![]() James Cowser in 2019 | |||||||||||
Weber State Wildcats | |||||||||||
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Title | Defensive ends coach | ||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Born | Fruit Heights, Utah, U.S. [1] | September 13, 1990||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||
Weight | 244 lb (111 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school | Davis (Kaysville, Utah) | ||||||||||
College | Southern Utah | ||||||||||
NFL draft | 2016: undrafted | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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James Cowser (born September 13, 1990) is an American former professional football outside linebacker and current college football coach. He is the defensive ends coach for Weber State University, a position he has held since 2024. He played college football at Southern Utah. Cowser was Football Championship Subdivision Defensive Player of the Year (2015). He held the official NCAA all-time sack record (42.5) until it was broken by Division II Slippery Rock’s Marcus Martin (56) in 2017. [2]
Cowser signed with the Oakland Raiders after going undrafted in the 2016 NFL draft. On September 3, 2016, he was waived/injured by the Raiders and placed on injured reserve. [3] On September 10, he was released from the Raiders' injured reserve. [4] He was signed to the practice squad on October 4, 2016. [5] He was promoted to the active roster on November 26, 2016. [6]
On September 1, 2018, Cowser was waived by the Raiders. [7] He was re-signed to the practice squad on October 22, 2018. [8] He was promoted to the active roster on October 30, 2018. [9] He was waived on November 5, 2018, and was re-signed to the practice squad. [10] He was waived on November 13, 2018, and later re-signed to the practice squad. [11] [12]
Cowser signed a reserve/future contract with the Raiders on January 1, 2019. [13] He was waived during final roster cuts on August 30, 2019. [14]
In the spring of 2021, Cowser joined Weber State as a defensive assistant under head coach Jay Hill. [15] Cowser was promoted to a full-time position of defensive ends coach for the 2022 season. [16] Following Hill's departure, Cowser joined Utah Tech as the defensive line coach and tight ends coach under head coach Paul Peterson. [17] Following Peterson's firing, Cowser returned to Weber State, again as the defensive ends coach, this time under head coach Mickey Mental. [18]
Cowser served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hong Kong and Macau from 2009 to 2011. [19]
Cowser is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and did an internship in NFL's China office in Shanghai. [20]