Jon Cooper (born October 1, 1986) 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 with ...

coach and former player who is currently the offensive line coach at North Texas. He played in 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) for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

as a center. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and was signed by the Vikings in 2009.

Early years

Cooper attended

Fort Collins High School Fort Collins High School is located at 3400 Lambkin Way, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is one of four public senior High school (North America), high schools in the Poudre School District. The school colors are purple and gold, and it ...

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359 ...

, where he was a three-year starter and

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

. He captured team MVP honors his senior season and was named Offensive Player of the Year in the Front Range Conference.

College career

Cooper joined the

Oklahoma Sooners football The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma (variously "Oklahoma" or "OU"). The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (forme ...

team in 2005. He played in eleven games, starting two, for the team as a freshman. In his second start, he suffered a dislocation and break in his right ankle at Texas Tech and missed the remainder of the season. Was one of the most solid true freshmen on the team after posting no penalties and a high passing grade of 83% in OU's stringent grading process. Was named the starting center his sophomore season in 2006 and posted the second highest grade on the team, with a 79% success rate. Cooper notched 125 knockdown blocks during the course of the season, including 18 against

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

. Cooper led one of the nation's best offensive lines in 2007, starting all 14 games and logging team highs with 798 plays and 136 knockdowns. He had 16 knockdowns against Miami and 15 against Texas A&M, with a final grade of 81% for the season.

Professional career

NFL combine results

Minnesota Vikings

Cooper signed a rookie contract with the

. He appeared in his first NFL game in week 13 against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

at right guard after two additional injuries to the offensive line.

Tennessee Titans

Cooper was signed as a free agent by the Tennessee Titans on April 13, 2012. He retired from the NFL on August 27, 2012.

Coaching career

Following his retirement from the NFL, Cooper joined the coaching staff at

as a graduate assistant. In 2016, Cooper joined the staff at

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

as an offensive analyst. He was named the tight ends coach at

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

in 2020.

Personal

Cooper majored in Finance while at Oklahoma. In his free time, he enjoys golfing, and snow skiing. His father Tom played college football for Missouri from 1972 to 1975.

References

External links

*
Arkansas Razorbacks bioCombine profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Jon 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Fort Collins, Colorado American football centers Players of American football from Colorado Oklahoma Sooners football players UCF Knights football coaches Utah State Aggies football coaches Minnesota Vikings players Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches