AJ Cooper had a monster sophomore season at Glendale Community College. He led all junior-college tight ends in receptions (44), yards (578) and touchdowns (eight).
But Cooper soon realized there wasn’t a huge market for 6-foot-1 tight ends. Not in 2004, anyway.
Fortunately, Cooper’s coach at GCC had connections. Joe Kersting knew Charlie McBride, who knew Craig Bohl, who was entering his second year as the head man at North Dakota State. Bohl needed a tight end. He got in touch with Cooper.
“I was a Phoenix kid,” Cooper said. “Fargo was like Antarctica in my mind initially. But I went up there and had an unbelievable experience. And everything that I got to do there really has led me to where I’m at today.”
Cooper played for NDSU in 2004 and ’05 before transitioning to coaching for the Bison. He followed Bohl to Wyoming, where today, at age 35, Cooper is the Cowboys’ defensive run-game coordinator, defensive ends coach and co-special teams coordinator.
The Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl, featuring Wyoming and Georgia State on Tuesday at Arizona Stadium, represents a homecoming of sorts for Cooper. He was born in Flagstaff and grew up in Phoenix, where he attended Sunnyslope High School. Several family members and friends will be in Tucson this week to support him.
With Cooper coordinating the run defense for the first time, the Cowboys ranked sixth in the nation in that category entering the second weekend of bowl games. They were 11th in points allowed.
Cooper discussed his path from Phoenix to Fargo to Laramie, the keys to stopping the run and other topics in a Q&A with the Star. The conversation has been lightly edited for context and clarity.
How big of an adjustment was it weather-wise and culturally to make that transition from Phoenix to Fargo?
A: “It was an adjustment, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It really forced me to grow up and to get outside of my comfort zone and bubble. It’s something I preach a lot to recruits.
“It was tough at first. I remember thinking, ‘Is it ever gonna get above 25 degrees?’ During the winter in Fargo, that’s actually a high sometimes.
“It was definitely a big shock. But it forced me to mature and become a man and stand on my own two feet. I look back on that and thank God every day that I made that choice.”
You were promoted to run-game coordinator this season. How has that changed your day-to-day routine?
A: “We work as a group on defense. Same thing with our players. It’s certainly put more on my plate as far as a complete understanding of tying the front end and the back end together. And making sure … everybody’s on the same page with, ‘Hey, this is how the D-tackle’s playing this, and this is how it affects the nickel or strong safety.’ From a standpoint of how I watch the games and how we prepare, it’s added quite a bit on my plate.
“But again, I don’t want … people thinking that I’m taking credit for it. It’s a group effort with a lot of different people. I’m just really excited and fortunate to be around a group of coaches and a group of players (who are) all invested in understanding what the ultimate goals are, and everybody works their butt off to get there.”
Wyoming has been among the best run defenses in the country the last couple of years. What are the biggest keys to pulling that off?
A: “We’ve got tough kids. That really starts with going against our offense. Our offense … is usually one of the better run offenses in our conference and even has been in the country. So when you get to line up against that every day in spring ball and fall camp, that’s really always been Coach Bohl’s mantra and mindset: ‘Hey, we’re gonna run the ball on offense, and we’re gonna stop the run on defense.’
“Then when we move on and we play people during the year, there’s that edge, that toughness, that physicality that doesn’t leave. That’s something you can always hang your hat on.
“We’ve had some very good football players; that certainly helps. And then really consistency with what we’ve been doing schematically. We really preach to our kids, ‘The first defense we install on your first day, your freshman year, is the same defense you’ll learn your senior year.’ We really want to make sure that we keep things simple, so our kids can understand what they’re doing and be fast and be aggressive.”
Georgia State ranks 14th in the nation in rushing. How big of a factor will run defense be in the bowl game?
A: “Huge. This is one of the better run teams that we’re going to see all year, really outside of Air Force – from a physicality standpoint, their understanding of how they want to block, their run schemes. Their quarterback (Dan Ellington), even with the injuries, is a very talented young man. They’ve got multiple backs that are physical, can slash, can hit the home run.
“And then schematically, there’s a lot of teams that get in the gun and spread and are pretty simple. These guys are not. They show you a lot of different things out of a lot of different looks. So it’s going to be really important.”
Do you expect to see a lot of family members and friends from back home this week?
A: “Yeah. It’s gonna be great. My mom’s down there (in Phoenix), my aunts, my grandma. I’m gonna get to see a bunch of high school buddies (and) some juco buddies, hopefully a couple of coaches that coached me in high school that are great mentors.
“But that’s not the end-all, be-all. Our No. 1 deal is to go down there and get a victory.”
