Perspective on Cosgrove

[the accomplice]

While there are many of us who aren't thrilled with the Cosgrove hiring, I think we are seeing another interesting situation over in Ann Arbor.

With the rumblings hinting at Greg Robinson being the new coordinator over there you have to wonder which is the bigger P.R. disaster - Robinson (were he to be hired) or Cosgrove?

 

[Nine]

Robinson

Robinson has a very good reputation as a DC.

He is like Roof, his failure at Duke doesn't take away his DC track record. The same would go for Robinson and I think he would be a very good hire for Michigan.

 

[rugger14]

PR disaster is relative

I think that the Cosgrove hire was only a disaster to a lot of the hardcores on message boards. My dad, brothers, etc... seem to think a guy from Nebraska and Wisconsin is probably a decent guy to hire. So for the casual fan, I think the Cosgrove hire is just fine. Michigan has a lot more coverage and a wider base of fans, so everything is scrutinized so much more.

 

[Sotakid]

i am beginning to like the cosgrove hiring. sure he had a bad year at nebraska. he has had a year to get better at his craft and it sounded like he was out trying to get better by visiting with different coaches and how to defend a little better. he seems like an excellent recruiter. the knock on him was that his pass def was an issue but if he is teaming up with lee that itself could make him better as i think lee is a pretty good DB coach

 

[Handsome Pete]

He ain't too bad

While there are many of us who aren't thrilled with the Cosgrove hiring, I think we are seeing another interesting situation over in Ann Arbor.

With the rumblings hinting at Greg Robinson being the new coordinator over there you have to wonder which is the bigger P.R. disaster - Robinson (were he to be hired) or Cosgrove?

I'm trying to be down in the mouth about Cosgrove but I can't find any reason. It seems the biggest thing people are pissed about is his performance at Nebraska. But when I look at those Nebraska teams on which he served, I don't see lost games and lost reputation because of a bad defense. I see a complete and utter systemic failure from the marching band to the concession stands. Good lord, they were so awful that I'm not sure Buddy Ryan could have done anything. And it ain't like they catapulted to BCS stardom with Cosgrove's departure.

 

[grunkiejr]

I'm trying to be down in the mouth about Cosgrove but I can't find any reason. It seems the biggest thing people are pissed about is his performance at Nebraska. But when I look at those Nebraska teams on which he served, I don't see lost games and lost reputation because of a bad defense. I see a complete and utter systemic failure from the marching band to the concession stands. Good lord, they were so awful that I'm not sure Buddy Ryan could have done anything. And it ain't like they catapulted to BCS stardom with Cosgrove's departure.

Let's remember that Callahan came to Nebraska as a "brilliant offensive mind" and for the first few years he was in Lincoln the defense was the strongest part of those teams. Callahan's offenses were always bad at Nebraska and it eventually caught up with the defense and Cosgrove had one really bad season there. I have a friend that was on staff at the same time as Cosgrove and he isn't down on Cosgrove at all. He is however pretty negative toward working for Callahan and does not think he has a "brilliant offensive mind."

 

[GopherGod]

I'm trying to be down in the mouth about Cosgrove but I can't find any reason. It seems the biggest thing people are pissed about is his performance at Nebraska. But when I look at those Nebraska teams on which he served, I don't see lost games and lost reputation because of a bad defense. I see a complete and utter systemic failure from the marching band to the concession stands. Good lord, they were so awful that I'm not sure Buddy Ryan could have done anything. And it ain't like they catapulted to BCS stardom with Cosgrove's departure.

I think it was fair to say that Pelini's defense this year was significantly better than Cosgroves and this is with Cosgrove's players. They were way more aggressive and successful and the talent that Cosgrove recruited left a lot to be desired, Pelini was starting two walk-ons and a converted RB this year so and still did better than Cosgrove. What concerns me about Cosgrove is he stated that he lost his team last year and still to this day does not know why. He also stated that sacks were overrated when he got criticism because his no pressure defense could not generate any. Why I am not a Callahan fan at all his offense did move the ball and score points so the offense cannot be used as a scapegoat for Cosgrove's shortcomings. At the end of the day Bo Pelini coaches circles around Cosgrove.

