Cooper is a 6'1", 180, Freshman safety from Andress HS, El Paso, TX. Another of the late signees to the class, Cooper did not commit until the end of January. It looks like the coaching change was the reason for the late offer and commit based on this quote from Cooper (from AZ Desert Storm linked above),
"I loved the environment, but by far it was the players. I actually loved my hosts. I had Kwesi (Mashack) and Jarvis (McCall) and they were really cool. I love the defensive backs coach too, coach (Jahmile) Addae. They just seemed so friendly and welcoming. Coach Addae brought me into his office when I first got there and told me if he had got the job a while back I would have already been a Wildcat before then."
All the defensive backs have been told we lack depth at the position and they will have an opportunity to play. Cooper is an aggressive, attacking safety and impressed one writer enough to label him the defender Arizona needs right away.
Now, I am always suspect of writers and websites I have never heard of, but if Don Smalley of U Sports is correct, Cooper could be making an impact with Wildcat opponents this year.Cooper fits in well with Rodriguez’s aggressive style defense. He had 97 tackles as a junior and 61 as a senior. The decline in tackles is most likely a result of opposing offenses running away from Cooper.
“You can tell a little bit on film, who wants to tackle and who’s a willing tackler. Then there are some guys that just not willing tacklers, but enjoy the physical and aggressiveness of being tackled,” Rodriguez said. “I rather say ‘woah’ not ‘sic ‘em’. We have to have safeties that you have to say ‘woah’ to. We’ve had some good ones here in the last couple of years, but we haven’t had enough. With the structure of our defense and what we want to do, if you watch the film on Tristan Cooper, Gavin Roberston, Jarrius Wallace, and Chacho Ulloa, those are some safeties that will be pretty aggressive.”
Having aggressive defensive backs and safeties is paramount in the Pac-12 with all of the spread offenses a team has to contend against. Defenses that just sit back and wait for the opposition to come to them will get eaten alive in the Pac-12. Cooper is definitely aggressive. He likes to hit and hit hard — really hard. He’s very athletic and right now, his game is based on athleticism and intimidation with his ability and willingness to lay the smack down. Not every defender is willing to deliver the kinds of hits Cooper likes to put on players.
44.3 is the Arizona record for yards per reception in a game (min 3 catches) set by Bobby Thompson against Colorado St. in 1961.
No. 44
Most Passing Yards, Career: 10,011, Nick Foles, 2009-2011 (933 of 1396, 33 INTs, 67 TDs)
