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

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I'm sure that receiving the Neyland Trophy is especially meaningful to Cooper.

General Robert Neyland was a legend at Tennessee, the state where Coop grew up. The General led the Vols to 8 top-10 finishes during the first 16 years of John Cooper's life, including a national championship in 1951. He than spent 10 years as the AD at Tennessee, after which they named the stadium (one of the nation's best) after him.
 
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I know this is a meaningful moment for John Cooper but I wonder if recognition for Cooper will mean much of anything to Buckeye fans.

No matter how hard I try, news about John Cooper always leaves me cold. You see, for me, Cooper's kinda like the odd uncle that you never knew as a child. You know he's there. You know he's supposed to be related to you somehow. But you don't ever feel like he's really family.

It's not that Cooper never understood what it took to win the last games of the year, even if he didn't. It's that he never understood the Buckeye tradition, even when his players did.

I have little doubt that Cooper would desperately like Buckeye fans everywhere to identify with him as a former Buckeye coach and to celebrate this recognition, but how can I do that when I feel that he never identified with the core values that I believe are part and parcel of being a Buckeye?

I hope that Cooper has a good time when he gets his reward. I wish that I could feel genuinely happier for him than I would anyone else his age who coached somewhere else and I have to be honest and say that I don't.

Be well John Cooper.
 
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I agree w/ the Steve's post. Cooper was a genuinely nice guy, who was very outgoing w/ the fans and media-much moreso than Woody and Tressel one could argue. That said, he he was an outsider to OSU's culture and traditions, and never really made an effort to become more in tune w/ the Buckeye tradition. He also alienated the HS coaches in Ohio. I'm glad he won the award, and I'm glad that he feels comfortable enough to continue to make Columbus his home. I'm also glad we now have a coach who "get's it" in regards to what makesz OSU special.
 
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Steve19 said:
I know this is a meaningful moment for John Cooper but I wonder if recognition for Cooper will mean much of anything to Buckeye fans.
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It does to me, as Cooper was the Buckeye coach all through my years in HS and at OSU. He won the Rose Bowl my soph year, recruited & coached a Heisman winner, finished #2 in the nation twice, and ran one of the nation's most successful programs of the 90s. He modernized the program, turning out so many quality players and assistants, and set the stage for Tressel to have the early success he has.

Now, I certainly wouldn't trade Tressel for Cooper now, but I remain proud to have had him as coach at OSU while I was a student. I don't hold a lack of understanding of OSU tradition against a man who added quite a bit to that tradition.
:osu:
 
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Misfit

Cooper was just never a good FIT at Ohio State. He should have been at Vandy, or Tennessee, or Va Tech. There was just no connection to the midwest, or Big Ten. He did some things well but the proof that he never understood Ohio State tradition is in the 2-10-1 Michigan record.
I also did not like the way he yelled at his players on the sideline. I realize Woody did that kind of thing sometimes, but Coop always did it, trying to shift blame (I felt) onto the players for not being prepared.

Besides, I lost a lot of money on him up here in scUM land.

He wasn't terrible, but he sure wasn't anywhere near Tressel.

I wish him well!!
 
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UpNorthBuckeye said:
Cooper was just never a good FIT at Ohio State. He should have been at Vandy, or Tennessee, or Va Tech. There was just no connection to the midwest, or Big Ten. He did some things well but the proof that he never understood Ohio State tradition is in the 2-10-1 Michigan record.
I also did not like the way he yelled at his players on the sideline. I realize Woody did that kind of thing sometimes, but Coop always did it, trying to shift blame (I felt) onto the players for not being prepared.

Besides, I lost a lot of money on him up here in scUM land.

He wasn't terrible, but he sure wasn't anywhere near Tressel.

I wish him well!!
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Woddy did that kind of thing "sometimes"? Yeah, and OSU has won a "game or two" in its existance... :lol:

Seriously, I wish Cooper well, though I'm glad he's not here anymore. He had his run, the lost control a little bit at the end. Still, to wish a guy personal ill years later because he didn't win enough football games doesn't compute with me, so I'm glad he's being honored...as a former coach :biggrin:
 
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BayBuck said:
It does to me, as Cooper was the Buckeye coach all through my years in HS and at OSU. He won the Rose Bowl my soph year, recruited & coached a Heisman winner, finished #2 in the nation twice, and ran one of the nation's most successful programs of the 90s. He modernized the program, turning out so many quality players and assistants, and set the stage for Tressel to have the early success he has.

