UM's offense in good hands with Cockhill

MISSOULA - He should ball up his fist and give it a good wave of defiance at
the fans.

Or give a good finger waggle from his nose.

At the least, he should print out all the unsigned e-mails and gently place
them where the sunlight is low for certain individuals.

But Billy Cockhill won't do any of those things.

For one, any of those paybacks could cost him his job. And two, he
understands it comes with his chosen profession.

Rough start
A year ago, fans of University of Montana football were screaming for
Cockhill's scalp and any other part of his anatomy after the Grizzlies lost
the season opener, 10-9 to Hofstra.

The rare loss at home was galling enough. But what sent the fans into
apoplexy was the usually high-powered UM offense managing a meager 10
points, well, well below it's average.

The fans wanted to blame anybody, somebody, and the new coaching staff felt
the wrath. The school's message board and the coach's voice mails were
overflowing with vile messages.

Much of the blame was laid on Cockhill, who was calling the offensive plays.

"Everybody has a right to the way they feel," said Cockhill of his reaction
to it all. "In the position we're in as coaches, we have to be able to
handle that or we shouldn't be here.

"Like anybody, they're a little spoiled. The coaches, the players, we're all
a little spoiled (by the program's past success).

"I wasn't mad at our fans. We've got the best fans in the nation. The
environment we have here every Saturday for games is second to none. My
opinion was nothing different from them. We were all frustrated."

Growing pains

Cockhill was one of three remaining coaches from Mick Dennehy's staff -
along with Chad Germer and Lance Robinson - who opted to remain at UM after
Dennehy left for Utah State. Joe Glenn was hired as head coach and brought
in Ron Richards as the offensive coordinator.

It was a difficult three-pronged learning process all through spring and
fall camps.

"There was a transition," said Cockhill, who has been part of UM football
for parts of three decades (1989-2001) as a player and coach. "We were
putting in an offense from three different staffs. We had to get on the same
page.

"We wanted to mesh the best things of all the philosophies. They had been
successful with their previous programs and we've been successful here. They
had to learn our system, too."

There were reports of heated arguments between the holdover coaches and the
new assistants as fall camp progressed. Cockhill doesn't deny the
disagreements.

"I don't know if it was any different than what other coaching staffs go
through," he said. "All coaches want to win. We had arguments when Mick
Dennehy was the head coach."

Cockhill became the Grizzlies' de facto offensive coordinator for the season
because he knew the system best.

"I worked hard before that first game," he said. "I felt I was prepared. But
I didn't know it was going to be that hard. Not until you're in the heat of
game do you understand how difficult that job is.

"I panicked that afternoon. And I didn't sleep much that night. I felt like
the loss was my fault. There were things I could have done better for us to
win the game. I look back and there are things I could have done differently
to put ourselves in a position to win."

Bouncing back
One of the more demanding coaches on the staff, Cockhill was equally as hard
on himself. He plunged himself deeper into the job for the following game
against Idaho.

The Grizzlies won, 45-38. UM would score 45, 53 and 41 points in its next
three games.

"We finally got the kinks out. It just took us a little longer than we
anticipated," said Cockhill with a smile. "After the Idaho game, we all felt
better. I can't say enough how important, how big that win was for us. That
was our season.

"And I have to put it on the players. They never let down after Hofstra.
They played their butts off all season and the staff, we all came together
on the same page."

The Grizzlies would rip off 13 consecutive victories, win another Big Sky
Conference title and reach the I-AA national championship game for the third
time in six seasons. Everybody started feeling a whole lot better.

"I don't watch television or read the newspapers during the season. Unless
we win, of course," Cockhill said with a laugh. "When you win, everything is
good."

Along the way, the UM offense averaged better than 30 points a game.

"It took me the whole year to get comfortable," said Cockhill of developing
a rhythm in his play calling.

Showing restraint
Cockhill and the rest of the staff showed great restraint in not telling the
fans, "I told you so," after taking so much heat after the Hofstra game.

"We never felt like that," Cockhill said. "Every year, winning the national
championship is one of our goals. We didn't view it as we showed the world
how smart we are. People are going to say what they want to say and there is
nothing you can do about it.

"You feel the satisfaction of just getting to the championship game. Getting
there is very, very hard. You've got to have some luck. I still think that
1999 team was good enough to be there.

"That we made the title game (last year) was an accomplishment in itself."

In the offseason, Richards resigned to pursue other opportunities and
Cockhill was officially given the position of offensive coordinator. He also
works with the quarterbacks.

And he is ready.

"I feel comfortable," said Cockhill of this season. "I went through the job
last year. I know what to expect coming in. Hopefully, I'm a 1,000 miles
ahead of where I was last year."

That learning curve includes embracing other phases of the game. "I feel
more comfortable with the running game," he said. "Last year, when times got
tight, I knew what I felt comfortable with ... I was going to go with a
pass.

"But it's a continual learning process."

University of Montana Athletics

Related Videos