Staying "was right thing

[Eric the Red]

Cosgrove: Staying "was right thing"

 

BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star

Wednesday, Feb 15, 2006 - 07:02:52 pm CST

 

Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove chuckles at the notion that so many people were concerned last month about him leaving Lincoln for a position with the NFL Minnesota Vikings. It wasn’t long ago, he notes, that many Husker fans wanted to “run me out of town.”

 

Apparently the tide has changed, judging by the “tons” of cards and e-mails Cosgrove said he received in the wake of his decision to return for a third season at Nebraska. The Husker assistant said Wednesday he looks back on his decision with “absolutely no regrets.”

 

“It was the right thing to do,” Cosgrove said in his first public comments about the situation. “Really, it’s as simple as that.”

 

Cosgrove, a 50-year-old married father of three, said moving to Minnesota would have been extremely difficult for his family, especially for son Clint, a high school freshman. What’s more, Cosgrove said, the Nebraska football “family” might’ve suffered somewhat. Had he accepted the Minnesota job, NU would have been faced with having four defensive coordinators in a five-year span.

 

“It would’ve caused too many problems,” said Cosgrove, who in 2005 guided Nebraska’s resurgence on defense. The Huskers currently are in the midst of their winter conditioning program, upbeat at the thought of 15 starters returning in 2006, including seven on defense.

 

About a week after Nebraska finished the 2005 season with an 8-4 record, rumblings surfaced that new Vikings head coach Brad Childress was trying to hire Cosgrove to coach linebackers. Cosgrove was torn, he said. He had never coached in the NFL.

 

“The NFL’s retirement plan is outstanding,” he said. “Financially, it wasn’t even close.”

 

Cosgrove has an annual salary of $206,000 at Nebraska, but the offer from Minnesota was in the $300,000 to $400,000 range, Cosgrove confirmed Wednesday, declining to be specific.

 

“I know Brad almost like I know Bill,” said Cosgrove, referring to Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan. “It’s something Brad and I had talked about for a long time.”

 

Childress and Cosgrove worked together as assistants on staffs at Illinois in the early 1980s and Wisconsin throughout the 1990s, with Childress coaching offense and Cosgrove defense.

 

Cosgrove, though, also felt loyalty toward Callahan — with whom Cosgrove has coached for 14 years — as well as the rest of the Nebraska staff, he said.

 

“Our guys here are great guys and great coaches,” Cosgrove said. “I don’t look back. I know I did the right thing.”

 

Cosgrove acknowledged that criticism he received in 2004 — when the Husker defense often struggled as the team finished with a 5-6 record — was at times difficult for him to hear. But he said fan and media criticism had nothing to do with his thoughts of taking the Minnesota job.

 

He did acknowledge being somewhat surprised by Nebraska fans’ extreme passion for the program.

 

“I thought I had a pretty good understanding of it when I came here (in January of 2004),” he said. “But you don’t know until you actually get here. Everyone (around the nation) has a passion for their team, but here . . . Everyone has tremendous ownership, or feels like they have ownership.

 

“I want to win more than anybody. It’s my name on it.”

 

Cosgrove said he and the rest of the Husker staff currently are in the midst of “scheme evaluations” — breaking down the schemes used last season to determine what worked well and what didn’t.

 

With ample talent and depth at linebacker, there has been offseason speculation about Nebraska switching to a 3-4 defense from the 4-3 alignment it has been using.

 

Cosgrove cooled such talk.

 

“I’m thinking about a 3-4 as a change-up, not as a base,” he said. “There’ll be no talk of using a 3-4 until we’re done with our scheme evaluations.”

 

Injured Nebraska linebackers Bo Ruud, Steve Octavien and Stewart Bradley likely will be available for spring workouts, Cosgrove said.

 

“I think they will all be cleared completely,” the coach said. Outside linebacker Nick Covey, a redshirted freshman who has a shoulder injury, is the only defender in the upper units who will miss spring drills for sure, Cosgrove said.

[Red Snow Sword: Husker Sentinel]

I hope that things like this are respected, and also, shows that NU is a place worth going. KC staying... I think it says a lot about himself and the team, too. He could have had more money, etc. Hopefully his values will remain as they are now... (as in, Nebraska is a great place for him and his family)

 

but props to him no matter what

[Pedro Guerrero]

I for one am glad Coz is staying. The kids did not need to go through another change. The more this staff stays together the better it will get.IMO It really says something about Coz that he would turn down a lot more money and a gig at the highest level to stick around and try to finish what he help start here.

[Touchdown Tommie]

Most people would have jumped ship as soon as they saw the salary difference. This decision shows what KC's character is. Also, why would you want to leave the most passionate fans in college football for a mess here in Minnesota???

[Silent Commit]

With ample talent and depth at linebacker, there has been offseason speculation about Nebraska switching to a 3-4 defense from the 4-3 alignment it has been using

 

please...no 3-4 defense

[paHUSKERMAN]

With ample talent and depth at linebacker, there has been offseason speculation about Nebraska switching to a 3-4 defense from the 4-3 alignment it has been using

 

please...no 3-4 defense

Agreed,

[StuckinChicago]

I dont mind it as a changeup, but we need to be more aggresive with it when we do. Alot of the time we ran it, we only brought 4 or 5 guys. We need to bring at least 6 with alot of different angles, stunts, crosses, etc, or drop eight into coverage. No more comprimising.

[hack]

i'm glad to that both blake and cos decided to stay.