OL Orlando Pace (7-time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl Champion, CFB HOF, NFL HOF)

[bucknutz]

Congrats coach.

 

[osugrad21]

DDN

OSU's Cooper earns his sport's top honor

First coach to lead Pac-10 and Big Ten teams to Rose Bowl victories will go into the Hall of Fame.

By Chick Ludwig
Staff Writer

Friday, May 02, 2008
CINCINNATI ? John Cooper has reached college football immortality.
The former Ohio State coach joins coach Lou Holtz and 13 former All-America players elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame made the announcement on Thursday, May 1.
"This is the pinnacle of my coaching career," Cooper said from his home in Columbus. "It's the greatest honor you can have. It doesn't get any bigger than this.
"I reflect back when I was a young coach, going to conventions and having an opportunity just to see John McKay, Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, Frank Broyles and Darrell Royal. It's a very humbling experience to be selected."



Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

OHIO STATE FOOTBALL

Cooper elected to Hall of Fame



Friday, May 02, 2008 Doug Lesmerises

Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- When John Cooper was fired as Ohio State's football coach after the 2000 season, he thought about searching for another job, wanting to win seven more games to reach 200 for his career. Then his younger brother had this approximate take on reaching 200 wins - "Big stinking deal."
So Cooper ended his coaching career, choosing to spend his time with his wife, Helen, his kids and his grandkids. On Thursday at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Cooper finally received his big stinking deal, as he celebrated his election to the College Football Hall of Fame.
"Life is great right now for John Cooper," he said of joining the 15-member class of 2008, beaming as his wife sat by his side.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Michael Arace commentary: Hall selection all you need to know about the man

Friday, May 2, 2008 3:27 AM
By Michael Arace


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

RENEE SAUER | DISPATCH
Helen Cooper, left, was front and center for husband John's big moment yesterday.





John Cooper pulled another chair up to the front table before he met the news media in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center yesterday. "I'm not going to the Hall of Fame myself," he said. "I want my wife up here."
Up came Helen, tall, redheaded, her blue eyes sparkling. Cooper held the chair out for her.
"This proved I could do a good job recruiting," Cooper said in that Tennessee drawl, smooth as sour mash.
Cooper will be among 15 inducted into College Football Hall of Fame this year. Troy Aikman, Billy Cannon and Thurman Thomas are a few of the players in the class. Lou Holtz is the only other coach.
Cont..

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

At home with family: Cooper realized what mattered after being fired, and it wasn't his win total

Friday, May 2, 2008 3:27 AM
By Tim May


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

dispatch file photo

John Cooper said that after Ohio State fired him eight years ago with 193 career wins, he obsessed about finding a way to gain seven more. He was already the second-winningest football coach at Ohio State behind Woody Hayes, but Cooper thought 200 victories would have been a nice ribbon to tie around his coaching career. He consulted his younger brother, Frank, on the matter.
"And he made a comment to me that was loud and clear, 'Big ? deal,' " Cooper said. "He said, 'On your tombstone, all they'll have is, 'Here lies John Cooper -- 200 victories.' That put a stop to that. I decided to spend a little more time with my wife, my children and my grandbabies. Life is good right now."
Yesterday, life couldn't have been much better when the National Football Foundation announced that Cooper has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Cooper's career highlights

Friday, May 2, 2008 3:14 AM

Record: 193-83-6

At Ohio State

? 1988-2000
? 111-43-4
? Finished second in polls twice
At Arizona State

? 1985-87
? 25-9-2
? National Coach of the Year, 1986
At Tulsa

? 1977-84
? 57-31
? 5 consecutive Missouri Valley Conference titles

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Hall election process rather puzzling
Jason Lloyd, Journal Register News Service
05/02/2008

Column


Turns out, John Cooper didn't need those final eight wins after all.
Cooper was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame on Thursday, joining a class of 13 players and two coaches - Cooper and Lou Holtz.
Cooper was fired from Ohio State following the 2000 season, leaving him with 192 career victories. He never hid the fact he really wanted to reach 200 career wins, which in his mind would cement his election to the Hall of Fame. On his second try, Cooper made it in anyhow.
"I thought it was going to happen, because you go in based on your record," he said. "Still, when it does happen, you have to pinch yourself."
Cooper is the only coach to take a Pac-10 team (Arizona State) and a Big Ten team to the Rose Bowl. He also won nine conference championships and appeared in 14 bowl games.
Critics will argue - and I might agree - that Cooper doesn't deserve election. His awful 2-10-1 record against Michigan cannot be dismissed, no matter how much time passes. Neither can the fact that he never coached in a national championship game - largely because he couldn't beat Michigan.
Not to spoil a good party or anything, but given the amount of talent he brought to Columbus, Cooper's teams vastly underachieved. For me, underachievers don't go into the Hall of Fame.
The whole election process, though, is baffling.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Lima

