Former University of Washington Captain and Running Back Deontae Cooper was named the Running Backs Coach in January 2024.
Cooper comes to Moscow after a five-year stint as head coach at Highline High School in Burien, Washington. He took over a program that finished 4-6 in 2018 and led them to 4-0 conference record in 2019 and a trip to the Washington 2A Playoffs.
After going 2-2 in a COVID-shortened 2020 season, he led the Pirates to a 28-7 mark, including an 18-0 league record, over the last three seasons. Highline advanced to the state 2A semifinals in 2022 with a 10-2 record and the quarterfinals in 2023, again with a 10-2 mark.
He was named the Kingco Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2021, the Highline School District Coach of the Year in 2020 and a Seattle Seahawks Coach of the Week in 2022.
He spent one season as the running backs coach at Bellevue High School in 2018, helping the Wolverines to a 12-1 record.
During 2017-18, he was a recruiting assistant for the University of Washington, helping with all aspects of recruiting for the Huskies. Washington finished with the 16th-best class in college football in 2018, according to 247Sports.
He had short minicamp stint with the Oakland Raiders in 2017, but never saw the field in the NFL.
His promising playing career at UW was hindered by three ACL tears. After coming to Washington as one of the best running backs in the nation, he didn’t see his first college snap until he was just months away from earning his bachelor’s degree.
He ended up racking up 555 yards and three touchdowns in two seasons, but also earned the respect of his teammates, earning team captain honors for the 2014 season.
He earned his bachelor’s degree and master’s degrees from Washington and added two additional professional certificates while at Montlake.
