Interesting article on new DB coach Ron Cooper

Cooper has known Miles since Miles was an assistant at Michigan and Cooper was the head coach at Eastern Michigan. They lived in the same Ann Arbor-area neighborhood.

Miles had reached out to vet Cooper's interest in the days before USC's bowl game. Cooper preferred the defensive coordinator job, which went to Chavis, but told LSU officials he was also interested in the defensive backs role.

Cooper was also in the mix for a job as Maryland's defensive coordinator.

Interestingly, because of increasing in-house friction, sources have told The Post and Courier that Steve Spurrier very nearly dismissed Cooper in mid-December. But Cooper was allowed to stay on through the bowl game, with the idea that he could find another job.

Any slight chance that Cooper could stay with the Gamecocks was erased this past weekend when, according to sources, Spurrier told Cooper it was in his best interest to find work elsewhere.

When asked about the situation Dec. 27 in Tampa, Cooper contended more than once that he didn't plan to leave USC unless he received a defensive coordinator job at another school. He chose his words very carefully when describing that meeting with Spurrier, but maintained he had not been fired.

Things evidently hadn't been the same for Cooper since Tyrone Nix wasn't retained a year ago. Nix left for Ole Miss, in a move that Spurrier said "worked out for everyone."

Nix and Cooper were close and, with Nix in control as the defensive coordinator, Cooper was allowed to have a lot of input.

On Nix's defensive staff on 2006 and 2007, Cooper was considered an assistant head coach. That title was removed this past season.

Cooper's role had been reduced with Ellis Johnson's arrival, and that had led to some natural tension.

That said, Cooper, the 46-year-old native of Huntsville, Ala., has long been respected for his ability to recruit and his knowledge as an X's and O's coach.

The Gamecocks were in the top five in pass defense most of the past two seasons.



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