LSU Football: Why Kevin Cosgrove was an important analyst for the Tigers

LSU football lost another off-the-field coach on Friday.

According a report from Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, LSU football lost another analyst on Friday.

And this was an important analyst.

Kevin Cosgrove, according to Dellenger, is leaving LSU to take the linebackers coach job at Texas Tech.

Most folks barely blink when an analyst leaves a program.

And I get it. They aren’t highly visible and often we don’t really know what they even do for a program.

But Cosgrove, who was listed on LSU’s official website as the Tigers’ lead defensive analyst, was a valuable part of Orgeron’s staff. As a former defensive coordinator at Nebraska and Minnesota, Cosgrove brought plenty of experience to LSU’s coaching room.

Because of that experience, Cosgrove had some important responsibilities. The veteran defensive coach was responsible for breaking down game film, putting together charts for the run game and to look for any “tendencies” the opposing team might have.

Essentially, Cosgrove was responsible for getting Ed Orgeron and the defensive coaches all the information they needed to install their defensive game plan. If Cosgrove’s information was wrong, the whole game plan could go awry.

Cosgrove was also adept at coming up with effective ways to defend RPO’s (which are a staple of most offense at this point).

Just because Cosgrove wasn’t an on-the-field coach doesn’t mean he didn’t have a big impact on LSU football. Losing him isn’t a major story, but it’s still a position that Coach O will need to replace.

Of course, Orgeron shouldn’t have a shortage of qualified coaches willing to take the lead defensive analyst job. He just has to find the right guy.