FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[gridiron]

Done deal.  Announcement tomorrow.

[ColbyFootball]

Done deal.  Announcement tomorrow.

From within or from without?

[gridiron]

Out of respect for the process, the announcement needs to be made by the school--but it is imminent.

Things are looking up in Waterville.

[ColbyFootball]

Out of respect for the process, the announcement needs to be made by the school--but it is imminent.

Things are looking up in Waterville.

Agreed

[Reader1]

Mrs. Michaeles was coach of the women's hockey team for I think three years. The team did poorly. I watched some games being
streamed and they looked slow, and just less talented than the competition.  She now works at Colby in the Advancement area.
I would think that the 'lateral' move from coaching had nothing to do with the performance of the football team which her husband coached.

[ColbyFootball]

Mrs. Michaeles was coach of the women's hockey team for I think three years. The team did poorly. I watched some games being
streamed and they looked slow, and just less talented than the competition.  She now works at Colby in the Advancement area.
I would think that the 'lateral' move from coaching had nothing to do with the performance of the football team which her husband coached.

I was told Colby wanted her out a few years back but she was pregnant and the Michaeles' threatened to sue for discrimination. So, Colby kept her on. It would appear any such suit would have been unsuccessful, but Colby likely didn't want the bad publicity. "Nice Guy" Michaeles and the Mrs. appear to be a shrewd characters if that was true and they pulled that off. I believe she's pregnant once again, so I don't know how that will play into her situation and Colby's decision. It obviously didn't save Jonathan's job.

[Nescacman]

NESCACMAN Breaking News:

Our sources in Waterville tell us that former UMaine coach, Jack Cosgrove, will be named the new HCOF of the UColby Mules tomorrow.

Cosgrove, 61 years old, last coached in 2015. His career record as a HCOF was 129-135. He has spent his entire college playing and coaching career at Maine, except for two years in the 80's at BC. He won th A-10 Championship twice and the CAA championship once as HCOF of the Black Bears. He was A-10 coach of the year in 1996. He played QB for the Black Bears from 1974-1977.

Our two cents....it remains to be seen how an older, former D1 coach will do in the NESCAC. On the positive side, Cosgrove is a well known name in Maine, has had success as a HCOF, and did manage to bring talent into the State that was good enough to compete nationally at the FCS level. On the negative side of the ledger, he's older/old, has been out of the game for a few years and has never recruited academically superior athletes before (look how the last former D1 guy did at Williams...and he was at Columbia before). We think a younger, up and coming, Ivy/Patriot coordinator would have been a better fit here, but what do we know. Can't be any worse than the last guy, right Colby fans?   

[ColbyFootball]

NESCACMAN Breaking News:

Our sources in Waterville tell us that former UMaine coach, Jack Cosgrove, will be named the new HCOF of the UColby Mules tomorrow.

Cosgrove, 61 years old, last coached in 2015. His career record as a HCOF was 129-135. He has spent his entire college playing and coaching career at Maine, except for two years in the 80's at BC. He won th A-10 Championship twice and the CAA championship once as HCOF of the Black Bears. He was A-10 coach of the year in 1996. He played QB for the Black Bears from 1974-1977.

Our two cents....it remains to be seen how an older, former D1 coach will do in the NESCAC. On the positive side, Cosgrove is a well known name in Maine, has had success as a HCOF, and did manage to bring talent into the State that was good enough to compete nationally at the FCS level. On the negative side of the ledger, he's older/old, has been out of the game for a few years and has never recruited academically superior athletes before (look how the last former D1 guy did at Williams...and he was at Columbia before). We think a younger, up and coming, Ivy/Patriot coordinator would have been a better fit here, but what do we know. Can't be any worse than the last guy, right Colby fans?   

I don't know Cosgrove, but nothing in his record is so impressive justifying such a hire. At 61 years of age, and without experience recruiting nescac type athletes, this is truly a roll of the dice. I would prefer, and expected, as younger energetic type with Ivy type experience. A James Perry type who took over as HCOF at Bryant. But if Cosgrove is the guy, lets hope he gets it done. I'll be pulling for anyone to bring some excitement and wins.

[gridiron]

So much for letting the school make the announcement

IMO Colby is fortunate to be able to land someone with Cosgrove's stature and background.  Differentiates Colby from the other NESCAC coaches.  Cosgrove has been recruiting athletes into Maine for twenty something years.  As for recruitng academically superior student athletes, Havard's HC Murphy cut his teeth as head coach of Maine as well.  Harvard does a pretty good job on the recruiting front, we would all agree.

As for Williams' former HC, he was never a D1 head coach to my knowledge.  BIG difference there.

I think going away from the more traditional NESCAC approach of hiring a former Trinity or Springfield player who has been an OC somewhere elses is exactly the kind of approach Colby needs to shake things up.

Of course, only time will tell, and if the new coach doesn't get more help in admissions to match the commitment at some other NESCACs, nothing will change.  But for now, followers of the program should enjoy the breath of fresh air.

[Nescacman]

So much for letting the school make the announcement

IMO Colby is fortunate to be able to land someone with Cosgrove's stature and background.  Differentiates Colby from the other NESCAC coaches.  Cosgrove has been recruiting athletes into Maine for twenty something years.  As for recruitng academically superior student athletes, Havard's HC Murphy cut his teeth as head coach of Maine as well.  Harvard does a pretty good job on the recruiting front, we would all agree.

As for Williams' former HC, he was never a D1 head coach to my knowledge.  BIG difference there.

I think going away from the more traditional NESCAC approach of hiring a former Trinity or Springfield player who has been an OC somewhere elses is exactly the kind of approach Colby needs to shake things up.

