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In Their Words is a weekly feature appearing Sundays in The Blade's sports section. Blade sports writer Matt Markey talked with John Cooper, who was the head coach of the Ohio State University football team for 13 seasons (1988-2000). Cooper still makes his home in Columbus and works as a consultant with the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals. He is also a contributor to The Master Coaches Poll.

John Cooper has the distinction of holding the second-best coaching record in Ohio State history - second only to the legendary Woody Hayes. After head-coaching stints at Tulsa and Arizona State, Cooper was hired in 1987 to replace Earle Bruce with the Buckeyes, and he went 111-43-4 at Ohio State, and 70-30-4 in the Big Ten.

Cooper's firing after the 2000 season came about because of his lack of success against rival Michigan, who he was just 2-10-1 against in 13 seasons. Cooper was just 3-8 in bowl games with the Buckeyes, but he remains the only coach to win the Rose Bowl from both the Big Ten and Pac 10 sides. In the 1987 game he led Arizona State over Michigan, and in the 1997 Rose Bowl he directed the Buckeyes to a 20-17 win over Arizona State.

Cooper was born in Knoxville, Tenn., in 1937, and grew up in Powell, Tenn. He joined the Army after high school, then enrolled at Iowa State following two years of service. He was a four-year player for the Cyclones, and eventually became team captain and MVP.

He was an assistant coach at Iowa State, Oregon State, UCLA, Kansas and Kentucky before taking his first head coaching job at Tulsa. Cooper failed to win an outright Big Ten title with the Buckeyes, sharing the crown three times. After he was fired following the 2000 season, current Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel was hired to lead the Buckeyes early in 2001.

"THERE'S NO QUESTION about it, this was one of the most unusual years in college football in my lifetime. There were so many upsets, and so much movement in the rankings.

"Right now, I'd say there are about six teams that are pretty equal, and they could all make a case for being up there. I'd say Georgia, Ohio State, Southern Cal, LSU, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma all have played well enough to be considered. One of the two - Ohio State or LSU - is going to be the national champion, but who is to say those are for sure the two best teams right now?

"I favor a Plus-1 system, where we choose two teams after the bowls are over, and have them play for the championship. We're not getting a playoff, so we might as well shut up about a playoff. The reason we need a plus-1 is because it would give the champion more credibility.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND why all those teams don't lobby for a plus-1, and get a share of the gate. We could let the BCS people pick their teams, play those games, and then pick the top two and let them play.

"Usually after those bowl games are over, a couple of teams jump out at you. Last year, it would have been Florida against USC.

"I do a little consulting now with the Bengals, and I help pick players for the East-West All Star Game. I'll watch the teams practice, then go to the Senior Bowl with Bengals staff, and go to the NFL Combine with the Bengals, and watch the college hot shots work out, and then sit with them and rank them.

"OCCASIONALLY I'LL MAKE an input on a player I've seen. If they are interested in a guy, I'll call the head coach, go right to him, and usually they'll be a little more honest with me about the player.

"Our grandbabies live right beside my wife and I here in Columbus, so we spend a lot of time with them. I shovel snow, mow the grass, rake leaves and play golf. Earle Bruce and I share an office over there at Ohio State.

"Coach Tressel has been great to me. I actually helped Jim teach a football class this fall. I was a football coach a long time - that's all I did for 39 years. I've been married for 51 years, and we've got two healthy children and healthy grandchildren, and I'm a pretty lucky guy.

"I think Ohio State is an extremely well-coached football team. Jim's done a great job. These guys are well-coached and sound in all phases of the game. Usually, Ohio State doesn't lose, people have to beat them.

"Ohio State Michigan, Penn State - they always have great talent. This year the Buckeyes had a great schedule, and that was conducive to having a great year. Washington was not as good as they normally are, and there's no question the Big Ten was down this year. I look at Minnesota and Northwestern - those teams weren't bad - they were awful.

"I THINK OHIO STATE got a little break against Penn State when a couple of their guys didn't play, and Wisconsin's top two running backs didn't play, and against Michigan, Hart and Henne were not their usual selves. Things fell our way, and we took advantage of it. That's what you have to do to be a success in this game.

"This season, you couldn't have scripted it any better. I think it is a big deal, a huge deal, that they go from playing in a great game like the Rose Bowl, and now get to play for the national championship, for all the marbles. I think the guys who played last year want to redeem themselves, and not many get that opportunity.

"I think there's a little difference this year between these two leagues. I watch those SEC teams play, and I mean Florida, as good as they are, and they lost three games in that league. LSU is very talented, but they seemed to find ways to lose games. You don't see Ohio State doing that. We're going to have to play awful good to beat LSU, but I think we can.

"I THINK THE Master Coaches Poll is a great idea. The people who know about it and have heard about it are excited about it. What better group can you have to pick the top teams in the country than a group of successful former coaches. There's over 3,000 victories among those coaches, and we've got the time. We've got all day to do nothing."

Contact Matt Markey at:
mmarkey@theblade.com
or 419-724-6510.

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