Longtime Ottawa High School AD Mike Cooper set to retire on June 1

While he already has started packing away some things, Ottawa High School athletic director Mike Cooper’s office still has a few athletic images hanging on the walls, memorabilia and keepsakes on the shelves, and family photos on his desk for a few more weeks.

Cooper, who has been the AD for the past 18 years, will be retiring from the post on June 1.

“This may be weird for some to believe, but when I was in high school my goal was to be an athletic director,” Cooper said. “I have been fortunate that a lot of things feel into place at the right times to have made it happen. I just loved the idea of being at sporting events all the time and working with kids and coaches. This job has been all that I thought it would be and much more.”

Cooper played football, basketball and baseball at Mendota High School, then both basketball and baseball for two years at Illinois Valley Community College. He then went on to graduate from Illinois State University, student taught at Ottawa High, then went back to ISU to get his master’s degree.

A special education teacher when he started at OHS, Cooper has coached freshman baseball, football at every level and girls varsity basketball. He initially told the school board he would coach girls basketball for just one year but ended up guiding the Pirates for 22 seasons (1993-2015), compiling an outstanding 410-177 record. While walking the sidelines, Cooper’s teams won 20 or more games 12 times, captured seven conference championships and seven regional titles. He was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2017.

“The thing I think I’ll miss the most is the daily interactions with our athletes. Along with that I’ve been fortunate enough to have so many great coaches, who are also great people, to work with and I’ll miss talking with them day-to-day as well.”

—  Mike Cooper, Ottawa High School athletic director who will be retiring on June 1

“I remember my dad, Robert, taking me and my brother, Mark, to Kingman Gym in the mid-to-late 70s, it was like a family trip,” Cooper said. “Ottawa always seemed to play in big games, had big crowds, and I always thought Kingman was a best atmosphere I’d ever been in. With my dad being the principal at Mendota High, I was able to get to know many people from Ottawa and other schools growing up. Ottawa High School was a place I always wanted to be.

“I had a huge advantage before becoming AD of being able to shadow then AD Tim Jobst for a year-and-a-half. When he would go to conference meetings, or anything associated with the job, I would go with him. That helped me make the transition so much easier. Tim really showed me the ropes so to speak and always was there to answer any questions after I took over.”

Cooper said he sometimes feels he gets more credit for things than he may deserve because of the network of people around him.

“Really this isn’t a one-person job. You’d be hard pressed to be at any event here where someone from our administration like Superintendent Mike Cushing or Principal Pat Leonard or many others aren’t in attendance which helps me out,” Cooper said. “There are nights where we have four or five administrators at a game. I’ve had the help from so many people over the years as the AD here and that’s not the case at a lot of other places.

“There is also huge a thanks to Vicki Grunstad, who was my assistant when I started and taught me the ropes, and Jodi Poundstone who has been my assistant for the past 14 years or so. They have both been life savers on so many days.

Over the years whether coaching or handling AD duties, Cooper says having the backing of his wife, Trisha, and his son, Anthony, has been something he couldn’t have gone without.

“My wife Trisha been wonderful throughout this whole journey, especially when my son, Anthony, was first born and I had just started being the AD,” Cooper said. “There would be times I wouldn’t see her for a couple days in a row with getting up early and getting home late. This job would have been almost impossible to do without the support of my family. I was lucky to have them have my back.”

Of all the things he’ll miss about being the AD, Cooper feels it will be the daily greets and chats.

“The thing I think I’ll miss the most is the daily interactions with our athletes,” Cooper said. “Along with that I’ve been fortunate enough to have so many great coaches, who are also great people, to work with and I’ll miss talking with them day-to-day as well.”

Cooper says there aren’t many things in the long-term etched in stone on his “after retirement” bucket list, at least for right now. But he is very much looking forward to a few things over the next few months.

“Anthony has another year of basketball at Augustana College, so I’m looking forward to going to all those games without having ‘I have to do this or that tomorrow’ rolling around in my head,” Cooper said. “I’m also looking forward to having true breaks during Thanksgiving, where I can truly enjoy time with my family or go watch the state football finals and Christmas.

“After that, who knows?”