At the beginning of the season, he was ETSU’s only first-team preseason all-conference pick. Now, the college career of the 6-foot-3, 220-pound senior could well be over. Yet, Ocasio Cofield remains upbeat.
Though a pinched nerve in his neck has kept him from showing his wares on the field to pro scouts, the transfer strong safety from Kansas said that a year from now “I hope to be on the road with some NFL team.”
He’s been getting advice about what to do to get himself back into the pro picture from friend and New Orleans Saints running back Moran Norris, a fellow ex-Jayhawk.
Norris suffered a similar injury himself, and recommended such treatments as deep tissue massages.
Yet, it has not been definitively determined whether Cofield’s college career is indeed over. Though he appeared in three of the first four games this season, ETSU is attempting to get the NCAA to grant him a medical redshirt year for 2001, enabling him to play his senior season in 2002.
“I hate to see a guy (like Cofield) not get an opportunity,” head coach Paul Hamilton said.
The coach admits, however, that any chance the redshirt would be granted is “probably a long shot.”
“It’s very frustrating,” Cofield said of the uncommon nature of the injury, not your usual ankle sprain or knee ailment.
The injury actually dates back to the end of preseason two-a-days. Though he attempted to play, it became clear he could not.
“I can’t even make a hit without pain,” he said.
Still, though it appears he may never get a chance to play with them again, Cofield is a presense amongst his teammates, particularly the young defensive secondary that is overachieving in his absence.
“He’s on the sideline cheering us on,” freshman cornerback Allen Davis said.
“It’s difficult,” he added, to see someone he looks up to as “a big brother” unable to play.
Sophomore cornerback Tony Tiller once called Cofield “the coach Hamilton of the secondary.” earlier in the season. “I’m very proud of the team,” Cofield said.
He pointed to work done this summer by Montreal Harkley, Tiller, and himself, as the beginning of big things for a secondary now dubbed the “Roughriders.”
“Wherever they throw the ball, we’re going to be there,” Davis said.
One defensive back in particular that has caught Cofield’s eye is freshman strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh, the man who replaced him in the starting lineup and made a game-saving interception in the fourth quarter of the Georgia Southern upset.
“When he makes plays, it’s like I’m out there,” Cofield said of Sensabaugh.
If Sensabaugh and the rest of the Roughriders can channel Cofield for the rest of their careers, ETSU’s secondary will be in good hands for years to come.

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