John Cooper

Head Football Coach, 1977-84

Class of 2011

John Cooper served as the Golden Hurricane football coach for eight seasons . . . also served as the school’s director of athletics . . . compiled an overall record of 57-31 and 31-6 league mark . . . his teams won five straight Missouri Valley Conference Championships (1980-84) and had seven winning seasons . . . his second team posted a 9-2 record and finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 4-1 mark in 1978 . . . led Tulsa to its first of five straight MVC titles in 1980 with an overall 8-3 record and a conference mark of 4-1 . . . led the 1981 team to a 7-4 record and a first-place MVC mark of 5-1 . . . his best season came in 1982 with an overall 10-1 mark, the best school record in 40 years . . . posted wins over Air Force, Kansas and Oklahoma State in 1982, while suffering its only loss against 13^th-ranked Arkansas . . . Tulsa was ranked as high as 16^th nationally in the UPI poll and 19^th the Associated Press poll in 1982 . . . earned MVC Coach of the Year accolades in 1982 . . . his final three teams (1982-84) went undefeated in conference action with a 16-0 mark . . . had 56 players earn all-conference honors, five different players participated in Senior All-Star games and 20 of his recruited players were NFL draft selections . . . went on to coach at Arizona State and Ohio State, leading the Sun Devils to one PAC-10 title and the OSU Buckeyes to three Big Ten crowns . . . was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.