Secondary Coach Evan Cooper Has Resigned From His Position With Huskers, Matt Rhule Staff

Nebraska defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator Evan Cooper has resigned from his position with the Huskers for personal reasons, a Nebraska spokesperson confirmed on late Friday afternoon.

This is the second consecutive season where a Rhule assistant at Nebraska has departed the program just before fall camp begins, with the first being former tight ends coach Bob Wager in 2023.

Cooper was entering his second season as the Huskers’ DBs coach in 2024. Cooper has a long history with Rhule. He played at Temple when Rhule was an assistant coach. The 2024 campaign would have been Cooper’s 12th consecutive season on a Rhule staff.

Cooper has built an impressive résumé in a little more than a decade. He spent three seasons as an assistant in the National Football League and has power conference experience as an assistant coach at Nebraska and Baylor.

Cooper also has a background in player evaluation and development. In addition to his role as an assistant coach, Cooper served as the Carolina Panthers’ director of player evaluation for three seasons, and he was previously the director of player personnel at Baylor and Temple and an assistant director of player personnel at Miami.

Cooper’s secondary played a key role in the Huskers having their best statistical defense since joining the Big Ten Conference in 2011. Nebraska’s pass defense limited opponents to 6.1 yards per attempt, a total that ranked ninth nationally. The Huskers also ranked 15th nationally in passing efficiency defense, their highest finish in that category since 2014.

The secondary held two opponents under 100 yards passing and seven opponents to fewer than 200 yards through the air. The secondary helped Nebraska rank 14th nationally in total defense and 17th in scoring defense, their best finishes since 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Individually, four members of the Husker secondary earned All-Big Ten honors. Cornerbacks Quinton Newsome and Tommi Hill each earned All-Big Ten recognition, as did rover Isaac Gifford and safety Omar Brown.

Among that quartet, only Newsome had been an All-Big Ten selection prior to Cooper’s arrival. Hill led the Big Ten with 13 passes defended, ranking third in the conference with nine pass breakups and fifth with four interceptions.

As a group, the secondary accounted for seven interceptions and 30 pass breakups. Gifford and Brown were also among Nebraska’s leading tackler. Gifford led NU with 86 tackles, becoming the first Husker defensive back to record 85 tackles in a season since 2014. Brown tied for second on the team with 51 tackles. The tackling ability of Cooper’s secondary helped the Huskers rank eighth nationally in rushing defense.