Colby football coach puts cancer in rearview mirror as he preps for season

Jack Cosgrove is looking forward to Sept. 14.

That is when the University of Maine Sports Hall of Famer and former Black Bear head football coach will lead his Colby College team onto Jessee/Miller Field on the Trinity College campus in Hartford, Connecticut, for its season opener against the Bantams.

At this time last year, Cosgrove was nearing the end of seven months of chemotherapy for a rare form of lymphoma that was diagnosed in December, 2022.

He still coached the Waterville-based Mules last fall, guiding them to a 3-6 record, but he questions his decision to do so.

“I was a stubborn, stubborn man,” said Cosgrove, who will be 68 in October. “I wanted to coach but I don’t think I had the energy and enthusiasm that I always coach with.”

He finished his chemotherapy treatments right before the start of training camp and thought he was through with it.

But he admits that he underestimated the impact the treatments had on him.

Cosgrove said he has since made great progress in his battle with the cancer, which has no known cure as yet. One of his oncologists told him all his recent blood and urine tests turned out close to normal.

“The results matched how I felt,” said Cosgrove, adding he feels a lot better than a year ago.

He said the oncologist also told him that coaching is beneficial to his recovery.

“When a patient goes through a cancer treatment, they need something that is therapeutic for them in their lives. He looked at me and said ‘I think yours is football,” said Cosgrove.

Cosgrove, a former UMaine quarterback and assistant coach from Sharon, Mass., is UMaine’s all-time leader in football coaching wins with 129 to go with 135 losses. He was the head coach for 23 seasons from 1993-2015.

He won three conference titles and led his Black Bears to five NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearances.

He also piloted the Black Bears to victories over Football Bowl Subdivision teams Mississippi State and UMass.

FBS schools have 22 more scholarships and more resources than FCS programs.

After stepping down after the 2015 season, he worked as an athletic administrator at UMaine before landing the Division III Colby College job. His first season at Colby was 2018 and his back-to-back 4-5 seasons in 2021 and ‘22 were the school’s first seasons with as many as four wins since the 2013 team went 4-4.

He is 16-29 in his five seasons at Colby but 8-2 against in-state rivals Bates and Bowdoin.

Colby had gone 11-30 in its five years prior to Cosgrove’s arrival.

Cosgrove’s desire to continue coaching while battling cancer comes as no surprise to two of his former Black Bear players, ex-National Football League defensive end and current UMaine football director of player development and alumni relations Mike DeVito and UMaine head football coach Jordan Stevens.

“Not only is he the patriarch of Maine football, he is one of the toughest human beings I’ve ever met,” DeVito said. “The guys who have been coached by him and learned under him are the toughest people I know.”

Stevens said Cosgrove’s attitude and work ethic are factors in his recovery.

“His fight and determination have certainly been on display with his health battles.” said Stevens. “He has worked real hard to get himself back in shape and he looks great.”

DeVito compared Cosgrove to former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, ex-Pats quarterback Tom Brady and former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning along with other greats.

“Football runs through his blood. It might seem like somewhat of a paradox but the best place for him to be is on a football field. He relaxes in the chaos. He is so used to being in the storm of football, that is where he finds the most peace,” said DeVito.

Cosgrove said the chemotherapy treatments weren’t nearly as difficult as he thought they were going to be or as tough as it was 10 years ago when he watched someone go through it.

“I was lucky. I praise modern medicine for that,” said Cosgrove.

He said his wife, Marilyn, has been by his side the whole time.

“She is really on top of things. She has become a nurse practitioner in her second career,” said the father of four.

Cosgrove is currently managing his health through nutrition, life balance and exercise.

“I have some restrictions in terms of health and diet and making sure I’m walking and exercising. It’s not that I didn’t do it before but it is really important if your body isn’t at the capacity it is used to being at.”

He is excited about the upcoming campaign.

“I look forward to every season with great anticipation and enthusiasm. I don’t feel I held up my end of things last year. I didn’t meet the expectations I set for myself and the team,” he said.