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Iowa State University Athletics
Cooper, Chizik Lead Clinic
04.04.2008 | Football
AMES, Iowa ? Former Iowa State football player and college coaching legend John Cooper returned to his alma mater Friday to speak at the Cyclone Football Coaches Clinic at the Gateway Hotel. He was thrilled to be back in Ames. Iowa State head coach Gene Chizik introduced Cooper, who after playing for the Cyclones from 1959-62, went on to an extraordinary coaching career. The Tennessee native won conference crowns at Tulsa, Arizona State and Ohio State.
“Since coach Chizik called me last fall about coming here I have thought about this almost every day,” Cooper said.
As a player, Cooper came to Iowa State after a stint in the military. His freshman year, 1959, ISU started fall two-a-day drills with 100 players. By the end of two-a-days only 30 players remained.
“It was a different time,” Cooper said. “You practiced twice a day and scrimmaged every day for hours. But there was no way I would quit. This was how I was going to get through college.”
That team became the legendary “Dirty Thirty” Iowa State squad that played Oklahoma late in the season with the winner earning an Orange Bowl berth. Oklahoma won the game.
Cooper went on to captain the 1961 Cyclones his senior season.
The clinic began with presentations to the Iowa Football Coaches' Association Regional Coach of the Year Awards by Ken Winkler of the IFCA. Chizik presented the awards personally to each winner.
The balance of the morning and afternoon were given to presentations by the Iowa State coaching staff and several Iowa prep coaches. The group adjourned to the Bergstrom Indoor Facility in the afternoon for “Coaches Coaching Coaches” sessions in which ISU assistant coaches demonstrated various drills employed by the Cyclone football program.
The evening session included a presentation by Mickey Moss of South Garland (Texas) High School before Cooper made his presentation.
“A big secret nationally, is all the great coaches who have ties to Iowa State,” Chizik said in his introduction of Cooper. “John Cooper is one of those great coaches.”
The clinic resumes Saturday morning.
Saturday, April 25
Saturday, April 25
Saturday, April 25
Saturday, April 25
