Gerald Cooper joins the Nichols College Football team as the Assistant Coach, working primarily with the Line Backers.
Cooper was hired by Campbellsville University and took over the running backs coach and the recruiting coordinator.
Cooper has seen many stops during his coaching career but the latest coming at University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. Cooper spent two seasons with the Blugolds as the wide receivers coach and led Eau Claire receiving core that racked up over 1,500 passing yards in 127 completions during his first season. He also coached multiple All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) First and Second Team receivers.
Prior to coming to UW-Eau Claire, Cooper had previous coaching experience at Benedictine University, College of DuPage, North Park University, St. Laurence High School (Burbank, Ill.), Western State Colorado University, Pueblo Centennial High School (Pueblo, Colo.), Colorado State University – Pueblo, and Aurora Central High School (Aurora, Colo.). He has also worked closely with Colorado Elite Passing Game Skills camps and High School and Youth Developmental Skills Camp in Aurora, Colo.
While at Benedictine, Cooper coached the secondary and special teams where he developed six All-NACC defensive backs, which included a two-time All-Conference, D3football.com First Team All-Region, NACC Defensive Player of the Year (2014) and AFCA All-American safety.
At the College of DuPage and North Park University, Cooper coached three All-Region players, including an outside receiver, inside receiver and punter and had two corners selected for the 2012 National Bowl (Division II and Division III All-Star game).
While at Western State Colorado University, Cooper developed the program’s all-time leader in receptions and All-RMAC wide receiver. Prior to that, Cooper was the lead recruiter for multiple Division II All-Americans at Colorado State University-Pueblo where he was the wide receivers coach, in addition to the team being 25th in the NCAA Division II in turnover ratio.
The Denver, Colorado native has also been a member of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) since 2008 and has been a part of the Professional Development Series (2008-10), Meeting Room Committee (2012-present) and Minority Issues Committee (2015-present).
Moreover, Cooper was selected for the 2017 NCAA and NFL Coaches Academy, a collaborative effort between NCAA leadership development and NFL Player Engagement to boost diversity in the college game. This committee is composed of coaches and administrators from the Association membership selected 25 participants from the NCAA. The NFL selected 30 participants, many also current NCAA coaches, through an internal process.
Cooper’s collegiate playing experience included stops at NCAA programs New Mexico Highlands University (NCAA DII) and the University of San Diego (NCAA FCS).
He has an undergraduate degree from New Mexico Highlands University (Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance – ’02) and is received his graduate degree from there as well (Masters of Arts in Sports Administration – ’16).
