Orono, Maine -- Few people have developed a greater affection for the University of Maine than Jack Cosgrove.
His sentiments are derived from spending 34 years on the Orono campus.
Cosgrove was a UMaine athlete, a graduate assistant, a full-time assistant coach and the head coach with the football program, and later served as an athletic administrator. Through it all, he discovered the pivotal influence he could have on young people.
"I have a great appreciation for the history of Maine athletics and, in particular, those who played here," Cosgrove said.
"I think Maine's overall makeup, its structure, its environment, allow for great success and I think there are many cases of that in every sport up there," he said.
In 23 seasons as UMaine's head coach, Cosgrove helped facilitate numerous success stories. He coached 20 All-Americans, 3 Buck Buchanan Award (national defensive player of the year) finalists and 31 players who reached the National Football League.
The list includes the likes of NFL performers Mike Flynn, Stephen Cooper, Montell Owens, Matt Mulligan, Brandon McGowan and Mike DeVito.
"He had a knack for finding guys that were truly diamonds in the rough," Devito said.
Cosgrove is the winningest coach in program history with 129 victories, including three conference titles and five NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearances with three wins.
Cosgrove was a three-time finalist for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award and in 2001 was named the American Football Monthly I-AA National Coach of the Year.
"He really embodied and defined what it means to be a Black Bear," DeVito said.
"It's very rare that you find somebody that buys into a program and sells out for years and years and sacrifices so much because he truly loves the program and that rubbed off on everybody who was a part of that program," DeVito said.
Cosgrove, a 2013 inductee into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame, guided UMaine to two victories over Football Bowl Championship teams (Mississippi State and Massachusetts) and helped it earn the program's first home NCAA playoff game in 2013, when he was chosen the Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year.
In 2004, UMaine knocked off Mississippi State 9-7 at Starkville, Miss., giving the program its first victory over an FBS team.
"I felt like ordering a giant tent, pitching it on the field and staying there all night," Cosgrove said. "That's how uplifting it was for not only our players, but our assistant coaches. That was a really special night."
Cosgrove's affiliation with UMaine began when he played football from 1974-77. He was a two-time All-Yankee Conference quarterback under coach Walter Abbott, who became his coaching mentor.
Cosgrove served as a graduate assistant at UMaine for two seasons, moved on to Stoughton (Mass.) High School and Boston College, then returned to UMaine in 1987 as an assistant under Tim Murphy.
In 1993, Cosgrove was named the head coach, replacing Kirk Ferentz.
Abbott was still there providing advice and support for his protege.
"He kept telling me, 'you're building a program, not coaching a team,' and that was very important for me to hear," Cosgrove said.
In 2015, Cosgrove stepped down and finished his Black Bears career with two years in athletic administration. Since 2018, he has been the head football coach at Colby College in Waterville.
Cosgrove and his wife Marilyn are the parents of four adult children: Jeri, twins Matthew and Carly and Sydni.
The 20201 UMaine Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet will take place on Friday, Sept. 17 at Jeff's Catering in Brewer, Maine from 5:30-8:30 p.m. The evening will begin with a social hour and hors d'oeuvres followed by a buffet meal and the official induction presentations of all of the inductees. This special event will be by reservation only, with limited space available. Tickets for the event are available for $50. To purchase your ticket to the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet, please visit GoBlackBears.com/tickets. If you prefer to mail your payment, please contact banquet Co-Chairs Cherie Damon (207.949.4745 / cdicemom2@aol.com) or Sue Pate (207.249.9245 / suepate@roadrunner.com).
