He played professionally for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts for ten years where he was a two-time Grey Cup champion, winning in 1963 and 1965.
He attracted offers from the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Braves and Kansas City Athletics.
His year with Toronto was stifled by what Leo Cahill called "an act of God" when Ottawa and Russ Jackson erased an 8-point Toronto lead to defeat the Argos, represent the East, and win the 1969 Grey Cup game.
During six years of teaching, including five of coaching at the University of Western Ontario, his teams won the Vanier Cup in 1971 and 1974.
From 1976 through 1981 he served at York University in Toronto as professor and chair of Physical Education and Athletics and also coached for seven more years.
Cosentino is also known for authoring eighteen books, three of which are on Canadian football, mostly on the history of sport in Canada.