The goal is clear for the Gopher football program – a date in Pasadena and a game in the coveted Rose Bowl. It has been more than four decades since the Gophers have played under the Southern California sun in “The Granddaddy of Them All” so Coach Tim Brewster used the departure of Ted Roof to bring in a defensive coordinator who knows all about putting together Rose Bowl champion defenses, with the recent hiring of Kevin Cosgrove.

huskers.com

Cosgrove comes to Minnesota with mixed results. As a cornerstone on Barry Alvarez’s staff at Wisconsin, Cosgrove coached many Badgers who went on to play in the NFL and built defenses that won three Big Ten titles and three Rose Bowl games. In addition, Cosgrove was instrumental in Wisconsin’s dominance under Alvarez. Cosgrove’s defense struggled a some when he joined Bill Callahan at Nebraska where the once formidable Cornhusker D suffered mightily in 2007, including giving up an eye-popping 76 points to the Kansas Jayhawks. The Huskers finished that year rated 112th in total defense, and led the creation of websites like www.firecosgrove.com.

However, after meeting and sitting down with Cosgrove, a Gopher fan has to feel at ease. Cosgrove makes no excuses for anything that’s happened in the past. He is constantly learning and growing to make himself a better coordinator, and he is extremely charismatic and honest, which helps make him a good recruiter. When you look at Cosgrove’s career, he's essentially had one really bad year that has recently created a cloud over his prior 20+ years as a solid coach.

The addition of Cosgrove to Minnesota represents a hire that looks at an entire body of work – Rose Bowl success, player development and sending guys on to the NFL, recruiting success, family values and a commitment to winning the right way, and that is why Coach Brewster is so excited about the Cosgrove addition.

Cosgrove recently spent time with GopherHole.com for an extensive interview where he discusses a wide-range of topics including his success at Wisconsin, disappointment at Nebraska, his decision to come to Minnesota and his goals as the leader of the Gopher defense.


GH: Let’s just cut right to the chase. You do realize that you’ve been an often talked about and controversial choice as Brewster’s DC hire…

KC: I have? You know what, I really don’t care. I’m just glad to be here. I know what I’ve done in past, and there have been times where there have been some struggles every now and then, but I’m just excited to be here. We have a great defensive staff, and a team that wants to compete and do well. It’s a great time for Minnesota football right now.


GH: When you were first contacted about the Minnesota job, what did Coach Brewster tell you he liked about you, that made you “the guy?”

KC: He called me and asked me if I was interested in the job, and I said “absolutely.” The same day he called me, I had two other offers.


GH: Can you tell me what other offers you had?

KC: I’m not going to say.


GH: Do you know if you were Brewster’s first choice for DC?

KC: I don’t know if I was the first choice, I’m just happy to be here.

Gophersports.com

GH: You’ve had a year off since you coached at Nebraska, what have you been doing since then?

KC: I’ve done a lot of research and studied trends in college football; the game changes constantly. I was able to do the things I never was able to when you’re actually working a job. I also coached my son in football, who is a senior in high school.


GH: How was that experience for you?

KC: It was a great experience. It made me realize what those high school coaches have to go through. They have tremendous energy, and they have to love the game because they have to do it all. In college we have everybody to do everything, we have managers, people take care of water, we have trainers and doctors, at the high school level they don’t have all of those things. We are all of those things.


GH: As far as the research goes, what kind of things did you learn?

KC: I did a lot of studying on the latest trends of the read, the zone read and zone option game. Those are the number one things I felt I needed to improve as a coordinator, so that’s where I spent a lot of time.


GH: How do you feel about being Co-Defensive coordinators with Coach Lee, and can you foresee any schematic differences you may have?

KC: Well, it’s fortunate, Ronnie and I have worked together. He was secondary coach at Wisconsin when I was coordinator, so I know Ronnie. I know what he likes to do coverage wise; we’ll be on the same page.