 

[littlebigboy]

There is alot of KOOL-AID out there on Cosgrove!! He is a good recruiter and ok position coach. Our only hope is that Coach Lee has alot of say on the scheme and on game day.

 

[grunkiejr]

I think it was fair to say that Pelini's defense this year was significantly better than Cosgroves and this is with Cosgrove's players. They were way more aggressive and successful and the talent that Cosgrove recruited left a lot to be desired, Pelini was starting two walk-ons and a converted RB this year so and still did better than Cosgrove. What concerns me about Cosgrove is he stated that he lost his team last year and still to this day does not know why. He also stated that sacks were overrated when he got criticism because his no pressure defense could not generate any. Why I am not a Callahan fan at all his offense did move the ball and score points so the offense cannot be used as a scapegoat for Cosgrove's shortcomings. At the end of the day Bo Pelini coaches circles around Cosgrove.

Pelini coaches circles around virtually every defensive coordinator.

Nebraska led the NCAA in sacks for one of those seasons that Cosgrove was DC.

 

[harrys ghost]

I think it was fair to say that Pelini's defense this year was significantly better than Cosgroves and this is with Cosgrove's players. They were way more aggressive and successful and the talent that Cosgrove recruited left a lot to be desired, Pelini was starting two walk-ons and a converted RB this year so and still did better than Cosgrove. What concerns me about Cosgrove is he stated that he lost his team last year and still to this day does not know why. He also stated that sacks were overrated when he got criticism because his no pressure defense could not generate any. Why I am not a Callahan fan at all his offense did move the ball and score points so the offense cannot be used as a scapegoat for Cosgrove's shortcomings. At the end of the day Bo Pelini coaches circles around Cosgrove.

Last year's Nebraska defense was about the same as the 2006 defense. Both 50 something. The only real issue was 2007. Doesn't seem reasonable to tar a relatively long career with just one year.

Even with all that, our defense last year was 81. Fifty looks pretty good to most around here.

 

[Brewscrew]

I think most Bucky fans would turn over in their grave if Coz ever came back to coach in Madison. They couldn't get him out of town fast enough. He is a good recruiter, not great, and he gets maximum effort from his players. That being said he is a HORRIBLE game day coach.
I hope the agreement was for Roof's system to stay in play and for Lee to be the play caller on game day. I have no idea if he is better than Coz, but I'm hoping he learned a few things last year from Roof.

 

[the accomplice]

From what I have read

Cos was not even coaching last year. That makes me very nervous.

I still believe in Brewster but I fear that Cos is a Big step down from Roof. And when I say 'Big step down' I mean like from Jessica Biel to Ellen Degeneres.

I also think RichRod is gonna take some heat if he fires Robinson if for no other reason than it appears he's bringing the Biggest Loser in College Football to a team that had its worst season ever.

 

[grunkiejr]

I think most Bucky fans would turn over in their grave if Coz ever came back to coach in Madison. They couldn't get him out of town fast enough. He is a good recruiter, not great, and he gets maximum effort from his players. That being said he is a HORRIBLE game day coach.
I hope the agreement was for Roof's system to stay in play and for Lee to be the play caller on game day. I have no idea if he is better than Coz, but I'm hoping he learned a few things last year from Roof.

Yes and no. Wisconsin had a top 10 defense when they won the Rose Bowl with Cosgrove as their DC. At the end of his tenure at Wisconsin the defenses were not near where they had been in prior years. For whatever reason the personnel was better when they had top 10 defenses than the years that followed. It could be recruiting, it could be scouting, it could be getting lucky on player development, etc.

