Cooper, UW's Comeback Kid, Hired as Idaho RB Coach

Deontae Cooper, one of the University of Washington football team's best comeback stories, has been named running-backs coach for the Idaho Vandals, the Big Sky school announced this week.

Cooper continues to thrive as a coach after his can't-miss college-football career that began with Steve Sarkisian and ended with Chris Petersen was derailed by three ACL knee injuries. 

Instead, he has used a highly productive five-year stay as the football coach for Highline High School in Burien, Washington, to land a college job with a team coming off 1 9-4 record and an FCS playoff quarterfinals appearance.

"Deontae did a great job at Highline High School and is a rising star in our profession," Vandals coach Jason Eck said in a statement.

Cooper took over perennial loser Highline and guided the Pirates to a pair of 10-2 records over the past two seasons and three state playoff berths overall. He was named Kingco coach of the year in 2019 and 2021.

An elusive 7,450-yard high school rusher from Southern California, Cooper was projected to do great things for Sarkisian's Huskies and he became a spring-football sensation as a freshman before tearing up his knee in 2010 fall camp and then in each of the following two seasons.

He didn't receive his first college footbal snap until he was just months away from earning his bachelor's degree in 2013. 

Cooper would run the ball 106 times for 555 yards and three touchdowns, breaking a 70-yard scoring run, for the UW. He played his final season at San Jose State and rushed for another 484 yards and 2 scores, and had a brief NFL tryout with the Oakland Raiders before turning to coaching. It has all served him well.

"I am really excited to be a Vandal and get my first opportunity as a position coach in the DI ranks," Cooper said in a statement. "I am excited to work with Coach Eck and grateful for the opportunity and the chance he has taken on me."