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Bill Cockhill is in his fifth season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Wyoming. The 2007 season will mark his seventh year as an offensive coordinator at the college level, having been the coordinator at the University of Montana in 2001 and 2002. Cockhill will welcome back sophomore quarterback Karsten Sween in 2007, after mentoring Sween to a 5-2 record as a starter his redshirt freshman season of 2006 -- a season that saw Sween earn Honorable Mention Freshman All-America honors from the Sporting News. The 2005 Cowboy passing offense ranked fourth in the MWC and No. 34 in the NCAA, averaging 245.73 yards per game. Senior quarterback Corey Bramlet ranked No. 34 in the country in total offense (247.18 yards per game), while senior wide receiver Jovon Bouknight ranked No. 9 in receiving yards per game (101.45 yards per game). In 2004, Wyoming's offense ranked No. 3 in the Mountain West Conference in scoring offense, averaging 26.5 points per game. It was a much more balanced offense for the Cowboys in `04, improving the running game to go with a strong passing attack. Wyoming's passing attack ranked 36th in the nation in 2004, averaging 240.4 yards per game. UW averaged 369.8 yards of total offense per game in the 2004 season. First-year starting quarterback Corey Bramlet, ranked 46th in the country in total offense in `04, averaging 218.2 yards per game. The Wyoming Cowboys boasted a potent offense in the 2003 season, as well. Wyoming ranked No. 28 in the NCAA in passing offense, averaging 261.17 yards per game. Wyoming also did an outstanding job of protecting the ball in `03. Wyoming gave up a total of only 15 turnovers in 2003 -- that ranked the Pokes No. 3 out of 117 NCAA Division I-A football teams in terms of fewest turnovers. UW fumbled only six times to rank No. 4 in the nation in fewest fumbles. Cowboy quarterbacks threw only nine interceptions all season to tie for 19th in the country. Former Wyoming quarterback Casey Bramlet concluded his senior season ranking No. 19 in the nation in pass completions (20.08 completions per game) for the 2003 season, and he ranked No. 33 in the NCAA in total offense (244.67 yards per game). Bramlet played in the East-West Shrine game following his senior season, and was drafted in the seventh round by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2004 NFL Draft. Cockhill guided the Montana Grizzly offense through a 2002 campaign that saw them rank 18th in Division I-AA in scoring offense (31.5 points per game) and 22nd in passing offense (245.6 yards per game). The Griz offense was led by quarterback John Edwards, who ranked 20th in Division I-AA in total offense (236.6 yards per game), and was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award. In 2001, Cockhill's first full season as UM's offensive coordinator, the Grizzlies won the NCAA Division I-AA National Championship as his offense averaged 33.8 points and 419.2 yards per game to rank 20th and 21st, respectively, in the final NCAA I-AA statistical rankings. He took over the duties of coordinating the offense one game into the 2000 season. The Griz ended the year in the National Championship game, finishing as the national runner-up to Georgia Southern. Cockhill's offense ranked sixth in the nation in passing offense (313.0 yards per game) and 15th in total offense (455.9 yards per game). He began his college coaching career at Montana in 1994 as a restricted earnings coach. From 1995-2000, Cockhill coached the Grizzly wide receivers. He was also the recruiting coordinator from 1999-2000. From 1994 through 2002, Cockhill helped coach the Griz to seven Big Sky Conference titles, nine consecutive Division I-AA Playoffs and four I-AA National Championship games, winning two national titles in 1995 and 2001. Cockhill knows first hand what it takes to play wide receiver at the collegiate level. A four-year starter at Montana from 1990-93, he concluded his playing career as the school's all-time leading receiver, with 2,257 career receiving yards. Among his teammates at Montana was current Wyoming offensive line coach Chad Germer, who was a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter at center for the Griz from 1988-91. Cockhill also excelled in the classroom at UM. He was named the recipient of the Big Sky Conference's Scholar-Athlete Award for the 1993-94 academic year, and he earned Dean's List honors three times during his college years. Cockhill graduated in 1994 with a bachelor of science degree in business, with an emphasis in finance and management. A native of Helena, Mont., he is married to the former Jenise Erickson. Their son, Eric, was born Aug. 6, 2004, and on May 15, 2006, they welcomed their second child, daughter Anna, into the family. "Bill and I begin our eighth season together," said Glenn. "He played at Montana and stayed on the coaching staff at Montana when we got there. Through the three years at Montana, we went 39-6 and won 24 straight games at one point. I think a lot of that success was due to the effectiveness of our offense. We have built an offensive philosophy around running the ball effectively, focusing on completing a high percentage of passes and keeping our defense off the field as much as possible by controlling the ball. Bill works extremely hard, is an intense coach, expects things to be done right by both his coaches and players and his offenses put up good numbers. I think Bill has really matured as an offensive coordinator over the last couple of seasons." Cockhill recruits the metropolitan areas of Chicago and Las Vegas for the Cowboys. |
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