Liberty's Mario Cosby glad to be back for senior year

Liberty’s Mario Cosby spent four years, including one redshirt season, playing various backup positions along the offensive line. But as his senior year approached, and starting positions opened, Cosby’s first impulse was to cut bait.

He could just quit football, and take a job in management at a Wal-Mart in Altavista. Or he could blow out of his hometown, joining former Flames teammate Michael Corral across the country at Eastern Oregon University, an NAIA school, to use his final year of eligibility.

Such ideas sounded insane to former Flames center Mike Godsil.

“It was bullcrap,” he said.

When Mike Hagen, Liberty’s assistant athletics director for compliance, approached Flames coach Danny Rocco, asking if it was OK to sign off on Cosby, a former E.C. Glass standout, transferring somewhere else to play his final year, Rocco was taken aback.

“I said, well, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Rocco said. “If Mario wants to play another year of football, he needs to play it here with us.”

Rocco then pulled Cosby into his office for a chat. Why spend four years working and toiling, only to leave when the biggest opportunity of his football life was about to arise? Godsil got into Cosby’s ear, too. With Godsil, Zach Davis and Britt Stone gone, Cosby was almost certain to head into spring practice at No. 1 on the depth chart at center.

The campaigning by Cosby’s coaches and teammates made it clear — he was wanted, and the opportunity to start one year for a team that’s spent much of the last two seasons in the FCS Top 25 was too good to pass up.

“I started thinking about the guys on the team, and the deep connection I have with these guys,” Cosby said. “It’s almost like a family out here. I thought about that, and it led me to my decision. I spoke to my mother, and she knew it, the second I called her on the phone, that I was going to be playing this year. The ball just went rolling from there.”

Whew, Rocco thought. When evaluating what was lost from the 2008 Flames, which went 10-2 and won a second straight Big South championship, many focused on the skill players like running back Rashad Jennings, quarterback Brock Smith and receivers Dominic Bolden and Jonathan Crawford. No one thought much of the void Godsil, a four-year starter, was leaving at center.

“We needed a center who was going to be able to run the line calls and know what to do,” Rocco said.

There was one problem, though. Cosby was shrinking, literally. In the month after the football season ended, Cosby lost considerable weight, falling to 238 pounds, not exactly the prototypical size for a Division I center. Rocco made Cosby a promise. If he got his weight back to 270, the coach would take Cosby out for dinner.

Cosby got to work in the weight room. He had quite the group of mentors, including Godsil, who is finishing up his undergraduate work this year and is working as a student assistant coach, and strength and conditioning coach Bill Gillespie, a world champion in the bench press. Cosby fed off their work ethic, worked out and ate like a madman, and reported to camp at 275 pounds.

(And as a side note, Rocco invited Cosby to join his family for a Saturday night dinner at Neighbor’s Place in Wyndhurst. Promise kept.)

Along with experience, Cosby has talent, and he’s appreciative of Godsil’s experience and wisdom. Godsil is using this season as on-the-job training for a career in coaching, joining his father Matt in the coaching profession. Godsil’s assessment of his successor:

“One of the biggest things he brings to the table is his feet. He has really exceptional footwork, and he has great quickness off the ball. That really allows him to be utilized on outside zone plays, or any kind of perimeter plays. He’s gotten a lot stronger and a lot more physical. He’s stepped into that role pretty well, and we’re excited about him.”

Cosby is one of three new full-time starters on the line. Left tackle Justin Vargas split time with Davis last year, and right guard Alex Stadler made a five starts when Stone was injured. Every day as Cosby leaves the locker room, he studies a mural in the football operations center, featuring linemen from the teams that won consecutive conference championships.

He said he feels a sense of obligation to continue that tradition, something he wouldn’t have been able to do had he left for the Pacific Northwest. His decision made, Cosby is ready to give everything he has to make sure there’s no letdown from last year, despite the personnel losses.

“We know we have big shoes to fill,” Cosby said. “Every day I come out here, I want to be just like that line.”