New Mexico Promotes Jordan Peterson As Defensive Coordinator
Bob Davie shakes up his staff.
Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire
Kevin Cosgrove is out as DC
In a surprising move, New Mexico head coach Bob Davie announced that he is promoting defensive passing game coordinator and safeties coach Jordan Peterson to be the Lobos new defensive coordinator, and will still coach the safeties, according to Steve Virgen of the Albuquerque Journal.
“I feel like he’s a rising star in this profession,” Davie said. “His energy, his knowledge, his relationship with players, he’s really a bright, young coach.”
While Peterson gets the promotion, Kevin Cosgrove was not fired from the Lobos football program but he is getting demoted and will coach the linebackers.
“Obviously, defensively things didn’t go as well as we wanted to last year,” said Davie. “It’s all of us involved. It’s not one person to blame nor is it one person that will solve it all. To address the problems he gives us our best option to become better on defense.”
Cosgrove has been the defensive coordinator at New Mexico for the past six seasons with not the best results. The best two seasons as the defensive coordinator were in 2016 and 2017 where the unit was fifth and six in total defense. The other years the Lobos were continually in the bottom of the league in stopping the ball.
Keeping Cosgrove on staff is an interesting move but it might be out of necessity as Davie still needs to fill the vacated linebackers coaching position when Archie McDaniel left to become the co-defensive coordinator job at Texas State.
Perhaps this is the shakeup that the Lobos defense needs to make things a bit better on that side of the ball. Davie is clearly on the hot seat after going 3-9 and missing out on a bowl game in each of the prior two seasons.
