Bielema Names Cooks To Staff
January 12, 2006 | Football
Kerry Cooks, defensive backs coach at the University of Minnesota last season, has been named an assistant coach at Wisconsin, new Badger head coach Bret Bielema announced Thursday.
Cooks will coach Wisconsin's defensive backs.
'I have known Kerry for many years now and I'm very excited to have him join us at Wisconsin,' Bielema said. 'He exemplifies everything I want our staff to be about. He works hard, he's a great recruiter and coach, and he's a fantastic person on and off the field. I'm very happy he is a Badger.'
Cooks comes to Wisconsin after one year coaching the Golden Gophers ' secondary. Minnesota qualified for the Music City Bowl this past season, while Cooks' unit allowed opponents to complete just 56.8 percent of their passes (fourth-best in the Big Ten). That figure dropped to 55.3 percent in conference games, tied for second in the league with Penn State.
Prior to his year at Minnesota, Cooks coached defensive backs and assisted on special teams for one season (2004) at Western Illinois. Under Cooks' direction, the Leathernecks limited opponents to a Gateway Conference-best 157.2 passing yards per game; held opponents to the lowest completion percentage (45.4) in the conference; and finished second in the league with 17 interceptions.
Cooks began coaching at his high school alma mater, Nimitz High (Texas), in 2003 before joining the staff at Kansas State as a graduate assistant for the 2003 campaign. While at Kansas State, Cooks worked mostly with defensive game plan preparation and assisted with the Wildcats' secondary. Kansas State registered an 11-4 record in 2003 and won a Big 12 title with a defense that was sixth nationally in total defense, eighth in scoring defense, 12th in pass efficiency defense and 17th in rushing defense. The Wildcats earned a trip to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl after limiting each of their last six opponents to 14 points or less, including Oklahoma, the nation's highest-scoring team.
Cooks was a four-year letterwinner and two-year starter as a strong safety at Iowa from 1994-97. He was a team captain as a senior and earned All-Big Ten honors and a spot in the East-West Shrine Game. A fifth-round draft choice of the Minnesota Vikings in 1998, Cooks also played for Green Bay, Atlanta and Jacksonville before retiring from the NFL in 2001. He also played for the Chicago Enforcers of the XFL in 2001.
Cooks has played or coached in five bowl games. A 2000 graduate of Iowa with a bachelor's degree in sociology, Cooks' wife's name is Valencia.
