvement. The biggest thing was the effort of our kids. They played hard and if we continue to play hard we’ll have a chance.

GH: Who will you miss most that is graduating?

Cosgrove: We had a lot of great seniors and leadership, but I’m excited about the guys we have moving up in the program, the guys we recruited, and redshirted. The kids we have in the program now give us a lot of length, size and athletic ability.

GH: Of the recruits which one did you work hardest for and who are you excited for?

Cosgrove: I don’t like to pick specific guys. It’s a group effort. It’s an entire class with a lot of guys we’re excited for. We won’t know for a few years down the line.

GH: Of the younger guys, who sticks out?

Cosgrove: We have a lot of young talent. You could really see this developing in the bowl game preparation and we as a staff are very excited about it.

GH: Coming from Nebraska and Wisconsin, what is your perception of the fan base and media here?
Cosgrove: I try to avoid a lot of that. I’m just excited to be here. I love living in Minneapolis. My wife and family love it here and we hope to be here a long time.

GH: What are you going to work on the most during the offseason?

Cosgrove: Right now the kids are working hard on getting bigger and stronger. They are working on agility and conditioning. When spring
ball starts we’ll stay as basic as we can. We want them to play with great fundamentals and develop toughness.

GH: Is there one stat that you were unhappy with last year that you are working on?

Cosgrove: We’re just starting to look at that stuff right now and evaluate the good and bad. There were a lot of things I was happy with and a lot I wasn’t and we’ll work on improving that.

GH: Having a co-defensive coordinator, how do you split those responsibilities?

Cosgrove: We all work together as a defensive staff. Everyone has their input. Game day there is one guy who calls it (Cosgrove) but the calls are all done before the game. I’m excited that we’ll all be back for another year.



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Link to Kevin Cosgrove's previous interview with GopherHole: http://www.gopherhole.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=941