ORONO — This may end up being the worst football season at the University of Maine in 20 years, but it won’t be the end of the line for Coach Jack Cosgrove.
The winningest coach in program history is expected to get a multiyear extension of his contract in the offseason, and Cosgrove said Tuesday he still believes he has the energy at age 60 to rebuild a winning team.
“This is a grind. It’s all I know, though,” said Cosgrove, who is 129-136 in 23 seasons. “It does warrant that youthful enthusiasm, which I still think I have. Will that last five more years? Will that last 10 more years? I don’t know. When you’ve done something like this for as long as I have, I probably am overly critical of success and failure.”
This autumn has featured more of the latter. Maine is 3-7 heading into Saturday’s finale at rival New Hampshire, which it hasn’t beaten since 2010. The last time the Black Bears finished with only three victories was 1995, Cosgrove’s third year.
Cosgrove is in the final year of a three-year contract that pays him $187,000 annually. Athletic Director Karlton Creech said that negotiations on a new contract will begin after Thanksgiving.
“I want him to be our football coach,” said Creech, in his second year leading the Maine athletic department. “I’ll discuss with him what he wants, but I hope we do a multiyear extension. Jack does a great job. I have complete faith in him.”
Maine is two years removed from a Colonial Athletic Association championship and a fifth FCS playoff berth since 2001. Last year’s team finished 5-6. Cosgrove expected this version of Black Bears to be much better.
“I’m responsible for the recruiting, the coaches we hire, the players. I make those final decisions. So when it’s not going well,” Cosgrove said, “yeah, it wears on you more than those other years.”
The problems the past two seasons have primarily fallen on an unproductive offense. The Black Bears have been held to 10 points or fewer in five games this season and rank 11th in the 12-team CAA in red-zone efficiency.
Cosgrove and offensive coordinator Kevin Bourgoin have failed to identify and develop a capable starting quarterback in the past two years. Dan Collins and Drew Belcher both have been given opportunities and have been benched this year after splitting time a season ago.
Cosgrove said it’s not fair to pin all the blame on any one player or coach, but the former UMaine quarterback knows how vital that position is. He said it was disappointing that his team finds itself still searching for an offensive leader after two years of competition, and said that both Belcher, a sophomore, and Collins, a junior, will play again Saturday.
“We just haven’t established ourselves as a consistent force on the offensive side of the ball,” Cosgrove said. “A lot of things keep me up late at night. That’s one of them. That we haven’t gotten better at some of the key positions on our team.”
As for Bourgoin, who has been a lightning rod of fan criticism for what many see as predictable and conservative play-calling, Cosgrove declined comment.
Bourgoin is Cosgrove’s longest-tenured assistant, in his 15th season. He was promoted to associate head coach after the team went 10-3 in 2013 and his current one-year contract nets him $64,000. It expires at the end of June, as do all of the assistant coaches’ deals.
“I never do that,” Cosgrove said when asked if he would give Bourgoin a vote of confidence. “I never comment on our coaches.
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