I am encouraged that Brewster has continually said that he wants to stay aggressive on D. The biggest knock I've heard on Cosgrove is that it is very read and react oriented and passive. However, when I talked to Wisconsin fans that remember the two Rose Bowls they said he was very aggressive in those years when he had the talent and then became passive and ran a prevent defense when he didn't have the talent. I heard something similar about him at Nebraska in terms of playing a very plain vanilla soft zone defense against Missouri which is the low point for Nebraska fans (I would have thought Texas Tech hanging 80 on them in 2004 would be a lower point). Hopefully Brew breathing down his back to be aggressive will make us more like his Wisconsin teams from the Rose Bowl runs than the 2007 Nebraska D.

I'm not sure why the previous poster thinks there is a lot of Kool-Aid on Cosgrove. He seems to be almost unanimously hated on Gopher message boards. I hope most people will give him a chance to hang himself before condemning himself but the rope is definitely short.

 

[Sotakid]

littlebigboy i would like to disagree with you in that i think cos will be a excellent recruiter for us. if you have read anything positive about cos from a nebraskas stand point it was that he was a excellent recruiter and a very good position coach but if he was the only one calling the plays for the D we would be in trouble. he also has had atleast four of his own recruits go in the first round. tell me a gopher D coach to do that?

 

[harrys ghost]

Cos was not even coaching last year. That makes me very nervous.

I still believe in Brewster but I fear that Cos is a Big step down from Roof. And when I say 'Big step down' I mean like from Jessica Biel to Ellen Degeneres.

I also think RichRod is gonna take some heat if he fires Robinson if for no other reason than it appears he's bringing the Biggest Loser in College Football to a team that had its worst season ever.

I think Roof did a good job last year and I was sorry to see him go. That said, I will be surprised if Gosgrove is worse. I think we will know in the first or second game next year whether it was a good or bad hire. The defensive bar is still very low here.

The most impressive turnaround I ever saw was Gudekunst's first year here as DC. I don't know how many witnessed the 1983 season but IMO it made 2007 look like a picnic. We played Nebraska in the second game (after squeaking by Rice). The score was 84-13 and was no where near as close as the score. It looked like a college team playing a pee-wee team. If Nebraska had wanted to, they could have easily scored over 100 points. We also lost homecoming to Wisconsin 56-17. To close out the season we lost at home to Michigan 58-10 and at Iowa 61-10. The next year (1984) we lost at Nebraska 38-7 and beat Iowa 23-17. We also lost at Michigan 31-7 but won in Madison 17-14. The defense wasn't great but the players were in position and hit hard. I think the former was still missing last year and we had a way to go on the latter.

BTW, the 1985 team held Oklahoma and Troy Aikman to 13 points in the dome.

 

[littlebigboy]

Sotakid, I'll give you the recruiting and coaching, but not budgeing on game day!

 

[Sotakid]

fair enough. been hearing the same things. hopefully thats where lee comes in

 

[GopherGod]

Sotakid, I'll give you the recruiting and coaching, but not budgeing on game day!

I hope he turns out to be a good recruiter, atleast better than he was at nebraska because his defenses tended to get worse when he was coaching his recruits because the talent level of his recruits was not up to the level of his predecessors. I just hope he didn't hit his prime 10 to 15 years ago and is to stubborn or unable to adapt his schemes to todays offenses, ala Norm Parker at Iowa.

 

[GopherGod]

Last year's Nebraska defense was about the same as the 2006 defense. Both 50 something. The only real issue was 2007. Doesn't seem reasonable to tar a relatively long career with just one year.

Even with all that, our defense last year was 81. Fifty looks pretty good to most around here.

Valid point, I think it is important to remember that the 2008 defense was under a new coach(Pelini) and new scheme without much talent. Cosgrove definitely left the cupboard pretty bare there with his recruiting the last few years. When you are a new coach, introducing a new scheme to the players and having to use walk-ons and converted former starting RB to piece together a starting defense because that is all Cosgrove left, yet Pelini was still able to produce a defense ranked in the 50's as Cosgrove did in his 3rd season and with his own hand-picked recruits then I have concerns. I just enjoy watching an aggressive defense more than anything and watching an read and react defense is going to drive me nuts.