GH: When you were at Nebraska, you were criticized for not being aggressive and not doing enough to get to the QB. In your final year there, your defense was rated #112th in the country…

KC: Noooooo (smiling).


GH: What do you recall it being rated?

KC: I don’t know, I didn’t even look at it, because the way things went down there, it was done before the season was even over. We all knew we were fired before that. It was just a tough time, and I don’t look back at that. But, we did lead the nation in sacks, did you know that?


GH: Your last year at Nebraska?

KC: No, no. We didn’t lead the nation in anything that last year. In 2005, we led the nation in sacks, and tackles for loss. You have to put a lot of pressure on quarterbacks to do that, don’t you?


GH: Absolutely.

KC: We led the nation, not the conference. I think that’s an accomplishment.


GH: Let’s be honest, people are scrutinizing your last year at Nebraska. How do you ensure that a year like that doesn’t happen again?

KC: Well, I’m not going to make any excuses for what happened there, but if you look at my past, we’ve had many successes on the teams I’ve been with. If I do remember, I think we won Big 10 Championships on four of the teams I’ve coached, and I won a Big 12 North Championship on a team I coached, so I think my record will speak for itself. If I’m going to be judged on one year in this profession, it seems like the people in blogs will do it, not my peers. That’s just the way it is.


GH: You were extremely successful at Wisconsin, and are in the Wisconsin hall of fame. How do you feel about having so much success at our biggest rival, and will that be a tough adjustment for you?

KC: I’m a Minnesota Gopher now. I’m going to do the best job I possibly can to help Minnesota win Big Ten Championships. That’s what I was hired to do, and that’s what I came here to do.


GH: Have you been able to watch much film from our team last year?

KC: I had a lot of opportunities to watch the team last year, I saw four games in person, and had the opportunity to watch virtually every game on TV. There’s a lot of things they did well last year. They made tremendous improvement from the year before. We have to build on those successes and try to get better.

GH: Obviously you’ve been around the college game for a long time, and Brewster’s recruiting philosophy is 24/7. Do you still have that in you to recruit 24/7?

KC: I love recruiting and that’s why I’ve stayed in college football; I’ve had several opportunities to go to the NFL. I like the recruiting process, I like being around the kids, and I really thrive on that. The thing that gets me most excited about Tim (Brewster) is I know what type of attitude he has towards recruiting. He is a 24/7 guy, and in order to have success at the college level, a head coach has to be a 24/7 guy when it comes to recruiting. I think that’s the type of staff that we have.


GH: Do you feel like you have a good idea of what you’re getting into, because your son is a Grad assistant here (Clint Cosgrove)? How do you feel about being his boss?

KC: He’s my son, and I’m very proud of his accomplishments and what he’s done in the coaching profession. It’s good to have him around. I’m very pleased with the staff that we have in our program right now, and look forward to good things.


GH: Do you see yourself staying at Minnesota long-term? I ask this because fans are concerned with such a large coaching turnover, particularly this year.

KC: I live for today. That’s always been my philosophy. When you look at my track record, I was at Wisconsin for 14 years, I was at Illinois for 8 years, I was at Nebraska for 4. The only reason I left there is because Bill got fired. I’m not a guy who jumps around, I stay in one place and try to do the best job I can. Hopefully I’m wanted so it can be a good situation for me and my family.


GH: What would you say to your critics? Would you take websites like firecosgrove.com almost as a form of flattery, because you are so well-known?

KC: When I was at Wisconsin, working for Barry (Alvarez) we never even knew that stuff existed. I never saw anything negative; the only thing I ever saw was positive. Then I went to Nebraska, and I started looking at the negative stuff, and that was probably the worst thing I ever did. It was the worst thing our team ever did, because our players started reading it. They were not only beating up me, but the players, and that’s a bad thing when that happens. That’s their team, they’re beating up the kids, and that’s not right. As a coach, I can take it. Everybody has their opinions, and god bless them, but I’m moving on, and I’m excited to be a Minnesota Gopher right now.


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