Cosgrove interview reeks of denial

Kevin Cosgrove has spoken. About his experience as Nebraska’s defensive coordinator from 2004-2007 that is.

I know, why beat a dead horse? The 2008 Huskers showed much promise under first-year head coach Bo Pelini in going 9-4. Steve Pederson, Bill Callahan and Cosgrove are gone. Cosgrove has been mainly silent since being dismiss after Nebraska’s abysmal performance, especially on the defensive side of the ball in going 5-7 in 2007 – until now.

Cosgrove is now the co-defensive coordinator at the University of Minnesota after being out of coaching last year. Cosgrove did a one-on-one interview with www.gopherhole.com writer Nadine Babu. The interview reeks of a coach in denial. Granted, there’s not much Cosgrove can say to appease us Husker fans.

Criticize Callahan all you want for not granting Omaha World Herald reporter Mitch Sherman an interview when Sherman traveled to the New York Jets practice facility but at least Callahan has the common sense to keep his mouth shut.

Cosgrove seems like a decent guy as a person and while he was at Nebraska he never made excuses for the defense’s failures but the general tone of this interview just seems a bit too whiny and a lack of willingness to accept accountability.

Here are some of the things he said about his Nebraska days in the interview and italicized are my responses to his responses:

About Nebraska's rating of 112th in total defense in his last season here: "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 (in 2005), did you know that?"

Really. It’s mildly strange that you allude to us leading the nation in sacks in 2005 now considering that defensive backs coach Phil Elmaisson (aka Uncle Elmo) said that sacks were overrated. We also led the nation in bad defense in 2007 under your watch I might add. Pelini proved this year that our players weren't nearly as bad as the record last year said they were. They may not have been good enough to win the Big 12, but they weren't bad. Heck, Cosgrove made Craig Bohl look like Charlie McBride.

About ensuring that another year like 2007 doesn't happen to him as a coach again: "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."

For starters, celebrating a Big Ten title at Wisconsin is one thing considering that Michigan and Ohio State have combined for 75 of 164 conference titles in Big 10 history. Wisconsin has 11, three in the 1990s under Barru Alvarez. However, blowing your horn about a Big 12 North title at Nebraska is ridiculous. Granted, it was a good achievement at the time considering the Huskers hadn’t done since in seven years but we don’t celebrate division titles at Nebraska. And if your peers rather than blogs judge you as a coach then explain why you were out of coaching for a year?

About what he did in his year off from coaching: "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."

Again, Cos seems like a decent guy personally and best of luck to Minnesota but my next door neighbor is a nice guy too. That doesn’t make him a good defensive coordinator. Maybe Cos can succeed in the right set of circumstances but he also had four years at Nebraska to learn to stop the zone read and never came close.

About what he would say to his critics: "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."

Cos’s family did not deserve the abuse it got (i.e. death threats at his office and his son getting taunting at his high school football game). Granted, that’s probably just one clown out of every ten among Husker fans but those people need to be locked in a rubber room. However, Cos also needs to realize that the biggest reason for the fan negativity is the team’s horrible performance. And the players flat out quitting on him is indeed his fault.