Other Duties: Coordinator for community service projects; Chris Waddell Day coordinator
Recruiting Areas: North Louisiana, Central Mississippi
Coaching Experience: In two years running the NSU offense, Cooley’s crew has scored on its first possession of the game 9 times in 22 tries. Last year at Southeastern, the Demons scored on their first three touches for the first time since 2004.
Getting off to a great start was a 2010 trademark for Cooley’s offense. The Demons averaged 19 yards on their first play of the game, including a 49-yard pass on the first play of the season at Air Force. In that game, NSU had 21 points and 257 yards against the Falcons by halftime.
The Demons’ offense began to churn out yardage at opportune times in the Southland Conference season in 2010 after showing flashes earlier in the year. With an influx of young players getting extensive playing time, the pace and potency of NSU’s offense surged in the second half of 2010, with true sophomore QB Paul Harris posting some of the best single-season totals in school history.
In a challenging debut season of 2009, with injuries sidelining veteran players, and a high number of first-year players and true freshmen getting on the field, resulted in Cooley moving from the press box to the sideline midway through the year, and an offensive upswing resulted.
Cooley’s explosive offenses at Central Arkansas lit up scoreboards around the Southland Conference in 2007-08 and during his four seasons with the Bears as offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. In that time (2005-08), UCA posted an overall 35-13 record, including an 11-3 SLC mark in the Bears’ first two years (2007-08) as an NCAA Division I FCS member alongside Northwestern.
In 2008, Cooley’s offense at UCA scored 40 points or more in seven of 12 games. The Bears had six receivers make 23 or more catches, four with 35 or more receptions.
In 2007-08, Cooley’s offense averaged 445 yards and 35.4 points per game. In his last season at UCA, the Bears went 10-2, 6-1 in the SLC, led the conference with a 37.5 scoring average and a 48 percent third-down conversion rate.
In 2007-08, the Bears threw for 57 touchdowns and completed 68 percent of their 804 passes with only 14 interceptions -- just four in 400 pass attempts in 2008. UCA ran for 47 touchdowns and 4.2 yards per carry in his last two years. In their first two seasons of full-fledged Division I competition in 2007-08, the Bears averaged 287 passing yards and 157 on the ground while making only 32 turnovers in 23 games.
Cooley helped his alma mater, Arkansas Tech, and UCA to reach the NCAA Division II playoffs in back-to-back seasons in 2004-05. He spent one season at Arkansas Tech, and in 2004 he restructured the Wonder Boys offense from a unit averaging 18.4 points per game in 2003 to a squad that averaged 32.2 per game. Arkansas Tech went 10-2 and became the first Arkansas school to host and win a Division II playoff game.
He was hired at UCA the following February and promptly helped the Bears win the 2005 Gulf States Conference championship and they went on to reach the Division II playoff quarterfinals.
Cooley was also quarterbacks coach from 2001-03 at Ouachita Baptist, quarterbacks and receivers coach in 2000 at Northeastern Oklahoma for a Lone Star Conference championship team that reached the Division II playoffs, and running backs coach in 1998-99 at Arkansas Tech, helping the Wonder Boys win the 1999 Gulf South Conference title.
At UCA, he coached record-shattering quarterback Nathan Brown, the 2008 SLC Player of the Year and the 2007 SLC Offensive Player of the Year. Brown was invited to play in the 2009 Senior Bowl, and is now coaching at UCA. He also coached a record-setting passer at Arkansas Tech in 2004, an All-Lone Star Conference quarterback in 2000 at Northeast Oklahoma and the 1999 Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Year at Arkansas Tech.
Playing Experience: Cooley set 13 school records at quarterback for Arkansas Tech in 1996-97 and was a finalist for the 1997 Harlon Hill Trophy presented to the outstanding player in NCAA Division II. He was also Academic All-GSC in 1997. Cooley made the Daktronics All-Region Team in 1997. At Nashville (Ark.) High School, he was an all-state passer for coach Billy Laird, father of Demons co-defensive coordinator Brad Laird. In 1993, Cooley’s senior year, the Scrappers became the first NHS team to reach the state championship game as Cooley broke state single-season passing record by throwing for over 2,300 yards.
Personal: Age 36, born 9/7/75. Married the former Lisa Gatlin from Conway, Ark., on July 16, 2005. She is the coordinator of Main Street programs for the City of Natchitoches. His parents are Don and Lynne Cooley, who reside in Nashville, Ark. Father is a longtime Arkansas high school football coach. Mother is a reading specialist for the state of Arkansas. Cooley has two younger sisters, Paige Fisher of Russellville, Ark., and Kristi Simms of Natchitoches. Cooley enjoys spending time with his family, playing volleyball in his pool and playing golf in his spare time.
