Background:
Cooter only started coaching 10 years ago after graduating from college as a quarterback at Tennessee. After two years he got a job with the Indianapolis Colts in 2009 where he’d spend three seasons. He had a brief stint in Kansas City as an assistant in 2012 and did the same with the Denver Broncos the next year in 2013.
Finally in 2014 the Detroit Lions gave him his first real break when they made him quarterbacks coach to Matthew Stafford. After a successful first year, he was promoted midway through the 2015 season after offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi fell out of favor. This is the job Cooter has held since.
Despite his rapid ascent in the NFL, he’s had some off-the-field issues. He was arrested twice between 2006 and 2009. The first time was for drunk driving and the second was for aggravated burglary. The story goes Cooter climbed into an apartment window, stripped to his underwear and got into bed with a woman he didn’t know. Charges for both cases were dropped.
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Qualifications:
Being a former quarterback himself it was obvious that Cooter might have an affinity for coaching the position. At the same time he had the good fortune of learning from some pretty solid football minds along the way. Things started off big when he spent two years with legendary Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer who led the program to a 152-52 record and a national championship in 1998.
Upon arriving in Indianapolis in 2009 he immediately struck up relationships with Jim Caldwell and Peyton Manning. Caldwell is one of the most respected QB gurus in the NFL today. He helped Manning become a superstar with the Colts and turned Joe Flacco into a Super Bowl MVP. In 2012 he spent a year under another high quality offensive mind in Todd Haley at Kansas City.
Manning brought Cooter into Denver in 2013. It’s worth noting that two of the three years they spent together, Manning got his team to a Super Bowl. That reputation for performance in the clutch would evolve when Cooter got to Detroit. Since arriving in 2014, Matthew Stafford has 16 fourth quarter comebacks under his watch. He’s also posted three of his four highest quarterback ratings for a season and made his only Pro Bowl.
Concerns:
The off-the-field incidents were already referenced. It’s worth saying Cooter has stayed out of trouble for eight years now so any concerns there are minor. Then there’s the issue of his age. He will be 34-years old in 2018. Historically head coaches who are hired that young don’t have huge success. To date only three of the top 20 youngest head coaches in history managed to win a Super Bowl with their first team.
Mike Tomlin did it his second year with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008. Bill Cowher did it with the Steelers in 2005 though he was 48 by that point and had been in charge for 14 years. John Madden also did it with the Oakland Raiders in 1976. He was 40 at the time and had been in charge for seven years. In other words only one coach in his 30s managed immediate championship success.
Then there is the matter of his offensive expertise. There is no question Cooter is adept at coaching up the quarterback position and those that benefit most from it. The problem is he’s lacking elsewhere. To date the Lions have posted the 32nd, 30th and 20th rushing attacks in the league. True to form he’s a pass-first coach who doesn’t seem to put much stock in a balanced offense. That could be a problem in Chicago.
Connections:
One thing to always be skeptical about with younger coaches is how deep their connections list goes. Most of them haven’t traversed the NFL landscape for long enough to build up a proper list of contacts. Cooter might actually be a rare exception to that reality. In a short span of five years from 2009 to 2014 he’s coached for four different franchises including the Colts, Chiefs, Broncos and Lions.
During that time he’s rubbed shoulders with several notable names today including Adam Gase, Jack Del Rio, Frank Reich, and David Cutcliffe. This doesn’t include Caldwell, Haley, and John Fox. So he’s gotten a good education on what it takes to build a strong staff, both offensively and defensively. Whether he can translate that into action is the big question and will depend on whether he’s willing to take risks on people he might not know personally.
Bottom Line:
Jim Bob Cooter is a fascinating study. So many layers to the man. He’s got a unique personal history, that’s for sure. On the field it’s clear he’s a rising star. At just 33-years old he’s one of the most successful offensive coordinators in the NFL. Not only is he adept at calling plays and getting his guys to perform in the clutch, he’s also a proven developer of the quarterback position. No doubt a result of his own time playing it.
This is great news for Mitch Trubisky. The Bears will want to make him the focus of their team moving forward. What better way to do that than with a proven quarterback specialist? Problem is it’s never that simple. Head coaches are in charge of an entire team. It’s their job to make it play well, not just the quarterbacks. Cooter has never coached a different position in his short career.
Going for the young coach always sounds sexy but history shows it doesn’t pay off nearly as much as people think. The key for Cooter will be whether he understands how to put a quality staff around him who can cover up what he might not do well.
