The University of Maine football program recorded some historic accomplishments under coach Jack Cosgrove’s watch.
In his 23 years as head coach at his alma mater, Cosgrove’s Black Bears won a conference title and shared two others, hosted the program’s first NCAA playoff game in 2013, won three NCAA playoff games and defeated a team from arguably the best Football Bowl Subdivision conference in the country.
For his contributions to football in the region, Cosgrove is being honored with the New England Football Writers Association’s George C. Carens Award.
Cosgrove, who compiled 129 wins at UMaine, will be honored at the New England Football Writers’ annual captains and awards banquet on Thursday, Dec. 8, in Stoneham, Massachusetts.
He is the third man with Maine ties (George Hale, 2007, and Jack Bicknell, 2004) to receive the honor.
Cosgrove, the No. 10 career passer in UMaine football history with 2,836 yards, dedicated 34 years of his life to the university as a coach and a player.
“I’m grateful, thankful, honored; all of the above,” Cosgrove said Tuesday.
After graduating from UMaine in 1978, Cosgrove spent two years as a graduate assistant with the Black Bears.
He returned to Orono in 1987 as a quarterbacks and receivers coach before being promoted to pass game coordinator in 1988 and offensive coordinator the following year.
Cosgrove became UMaine’s head coach in 1993.
He pointed to some of the program’s biggest accomplishments, such as beating Mississippi State of the Southeastern Conference and the Black Bears’ postseason wins, as some of his fondest memories.
“I’ve been around part of a great growth of UMaine football where we play FBS teams now and we compete in the finest FCS level conference in the country,” Cosgrove said. “These are all things I’ve experienced in my time as a player at UMaine and as a coach.”
The Carens award was adopted in 1952 and is presented to those who have devoted significant time and effort to football in New England.
Cosgrove also pointed to UMaine’s first home playoff game in 2013 against border rival New Hampshire, coming on the heels of the Black Bears’ CAA conference championship.
“That was a special day for us here, we had never done that before,” he said. “It was a great support and turnout by the state of Maine, Maine football fans and the university.”
Cosgrove holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s in educational administration from UMaine, and he coached at Stoughton High School in Massachusetts from 1981 to 1984. He spent two years on the staff at Boston College before returning to Orono.
Cosgrove coached 20 All-Americans at UMaine and three Black Bears were drafted into the NFL. He earned Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year honors in 1996 and 2001, and he was a National Coach of the Year finalist in 2001, 2008 and 2013.
UMaine knocked off two FBS opponents under Cosgrove’s watch, with a 2013 win over Massachusetts adding to the 2004 triumph over Mississippi State.
