Robert Cushman Named UMM Head Football Coach
Stephen Batcher
MORRIS, Minn. – Robert J. Cushman has been selected as the 17
th head football coach at the University of Minnesota, Morris. Cushman comes to Morris from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, where he produced five Academic All-Americans, a National Football Foundation Scholar, and an NCAA Division III All-American.
"I am extremely excited to hit the ground running," said Cushman. "My teams have always demonstrated great competitiveness, character, and organization. I believe that we can do the same here. With a concerted effort of getting better piece-by-piece and day-by-day, this will be a winning program on and off the field."
"Robert Cushman brings a tremendous amount of football coaching experience and knowledge to Minnesota Morris," says Athletic Director Mark Fohl. "We were looking for someone with a record of growing roster sizes, building competitive programs, and supporting student athletes. We have found that in Rob. With our strong assistant coaching staff in place, we are optimistic we will see an impact right away."
Cushman served as head coach at Augustana for the 2011 through 2014 seasons as well as defensive coordinator from 2008 through 2010. The Augustana Knights earned a third-place finish in the competitive College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) with a 5-5 record overall in 2014. CCIW schools have accounted for 47 national championships in NCAA Division III competition, including four in football. As head coach Cushman produced 22 All-Conference players at Augustana.
Cushman has experience building competitive football programs. He was the first head coach hired at Feather River College in Quincy, California, in 2002, where he created a new community college program that went 6-5 in its first year. The program's 80 student athletes enjoyed post-season bowl invitations all five years Cushman led the program and amassed a record of 34-21.
"We're thrilled to have a head coach with such significant experience in competitive NCAA DIII football leading us into the next era of Cougar football," said Chancellor Jacqueline R. Johnson. "Morris has a great tradition of football success and smart dedicated student athletes. We are ready to see the progress in football that we've been able to achieve in our other sports as our athletes and teams are becoming increasingly competitive in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, in our region, and nationally."
Chancellor Johnson notes that Morris student athletes are talented students who perform well academically, the average GPA for Cougar athletes exceeds Morris student body averages.
After Feather River, Cushman returned to DIII football, serving as an assistant coach at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, for a year in 2007.
Prior to the Feather River post, Cushman served as head coach at Eastern Oregon University, an NCAA DIII and NAIA-affiliated program in Le Grande, Oregon, from 1997 through 2001. He grew the team roster to 100 athletes and was the first faculty/coach to receive the university's award for teaching excellence.
Cushman's early career includes experience as a high-school English teacher, head football coach, and head baseball coach.
Cushman earned his bachelor's degree in communications at the University of Puget Sound (Washington), a nationally recognized liberal arts college. He was a four-year letterman and two-year starter in football at Puget Sound, competing on a team that finished 9-2 and was ranked ninth in the NCAA DII his senior year. He earned his Master of Arts degree at California State University–Chico and began his coaching career there as an assistant coach.
An introductory press conference will take place at 3 p.m. this afternoon. It will be filmed and added to ummcougars.org as well as the UMM Cougars YouTube Page.