FIU Athletics

Ron Cooper was named FIU interim head coach on Sept. 25, 2016. Cooper began his second season on the Panthers’ coaching staff as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Cooper served as the team’s defensive backs coach in 2015.
 
Cooper brings over 30 years of coaching experience to the Panthers’ staff, including nine as a head coach on the collegiate level. The 2016 season will mark his fourth stint as a defensive coordinator.
 
Cooper wrapped up his first season with the Panthers in 2015, overseeing a unit that recorded the sixth-most passes defended (51) and pass breakups (42) in school history. The Panthers had the second-best pass defense in Conference USA, allowing just 221.0 yards-per-game through the air (No. 62 nationally).
  
Cooper coached Jeremiah McKinnon and Richard Leonard to all-conference honors as the two combined for 16 pass breakups and four interceptions. The secondary accounted for eight of the team’s nine picks last season, including a pair for touchdowns (McKinnon -31 yards; Niko Gonzalez – 58 yards).
 
Prior to FIU, Cooper served as defensive backs coach at USF (2013-2014).
 
In his two seasons at USF, Cooper helped see the Bulls record 20-or-more turnovers each season, while the defense scored five touchdowns. In 2013, the Bulls triple their forced turnovers from nine the previous season to 25 and score three defensive touchdowns. USF grabbed 11 interceptions, after posting just two the previous season, and ranked 26^th in the FBS against the pass.
 
Cooper transitioned to the NFL after spending three seasons (2009-11) as LSU's secondary coach. He mentored one of the top secondaries in the country that included national award winners in CB Morris Claiborne, CB Patrick Peterson and CB Tyrann Mathieu. Cooper coached two Thorpe Award winners, Peterson in 2010 and Claiborne in 2011, which is given to the top defensive back in college football, and two Bednarik Award winners, Peterson in 2010 and Mathieu in 2011, given to the nation's Defensive Player of the Year. As a sophomore in 2011, Mathieu was also named as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
 
All three players earned consensus All-American honors under Cooper, with Claiborne and Mathieu becoming the first cornerback teammates to earn first-team AP honors in NCAA history. In 2011, Claiborne (Coaches) and Mathieu (AP) each earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors, while Peterson (Coaches) earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2010 before being selected fifth overall in the 2010 NFL Draft.
 
Cooper spent five years at South Carolina prior to being hired by LSU, serving as the defensive backs coach (2004), outside linebackers/special teams coordinator (2005), secondary/assistant head coach (2006-07) and safeties coach (2008). In 2008, Cooper assisted with a defense that ranked No. 1 in the SEC and No. 2 in the nation in pass defense, allowing just 160 yards per game. With the Gamecocks, Cooper helped the team to appearances in the 2005 Independence Bowl, 2006 Liberty Bowl and 2009 Outback Bowl.
 
Prior to his stint at South Carolina, Cooper spent 2003 as the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State and 2002 as the secondary coach at Wisconsin. He broke into the head coaching ranks with Eastern Michigan (1993-94) and went on to become head coach at Louisville (1995-97) and Alabama A&M (1998-01). Cooper's 1995 Louisville team led the nation in takeaways and finished No. 9 in the nation in scoring defense. The following season, the Cardinals ranked No. 4 in the country in both total defense and rushing defense. At Alabama A&M, Cooper guided the Bulldogs to the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game in 2000. His squad led the nation in rushing defense and they ranked No. 8 nationally in scoring defense. He also discovered DE Robert Mathis and coached him in his first three collegiate seasons with Mathis still holding the school record for career sacks and tackles for loss.
 
Before becoming the head coach at Eastern Michigan, Cooper served as an assistant coach at Notre Dame (1991-92), helping the Irish to victories over No. 3-ranked Florida in the 1992 Sugar Bowl and No. 4-ranked Texas A&M in the 1993 Cotton Bowl.
 
Cooper also served as the defensive coordinator at UNLV (1990), assistant coach at East Carolina (1989), defensive coordinator at Murray State (1987-88), assistant coach at Austin Peay (1985-86), graduate assistant at Minnesota (1984) and graduate assistant at Appalachian State (1983).
 
On the field, Cooper was a four-year letter winner at Jacksonville State, where he was a part of two Gulf South Conference championships in 1981 and 1982. Cooper also played in the NCAA Division II playoffs three times during his career, reaching the semifinal round in 1982.
 
Cooper earned his bachelor's degree from Jacksonville State in 1983 and later received his master's degree from Appalachian State in 1986. He and his wife, Djuna, have a daughter, Tyler, and two sons, Tristan and Deuce.