Bethune-Cookman University Athletics

[COOPER YEAR-BY-YEAR]

Donald Cooper begins in his eleventh season at the helm of the Bethune-Cookman as the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country, consistently fielding teams that compete for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship and individuals who compete on the national stage.
 
During his tenure, Cooper’s teams have won a combined five MEAC championships – three indoor and two indoor --- while eight individuals and two relay teams have represented BCU at the NCAA National Indoor and Outdoor Championship meets.
 
Most recently, Quamecha Morrison finished second in the high jump at the 2019 NCAA Indoors while sophomore Monae Nichols competed in the long jump later in the year at the Outdoor championships. In 2017, Michael Tiller won the triple jump at the NCAA East Preliminary.
 
His men’s team reeled off five consecutive MEAC championship from 2014-2016, with two of those titles with a razor-thin one point margin over North Carolina A&T. The BCU men have finished first or second the past six years and no lower than third in the past eight.
 
On the women’s side, BCU has had a representative at the NCAAs each of the past six years while finishing in the top three in the MEAC at seven at the last ten conference meets.
 
Initially hired as interim head coach in late September 2009, Cooper quickly proved to be the strong leader the Wildcats needed, ascending to the full-time role the next season, and guiding the B-CU program through numerous milestones in each year since.
 
Cooper came to Bethune-Cookman from just across the MEAC’s Southern Division, serving two seasons as the assistant head coach for cross country/track & field at South Carolina State.
 
Prior to SCSU, he served as the assistant head coach and wellness coordinator at Savannah State. He also spent two seasons as the assistant head coach at Fort Valley State University under Tyree Price, who is now a member of Cooper’s B-CU staff.
 
Cooper began his coaching career in Atlanta as a volunteer at Morris Brown College in 2000.
 
From the start of his term as B-CU's head coach, Cooper saw the ability to build on the strong sprint and hurdling foundation of the program with focus on developing the distance, throwing events, jumps and vaults, assembling a more complete and well-rounded team.
 
Aside from intercollegiate coaching, Cooper has trained professional athletes in the National Football League (NFL), in addition to working with the National Youth Sports Program. He has done extensive work as a coach and guide-runner with the USA Paralympic Team, training blind and visually impaired athletes for the Paralympics Games, working at the Center for Visually Impaired, and operating a private business in Atlanta, Ga. which provided Orientation & Mobility services and independent living skills.
 
A former MEAC standout, Cooper shined in both football and track & field at South Carolina State as a student-athlete. In track, he was an All-MEAC performer and conference champion in the 400m hurdles, 110m hurdles, and 60m hurdles. Cooper was named the MEAC Outstanding Outdoor Track Athlete in 1994. He was also an NCAA and Olympic Trials Qualifier in the 110m Hurdles (1996). In football, he was named team MVP, and played in the Walter Reed All-Star Game (1997). In the same year, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New Orleans Saints.
 
In his coaching career prior to B-CU, Cooper worked with many gifted athletes and aided them in achieving great successes. At FVSU, he led hurdler Lynnesy Daily to two consecutive NCAA Division II Outdoor titles in both the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles. Dailey still holds the D-II Outdoor National Record in the 400m hurdles (57.18). While at SCSU, Cooper helped to guide former B-CU assistant coach Tempest Vance to the NCAA Regional Championships and 2009 MEAC record with a win in the pentathlon.
 
Cooper received his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology in 1997, plus his master's in Rehabilitation Counseling/Orientation & Mobility in 1999, both from South Carolina State. He holds several certifications, including USATF Certified Official and USATF Level II Certified Coach in combined events, sprints/hurdles, throws and jumps. He is also a USATF Level I Instructor. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
 
A Swainsboro, Ga. Native, Cooper and his wife, Linnell, have four children, Lindon (18), Jourdon (16), Sydney (15) and Kaysey (9).