William Cosh (born March 5, 1992) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. He is currently the head football coach for

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

Early life

Cosh was born in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. At the time, his father

Chris Cosh Chris Cosh (born May 12, 1959) is an American football coach and former player. He currently serves as the defensive coordinator at Hampton University. Playing career Cosh played linebacker for the Virginia Tech Hokies football, Virginia Tech Ho ...

was the defensive line coach for the University of Minnesota football team. The Cosh family moved constantly as Chris changed coaching jobs often. By the time Billy was in high school, they settled in Maryland as Chris was the defensive coordinator for the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

from 2006 to 2008.

Playing career

Cosh attended

Arundel High School Arundel High School is a public high school located in Gambrills, Maryland, a suburb of Anne Arundel County. The school is part of the Anne Arundel County Public School system, and is the primary high school for Gambrills and portions of the ...

from 2006 to 2009. He became the starting quarterback in his junior year, where he broke seven state records throughout the season including most passing yards (3,909) and most touchdown passes (56) in a season. In his senior year, he threw for 3,913 yards and 56 touchdowns, setting state records for career attempts (909), completions (594), passing yards (7,433) and touchdowns (112). Cosh first committed to

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

, where his father Chris was the defensive coordinator. He redshirted his freshman season. He transferred to

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

after the season, following a visit from their head coach Mickey Matthews which convinced him there was an opportunity for him there. However, he was at the bottom of the quarterback depth chart and did not play. Cosh would regret his first transfer as "a rash decision." In 2012, he transferred to Butler Community College but tore his ACL in the

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

junior college championship game, ending a season where he threw for 2,856 yards and 25 touchdowns. He committed to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

in December 2012. He was cleared to return in July 2013. In 2014, Cosh made his NCAA debut, completing five of nine passes for 32 yards in three games.

Coaching career

Cosh became his coaching career at

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

. He served as a graduate assistant and quarterbacks coach for

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

from 2016 to 2017. Then, he was hired at VMI, where he was the wide receivers coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, leading their "Pro Raid" offense. After four seasons, he was named

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

's offensive coordinator. In his one season at Richmond, the Spiders had a top 20 offensive SP+ rating and advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs. Cosh was hired by

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

as their offensive coordinator before the 2023 season. On December 13, 2023, Cosh was named the third head coach in

Stony Brook Seawolves The Stony Brook Seawolves are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Stony Brook University (SBU) in Stony Brook, New York. The Seawolves play as members of the Coastal Athletic Association (formerly known as the Colonial Athletic As ...

history. At 31 years old, Cosh became the second-youngest current Division I head football coach. He won his first game as a head coach on September 7, 2024, against Stonehill, a 37–10 victory for Stony Brook. It was the program's first win in 672 days. On October 26, 2024, Cosh's Seawolves defeated the 15th-ranked

William and Mary Tribe The William & Mary Tribe is a moniker for the College of William & Mary's athletic teams and the university's community more broadly. William & Mary has won two team national championships (both in men's tennis), the AIAW championships in wo ...

35–13, the program's first win against a ranked opponent since 2021. Cosh was named the 2024 AFCA Regional Coach of the Year. He also won

Coastal Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

(CAA) Coach of the Year. Stony Brook recorded its most wins since 2017, its first winning season since 2018 and its highest FCS national ranking since 2018.

Personal life

Cosh is the son of football coach

, who served as defensive coordinator on multiple FBS college football teams. His older brother J.J. played college football for the

Midshipmen A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afric ...

of the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

from 2007 to 2011 and is currently a scout for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

. Cosh met his wife Kelsey at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

. Their first child, a daughter, was born in 2023.

Early life

Playing career

Coaching career

Personal life

Head coaching record

References

External links