Evan Cooper shares competition level in position room

The Nebraska football team is underway in spring practice under new coach Matt Rhule‘s direction, which has given coaches and players alike the chance to get more familiar with each other. Secondary coach Evan Cooper has made a favorable impression on his group.

And the group has impressed Cooper with its willingness to compete.

“At this level, pretty much the whole group, these guys, they’re competitive,” Cooper said. “They work. They want to be great. They want to start, of course. They want to play a big role on the team, so I don’t have a problem with competition in that room.”

The one thing Cooper is stressing with his guys right now is attention to details.

Whether that’s in footwork, backpedaling, reading formations or putting it all together to be able to provide coherent and comprehensive coverage as a unit, Cooper just wants them dialed in.

“Football in general is a bunch of details,” he said. “Offenses and defenses they gameplan all week to try to make you make a mistake, so you’ve just got to be really tapped into what you’re doing and very detailed.”

For their part, players seem to like what Evan Cooper has brought to the table so far.

“He’s a good coach,” defensive back Malcolm Hartzog said. “He pushes us every day, all the DBs. Like he gives us the drive to go hard out there, give it all we got every day at practice.”

More info on Evan Cooper

Evan Cooper began his coaching career in 2011 after playing at Temple from 2005-08. He played defensive back at Temple while current Nebraska coach Matt Rhule was on staff with the Owls.

In 2011, Cooper took a job coaching defensive backs for Westminster Academy in Florida. He spent two seasons there, also serving as a student advisor.

After two years in Florida, Cooper returned to Temple, serving as a graduate assistant in 2013 and then as a director of external operations in 2014.

Cooper then briefly served as Miami‘s assistant director of player personnel for six months in 2015 before returning to Temple again.

In his second coaching stint at Temple, Cooper served as the director of player personnel in 2015 and 2016, this time with Rhule acting as the program’s head coach. When Rhule moved to take the Baylor head coaching position, Cooper followed.

Cooper spent three years with Baylor, first as director of player personnel in 2017, then as an on-field assistant working with the secondary and defensive line in 2018. By 2019, Cooper was elevated to Baylor’s cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator.

Once again, when Rhule departed Baylor, Cooper followed, this time to the Carolina Panthers. Cooper spent three seasons as the Panthers cornerbacks coach and director of player evaluation before rejoining Rhule when he was hired by Nebraska.