James Robert Cooter (born July 3, 1984) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach who is the offensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions from 2015 until 2018, and also worked as running backs coach for the New York Jets. He played college football for the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

, and started out coaching for his alma mater before becoming an NFL coach.

Early life and education

Jim Bob Cooter attended Lincoln County High School in

Fayetteville, Tennessee Fayetteville is a city and the county seat of Lincoln County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,994 at the 2000 census, and 6,827 at the 2010 census. A census estimate from 2018 showed 7,017. History Fayetteville is the largest cit ...

, and the

, where he was a backup

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football program (variously called "Tennessee", "Vols", "UT", or "Big Orange") represents the University of Tennessee (UT). The Vols have played football for 130 seasons, starting in 1891; their combined record of 862� ...

team. He appeared in three games for the Volunteers, and was named to the Academic All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

team.

Coaching career

Early career

Cooter served as a graduate assistant for Tennessee in 2007 and 2008. He was then hired as an offensive assistant by the Indianapolis Colts, working for them from 2009 through 2011. Cooter served as the offensive quality control coach for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

in 2012 and then joined the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

as an offensive assistant in 2013 with the support of Peyton Manning.

Detroit Lions

The Lions hired Cooter as their quarterbacks coach in 2014. After the season, they denied a request of the Chicago Bears, who wanted to interview him for their offensive coordinator position. The Lions promoted Cooter to offensive coordinator during the 2015 season, after former offensive coordinator

Joe Lombardi Joseph Philip Lombardi (born June 6, 1971) is an American football coach and former player. He previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the New Orleans Saints from 2016 to 2020 and was the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions fro ...

was fired midseason. He remained the offensive coordinator for the Lions until January 1, 2019, when it was announced that the Lions would not be renewing his contract.

New York Jets

On February 8, 2019, the New York Jets hired Cooter as the running backs coach under new head coach

Adam Gase Adam Joseph Gase (born March 29, 1978) is a former American football coach in the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos from 2013 to 2014, whose offense set the NFL record for ...

Jacksonville Jaguars

On February 17, 2022, Cooter was hired by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

as their passing game coordinator under head coach

Doug Pederson Douglas Irvin Pederson (born January 31, 1968) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Pederson spent most of his 13-season playing career ...

Indianapolis Colts

On February 20, 2023, Cooter was hired as an offensive coordinator by the Indianapolis Colts.

Personal life

Cooter is from Fayetteville. He was arrested for driving under the influence in June 2006, and was suspended from the Volunteers as a result. In 2009, he was charged with aggravated burglary after climbing into a window and getting into a woman's bed. The charges were later dropped.

References

External links

Indianapolis Colts profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooter, Jim Bob Living people 1984 births American football quarterbacks Denver Broncos coaches Detroit Lions coaches Indianapolis Colts coaches Jacksonville Jaguars coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches National Football League offensive coordinators People from Lincoln County, Tennessee Tennessee Volunteers football players