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 wi ...

coach and former player who is currently the offensive line coach at

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wo ...

. 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 expansi ...

as a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. He played college football at Oklahoma and was signed by the Vikings in 2009.

Early years

Cooper attended Fort Collins High School in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he was a three-year starter and letterman. 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 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 ...

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

Tennessee Titans

Cooper was signed as a free agent by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

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

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

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 O ...

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

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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