Of course, only time will tell, and if the new coach doesn't get more help in admissions to match the commitment at some other NESCACs, nothing will change.  But for now, followers of the program should enjoy the breath of fresh air.

How motivated is this guy going to be? He's 61, was retired and is collecting a state pension. This is clearly his last job. Time will tell, but if we had a dog in this fight, we wouldnt be all that happy. We'll bet anyone a buck that we'll be having this same discussion on Colby's next HCOF in 3-4 years. It's a little harder to lure student athletes to Maine when you're not dangling a full-ride athletic scholarship in front of their faces.

[PolarCat]

Ah, the impudence of youth.  61 is "old"  You'll be there soon enough, sonny.  And when you are, your fellow Card (who is 65 now) will likely still be wearing his hoodie, and trying for his 11th Super Bowl ring (TB12 may even still be playing for him).

At 61, I'd say Cosgrove will fit right in as a contemporary of Harriman, Ritter, Caputi and maybe even Raymond.  And I bet The Darp had more wins in his 60's than Michaeles and Harriman have had in their entire careers.

Assuming Cosgrove can turn the program around and the Owl Boiler ever gets his act together, I think darker days are ahead for Bates.  Unless AD Fein can ship Mark Harriman off to Santa Cruz, the Garnet faithful better hold on to their memories of the Class of 2018's 4 straight CBB titles.  That run's not going to continue.

[footballluv]

Sounds like a good retirement job for a guy thay was a great D1 coach, athletic director, coordinator,  high school coach anf quarterback. He gets a short season and a limited recruitment schedule in a state where he can now recruit the guys he once overlooked or had to leave on the shelf. I think he will get Maine standouts and be able to return to his old hunting grounds for a few guys that will be special in the NESCAC. His record shows he knows offense and can build on his priors in the small pond that is Colby and the NESCAC. Colby gives him something to sell with the new facilities and Davis Connects. I see him getting some of the NESCAC players that got away from the former staff.  I bet he was a good closer when it came to recruiting and that is good tool in the Colby Football bag as well. Great Choice!

[ColbyFootball]

Sounds like a good retirement job for a guy thay was a great D1 coach, athletic director, coordinator,  high school coach anf quarterback. He gets a short season and a limited recruitment schedule in a state where he can now recruit the guys he once overlooked or had to leave on the shelf. I think he will get Maine standouts and be able to return to his old hunting grounds for a few guys that will be special in the NESCAC. His record shows he knows offense and can build on his priors in the small pond that is Colby and the NESCAC. Colby gives him something to sell with the new facilities and Davis Connects. I see him getting some of the NESCAC players that got away from the former staff.  I bet he was a good closer when it came to recruiting and that is good tool in the Colby Football bag as well. Great Choice!

I am solidly behind the new hire of Cosgrove, but I am concerned with his losing record in a 20 plus year career. Any objective person must consider that fact. To paraphrase a very smart former coach, you are what your record says you are. And, IMO moving down to D3 from D1 FCS football is not a guarantee of success. But, the hire has been made, so we should all hope for the best, and support him in every way possible, starting with recruiting.

[nescac1]

Seems like a great hire to me!  To succeed in NESCAC, first and foremost, a CBB coach needs to win the Maine recruiting wars and also get a ton of talent from Massachusetts ... I imagine that Cosgrove is really connected, well-known, and respected in the region, and brings instant credibility.   High school coaches will certainly listen to his pitch carefully.  Also, look at Maine's roster -- if you look at the veterans he left behind, there are a TON of guys from NJ, NY, and PA, areas rich in potential NESCAC recruits that are typically dominated by other NESCAC schools.  If Colby can make real headway in those regions thansk to Cosgrove's reputation and connections, that would be a very big deal.  And with the ridiculous athletics facilities Colby is building, he certainly has something to sell.  I bet also that he gets to bring in some big-time assistants -- that certainly helped Coach Raymond rebuild quickly at Williams. 

I also wouldn't fixate on his W-L record.  Maine is a state with virtually no homegrown high-level D1 football talent, so the coach there will always be starting at a disadvantage.  And it's not like Maine is an athletics powerhouse as a University, generally.  Also, he started 6-27 in his first three years (with other guys' recruits) so that makes his record look worse than it was.  From that point forward, he was comfortably above .500 in the aggregate.  He posted some really good seasons in a tough football situation, including three three-loss campaigns and five total post-season appearances.  IF he could merely duplicate those sort of records at Colby, going 5-4 or 6-3 in a typical season, I'm sure Colby fans would be delighted relative to recent precedent.   

[NED3Guy]

A hire is only as good as the support that coach is going to be given.

One can assume that a guy who "retired" from coaching a few years back, wasn't going to get back in the game without some assurances from the administration that he'd be getting the help he needs to make it work.

I don't think there can be any correlation made between his recruiting successes (or failures) at Maine when projecting his future at Colby. Recruiting for a scholarship CAA program and recruiting for an early decision based NESCAC program are night and day. No matter what connections he has, or where he got kids from, and how much respect he has in state, it is so much different that comparing the two schools and, recruiting to each school, is not worth doing.

Where I think most people in the CAA would tip their hats to Cosgrove (and what should be most appealing to Colby fans) is his ability to develop the players. Maine wasn't winning too many recruiting battles with UNH, UMASS (while they were 1aa / FCS) or many of the other teams in that league (Probably just URI)...but he and his staff did a very good job in taking guys who UNH and the others passed on, and turning them into guys who UNH wished they had by the time they were juniors.

That will be his biggest strength in building up the Colby football program. He won't get the kids that Amherst or Trinity wants, but can he coach up the kids he does get and make them studs like he did with so many Blackbears over the years?