Kevin Cosgrove might yet find gainful employment as a defensive coordinator, as reported by Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star Tribune this morning:
One name that could possibly emerge is former Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove, who has been friends with Brewster since their days at Illinois in the early 1980s. Cosgrove's son, Clint, was a defensive graduate assistant with the Gophers last season.
The Gophers' 2007 defensive coordinator, Everett Withers, has decided to leave Minnesota and take a job at North Carolina. Minnesota had the worst defense in Division IA last season, ranking dead last in total defense and 103rd or worse in seven other categories.
Bad defense is nothing new for Minnesota, I've been watching Gopher football for 20 years now and I can't recall a good defense any of those seasons. Minnesota would probably be a good fit for Cosgrove as they wouldn't know a good defense if they saw one. They're used to dropping eight and rushing three, giving up huge leads and generally losing a lot of games due to bad defense.
I was at the game at which Minnesota gave up a 28-7 lead and 31 points to Michigan in the second half. It was heartbreaking, but not end-of-the-world shocking. And who can forget Glen Mason's last game as Minnesota's head coach after giving up a 31 point lead to Texas Tech in the 2006 Insight bowl? It's as if bad defense is in Minnesota's DNA.
If Tim Brewster is foolish enough to hire a guy who has no clue as to how to defend against the spread offense, then I say go ahead and let him. Minnesotans barely pay attention to college football as it is. What's one more failed coaching regime to them?