Rob Cooper is an American college baseball coach, most recently serving as the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions baseball program. Cooper was appointed to the position of head coach prior to the start of the 2014 season.[1][2] He resigned after the 2023 season.[3] In August 2023, he joined the University of Miami baseball staff.[4]
| Playing career | |
|---|---|
| 1990–1991 | Sacramento City College |
| 1992–1993 | Miami (FL) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1994–1995 | Miami (FL) (Asst.) |
| 1996 | Wake Forest (Asst.) |
| 1997–1998 | Tulane (Asst.) |
| 1999–2003 | Sacramento City College (Asst.) |
| 2004 | Oral Roberts (Asst.) |
| 2005–2013 | Wright State |
| 2014–2023 | Penn State |
| 2023-present | Miami (Director of program development) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 463–479 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| |
Early life
editCooper played baseball at Sacramento City College for two years before transferring to the University of Miami for his final two years. He served as a student assistant coach at Miami in 1994 while finishing his degree. From 1990 to 1992, Cooper worked as a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers.[1][5]
Coaching career
editCooper earned a graduate assistant coach position at Miami for the 1995 season before moving to Wake Forest for the 1996 season. He then coached for two seasons at Tulane, where he helped lead the Green Wave to a conference regular season crown in 1997 and an NCAA berth in 1998. He then returned to Sacramento City College, serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for five seasons.[6]
Cooper then served one season as an assistant at Oral Roberts before being named head coach at Wright State. In nine seasons, Cooper led the Raiders to seven 30-win seasons, two Horizon League and three Horizon League baseball tournament championships, and three NCAA Division I Baseball Championship appearances.[1] Prior to his arrival, the Raiders had finished six of the previous seven seasons with losing records.[6]
In August 2013, Cooper was named head coach at Penn State, a similar rebuilding job to what he faced at Wright State. In May 2023, Cooper resigned as Head coach at Penn State after ten seasons.[7] In August 2023, he was named as director of program development for the University of Miami baseball team.[8]
Head coaching record
editThis table shows Cooper's record as a head coach at the Division I level.[1]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wright State Raiders (Horizon League) (2005–2013) | |||||||||
| 2005 | Wright State | 26–33 | 11–9 | 4th | |||||
| 2006 | Wright State | 32–27 | 17–13 | 3rd | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2007 | Wright State | 36–22 | 21–9 | 2nd | |||||
| 2008 | Wright State | 30–23 | 16–6 | 2nd | |||||
| 2009 | Wright State | 33–30 | 14–12 | 3rd | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2010 | Wright State | 31–25 | 17–6 | 1st | |||||
| 2011 | Wright State | 36–19 | 16–7 | T-1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2012 | Wright State | 37–21 | 20–10 | 2nd | |||||
| 2013 | Wright State | 25–30 | 9–12 | 4th | |||||
| Wright State: | 286–230 | 141–84 | |||||||
| Penn State Nittany Lions (Big Ten) (2014–2023) | |||||||||
| 2014 | Penn State | 18–32 | 5–18 | 11th | |||||
| 2015 | Penn State | 18–30 | 6–16 | 12th | |||||
| 2016 | Penn State | 28–27 | 12–12 | T–9th | |||||
| 2017 | Penn State | 18–37 | 4–20 | 11th | |||||
| 2018 | Penn State | 13–34 | 3–21 | 13th | |||||
| 2019 | Penn State | 21–27 | 4–18 | 13th | |||||
| 2020 | Penn State | 10–5 | 0–0 | Season canceled due to COVID-19 | |||||
| 2021 | Penn State | 18–24 | 18–24 | 9th | |||||
| 2022 | Penn State | 26–29 | 11–13 | 6th | Big Ten tournament | ||||
| 2023 | Penn State | 25–25 | 7–16 | 12th | |||||
| Penn State: | 195–270 | 70–188 | |||||||
| Total: | 481–500 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d "Rob Cooper Biography". Wright State Raiders. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- ^ Travis Johnson (August 9, 2013). "Penn State baseball: Rob Cooper hired to lead Nittany Lions, excited about future". Centre Daily Times. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- ^ Lister, Joe (2023-05-19). "Rob Cooper To Step Down As Head Coach Of Penn State Baseball". Onward State. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
- ^ Lister, Joe (2023-08-01). "Former Penn State Baseball Head Coach Rob Cooper Hired As Miami Director Of Player Development". Onward State. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
- ^ "Wright State's Rob Cooper Named 2013 18U National Team Manager". Horizon League. January 6, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- ^ a b Brian Foley (August 9, 2013). "Penn State names Rob Cooper as head coach". College Baseball Daily. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- ^ Wogenrich, Mark (2023-05-21). "Penn State Baseball Coach Rob Cooper Resigns". Sports Illustrated Penn State Nittany Lions News, Analysis and More. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
- ^ "CanesCounty: Miami Hurricanes Football & Basketball Recruiting - Miami Baseball Adds Rob Cooper To Staff". miami.rivals.com. 2023-08-01. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
External links
edit- Rob Cooper, Head Baseball Coach, Penn State University Nittany Lions