 

[TheDinkytowner]

What concerns me about Cosgrove is he stated that he lost his team last year and still to this day does not know why. He also stated that sacks were overrated when he got criticism because his no pressure defense could not generate any.

GopherGod, I know you don't like Cosgrove, but did you really just criticize him for talking about sacks??? You speak as if the man has a track record of not producing any sacks, yet his defense led the nation in sacks (and tackles for loss) in 2005. Maybe other years weren't so kind, but the man has some credibility in the sack department, does he not?

 

[GopherGod]

GopherGod, I know you don't like Cosgrove, but did you really just criticize him for talking about sacks??? You speak as if the man has a track record of not producing any sacks, yet his defense led the nation in sacks (and tackles for loss) in 2005. Maybe other years weren't so kind, but the man has some credibility in the sack department, does he not?

That was Cosgrove's own line from 2007 so ask him why he doesn't believe in the significance of them. I just know his defense only had 13 sacks the entire season of 2007 and in 2008 that defense with arguably less talent had 35.

 

[TheDinkytowner]

That was Cosgrove's own line from 2007 so ask him why he doesn't believe in the significance of them. I just know his defense only had 13 sacks the entire season of 2007 and in 2008 that defense with arguably less talent had 35.

Your arguments are getting very bizarre. You're really going to question the sack record of a guy whose defense led the nation in sacks just 2 years prior?

 

[GopherGod]

Your arguments are getting very bizarre. You're really going to question the sack record of a guy whose defense led the nation in sacks just 2 years prior?

And they were 112 the next year so I can question, his record is definitely not above reproach or questioning because of this. By his own statements however we should disregard his good and bad sack total years because they are "overrated." You want to talk about a bizarre statement, that is one that is bizarre to hear from your DC.

 

[TheDinkytowner]

And they were 112 the next year so I can question, his record is definitely not above reproach or questioning because of this. By his own statements however we should disregard his good and bad sack total years because they are "overrated." You want to talk about a bizarre statement, that is one that is bizarre to hear from your DC.

Depends on the context. If my DC had led the nation in sacks and tackles for a loss the year before, I probably wouldn't say much.

 

[grunkiejr]

Valid point, I think it is important to remember that the 2008 defense was under a new coach(Pelini) and new scheme without much talent. Cosgrove definitely left the cupboard pretty bare there with his recruiting the last few years. When you are a new coach, introducing a new scheme to the players and having to use walk-ons and converted former starting RB to piece together a starting defense because that is all Cosgrove left, yet Pelini was still able to produce a defense ranked in the 50's as Cosgrove did in his 3rd season and with his own hand-picked recruits then I have concerns. I just enjoy watching an aggressive defense more than anything and watching an read and react defense is going to drive me nuts.

Nebraska actually had highly ranked recruiting classes under Callahan. For whatever reason they ended up with a lot more busts than normal. They have a 4 star safety that started this year but talentwise he should be playing in D3 ball. That's not may analysis, that is straight from one of their coaches.

 

[GopherGod]

Nebraska actually had highly ranked recruiting classes under Callahan. For whatever reason they ended up with a lot more busts than normal. They have a 4 star safety that started this year but talentwise he should be playing in D3 ball. That's not may analysis, that is straight from one of their coaches.

The team did have higher ranked recruiting classes under Callahan and the majority of those highly ranked recruits were on the offensive side of the ball, i.e. Marlon Lucky and Harrison Beck(finished this year as the 3 string at NC State but highly rated out of high school) and the rankings don't mean squat if they cannot execute on the field at the college level which is why I say that that the predecessors recruits were more talented(not higher ranked by recruiting sites) because they actually performed on the field and that is why several of them are starting in the NFL. The recruiting rankings I question if they may have been greatly inflated during Callahan's time there due to his long relationship and friendship with Tom Lemming who talked up Callahan as the greatest thing since sliced bread when he came on board.