Now, I certainly wouldn't trade Tressel for Cooper now, but I remain proud to have had him as coach at OSU while I was a student. I don't hold a lack of understanding of OSU tradition against a man who added quite a bit to that tradition.:osu:
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I think its great that you feel that way about him and I hope lots of other Buckeye fans do as well.
 
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Gotta agree with BOTH BayBuck and OSUGrad21.......one remembers the good things that Coop did, and the other remembers 2-10-1.

Both are correct. After the late, great Wayne Woodrow, Earl Bruce was a letdown (whoever follows a Woody, Bear, Wooden, Knight is doomed to failure). He did well (a friend at Fresno State asked why we fired a guy who was always 9-3 - an easy answer - he lost 3 games, and one was always to Michigan). To Fresno State that was better than they'd had, to the OSU Nation, it was less than expected.

Same with Coop. He DID lift us up to higher national prominence. He DID put us in the elite with '# of 1st round pro draftees'. He DID alienate all the HS coaches in Ohio (mostly). He DID NOT 'get' OSU football (shouldn't have been a stretch from a guy from Tennessee - they're not so different down there). But he still didn't get it.

This award apparently shows us our rose colored glasses. Someone (or some group) believes that he put on a 'good show' over his career (Tulsa, Arizona State, OSU, ?) and he did. While he was 'good', he was clearly not up to expectations for the Buckeye faithful. He recruited well, and we fielded good teams. But he was a 'recruiting coach' not a 'gameday coach'.

Don't you think that Tressell looked better because of Coop's 2-10-1? (A national championship in second year didn't hurt). Plus we're gaining most of the top ten recruits in Ohio (not losing to meatchicken, PennSt, etc as we used to).

Face it. Tressell is a tad less of a recruiter than Coop. But he's one heckova better game day coach than Coop EVER was. (but to take the sting out of the recruiting slam, Tressell is recruiting a FAR BETTER person than Coop ever did.).

In Tress we trust.

Actually, if my memory serves, Earl came within one 'student body right' (USC - Sam Cunningham) play of winning the national championship the first year. Would history have played out differently? I think so.

Enough of this. Let the man gather his laurels, he put in the time, and was a successful college coach. But be glad that we now have Tressell. (And when it's his time to go, we'll get someone that we'll like even more).

:gobucks3: :osu: :banger:
 
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calibuck said:
Actually, if my memory serves, Earl came within one 'student body right' (USC - Sam Cunningham) play of winning the national championship the first year. Would history have played out differently? I think so.
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I'm remembering a few 'student body lefts' with Charles White running behind Anthony Munoz in the 1980 Rose Bowl. :wink2:
 
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Good post overall, Calibuck.
I think Cooper was obviously a better recruiter than Bruce.
You will never convince me that he was a better football coach, though.
Also, Cooper's one recruiting flaw was his under-appreciation for Ohio talent. this might be understandable since he had not coached anywhere with a strong in-state talent pool. but it doesn't excuse him from not learning that after a few years, either. Also, he took way too many academic chances with his recruiting, and that trend was getting worse towards the end of his career.
One of the best things Cooper did over Bruce was strength and conditioning.
And I would have to argue with you that Tressel is not quite as good as Cooper at recruiting - I think he is better because he pays much more attention to Ohio and because he has a much better track record of getting academically proficient kids (plus the admission standards are tougher nowadays).

(oh yeah, and Sam "Bam" Cunningham played on that powerhouse USC team from '72 - thanks for drudging up that bad old memory! :biggrin: )
 
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osugrad21 said:
DDN

4/17

Three cheers for 'Coach Coop'

By Chick Ludwig
Staff Writer
Please allow me to raise my champagne glass and toast John Cooper.
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Yes, he had a dismal record against Michigan (2-10-1). And, yes, there were academic and discipline problems among some of his players. But once you strip that negativity away, you find only positives about this charismatic coach who compiled a 111-43-4 record in 13 seasons at Ohio State (1988-2000) as part of his 193-83-6 overall record.
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Yeah other than her face and body Kathy Bates is hot.

If others want to forgive and forget fine, I choose not to.

2-10-1, Air Force, Bowl Games, Buckeye Stadium. His era just makes me ill.
 
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