Reaching Different Learning Styles + Living on the Edge- AJ Cooper, Edge's Coach at Washington State

Summary: On today’s podcast, host Keith Graboowski is joined by AJ Cooper, Edge’s Coach at Washington State. Cooper has been in that role for one year with prior coaching experience at the University of Wyoming (6 years) and North Dakota State (8 years). As one of the only coach’s in the country with the actual title of “Edge’s,” Coach has become an expert on coaching that positional group. He joined the podcast today to talk about how he coach’s his position group both on the practice field and in the classroom. Show Notes 1:05 What the “Edges” are 2:05 Coach’s Journey 4:12 What he learned during his time at NDSU 5:45 Who were Coopers mentors and what they taught him 9:09 Thinking outside the box 12:00 What Cooper’s meeting rooms are like 16:05 Different teaching methods 18:44 Type of players Cooper looks for in his recruits 23:20 What Coach does in Indy drills that help players get better 27:35 Training his players to be effective in the run game 31:00 Teaching how to set the edge 34:30 Importance of the whole defensive unit being on the same page 36:00 Keys to being successful in this business 39:34 Coach’s talk at the Lauren’s First and Goal Clinic 43:02 Winning Edge