Delbert Cowsette

Delbert Ray Cowsette (born September 3, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) and Arena Football League (AFL). He is currently the defensive line coach for the Howard Bison.

Cowsette was selected by the Washington Redskins in the seventh round of the 2000 NFL draft after playing college football for the Maryland Terrapins. He played 32 games for the Redskins from 2001 to 2002. Cowsette was also a member of the Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Giants, and Chicago Bears of the NFL but did not appear in any games for any of those teams. He played for the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europe in 2005, and the New York Dragons and Philadelphia Soul of the AFL from 2006 to 2007.

He has served over 15 years as a college and professional defensive line coach.

Early life Delbert Ray Cowsette was born on September 3, 1977, in Cleveland, Ohio. Cowsette also participated in wrestling in high school and was a four-year letterman. He won the heavyweight state title in wrestling. He graduated from Central Catholic in 1995. He played in all 11 games, starting three, his freshman year in 1996, accumulating 40 tackles, two sacks, and one fumble recovery that he returned 54 yards for a touchdown. He officially signed with the team on May 18. He was waived on August 27 and signed to the team's practice squad the next day.

He was signed to the practice squad of the Indianapolis Colts on December 7, 2000. Cowsette appeared in all 16 games for the second straight season in 2002, totaling 11 solo tackles, four assisted tackles, and two sacks. On October 5, 2005, he was traded to the Austin Wranglers for Bryan Henderson. On November 1, 2005, Cowsette and Richard McCleskey were traded to the New York Dragons for Josh White. Cowsette played in all 16 games for the Dragons in 2006, accumulating nine solo tackles, 13 assisted tackles, five sacks, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and two pass breakups while also catching two passes for seven yards. He was named to the AFL All-Rookie team as an offensive/defensive lineman.

He was signed by the Chicago Bears on August 10, 2006. He was waived on September 1, but later re-signed on December 20 before being waived again on December 25, 2006. He played in five games for the Soul in 2007, accumulating one solo tackle and five assisted tackles.

Coaching career Cowsette began his coaching career as the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Maryland Terrapins in 2007. He then served as the team's assistant defensive line coach from 2008 to 2009.

He was the defensive line coach for the Hampton Pirates of Hampton University in 2010, and the assistant defensive line coach of the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League (UFL) in 2011.

He rejoined the professional ranks in 2023 as the defensive line coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. He then became the defensive line coach for the Howard Bison of Howard University in 2024.

Personal life While at Maryland, Cowsette was a scholar-athlete in spring 1998 and was also a member of the school's student-athlete advisory council. He is a co-founder of the Premiere Intermediate Football League, a youth football league. He is also the owner of In Between the Lines, a non-profit youth organization. Cowsette married Alena Cowsette and they had three children.