Commentary: Cooper gets last laugh on critics

BY JIM NAVEAU - 05.01.2008
COLUMBUS ? John Cooper. Hall of Famer.
If you had suggested to an Ohio State fan 10 or 15 years ago that John Cooper would be going into the College Football Hall of Fame, their reaction might have been to spit on the ground, hit you over the head with their necklace of buckeyes or to run home to their backyard shrine to Woody Hayes and say a prayer for you.
Or they might have told you the only way he should ever get into the Hall of Fame was if he bought a ticket.
A lot of them probably still feel the same way.
But I guess Coop got the last laugh on Thursday when he was named to the College Football Hall of Fame, along with Lou Holtz and 13 former players.
His overall record at Ohio State, Arizona State and Tulsa was 192-84-6. He won the Rose Bowl at ASU and OSU. He was 111-43-4 at Ohio State in 13 seasons from 1988-2000.
Despite the wins, Ohio State fans never loved Cooper. It wasn?t even like a love-hate relationship. It was more like a dislike-hate thing.
Cont...

 

[Buckskin86]

Sports spotlight: Fans, get over it: John Cooper belongs in College Hall of Fame
Saturday, May 3, 2008
BY Todd Porter
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

One week ago, John Cooper walked out of his house to pick up his morning paper and check his mail.

The former Ohio State football coach, who still resides in Columbus, noticed the package he had hoped would arrive. It was from the National Football Foundation, informing Cooper ? seven wins shy of 200 career victories ? that he had been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Understand this: Cooper still is a Buckeye fan's whipping boy. He is the coach who couldn't beat Michigan,couldn't win bowl games, and couldn't get a win over Michigan State in 1998 to take Ohio State to the national title.

This letter, informing him of what those in the business already knew, confirmed that Cooper was a Hall of Famer. It also said he couldn't say a word to anyone for nearly a week, even if he wanted to announce it from the top of the state capitol for every OSU fan to hear.

"When the letter said I had to keep it quiet, that was the hardest thing I had to do," Cooper said. "I wanted to let people know John Cooper was going in the Hall of Fame."

"Ohio State is the pinnacle," Cooper said. "I don't know of a better job than coaching the Buckeyes. I coached here for 13 years. To last that long, you must've won some games. This was the greatest job you could have."

The job gave him adulation, insults, heartache, pride ? everything a coach would want. Most importantly, Ohio State and its fans gave him perspective. They can't take that or the Hall of Fame away from Cooper now.

CantonRep.com | The Canton Repository | Canton, Stark County & Northeast Ohio News, Community Events & Classifieds

 

[BuckeyePride]

I am happy for him. Once a buckeye, always a buckeye.

This from wiki sums it up

During his time in Columbus, he never won an outright Big Ten championship, but shared Big Ten titles in 1993, 1996, and 1998. In his 13 seasons at Ohio State Cooper compiled a 111-43-4 won-loss record, second in Ohio State history behind only Woody Hayes.

Cooper recruited and coached a great deal of talent that would go on to play in the National Football League, including 1995 Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George, 1995 Fred Biletnikoff Award winner Terry Glenn, 1996 Outland Trophy winner Orlando Pace, 1998 Jim Thorpe Award winner Antoine Winfield, Alonzo Spellman, Robert Smith, Dan Wilkinson, Joey Galloway, Rickey Dudley, Mike Vrabel, Korey Stringer, David Boston, Shawn Springs, Ahmed Plummer, Na?il Diggs, Nate Clements, and Ryan Pickett.

record against michigan sucked.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I am happy for him. Once a buckeye, always a buckeye.

He was never a Buckeye. He was an outsider they reached for because he beat scUM once in a Bowl game.

He had problems winning against his schools rival at ASU as well if anyone ever took the time to look.

He called the Ohio Stadium, Buckeye Stadium. He was adamant The Game was just another game. He lasted 13 years because of the fucked up way they fired Earl forced OSU to keep whoever was next longer than they should have.

2-10-1
Hot Tubs
Buckeye Stadium
Air Force
Reggie Germany
Ken Yon Rambo
South Carolina

If he's in the HOF it's lessens what that means.

 

[BB73]

He was never a Buckeye. He was an outsider they reached for because he beat scUM once in a Bowl game.

He had problems winning against his schools rival at ASU as well if anyone ever took the time to look.

Well, if by trouble you mean 0-2-1 against Arizona, despite 2 of those games being in Tempe ...

They say that time heals all wounds. For some of us, it's obvious more time is still necessary.

 

[sandgk]

They say that time heals all wounds. For some of us, it's obvious more time is still necessary.

I will take a plunge in a Hot Tub in his honor this weekend.

(Congratulations Coach Cooper)

- notably if Tressel keeps the Buckeyes going at their current pace he will surpass Cooper's win total early in the 2011 season.

 

[BayBuck]

He was never a Buckeye.

Cooper was the Buckeye coach for 13 years and chose to stay in Columbus and maintain an emeritus office on campus after he was fired: he sure didn't start out as one, but he became and will always remain a Buckeye. He was the only head coach during my time at OSU, and I'll always appreciate his great run through the mid- and late-90s.

Coop-Coop-Cooper!

:osu:

 

[Sportsbuck28]

You definately know he can recruit considering he assembled most of the 2002 NC team.