CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Roger Cooper has been named Illinois' inside linebackers coach, head coach Bret Bielema announced. Cooper, a former All-America linebacker who played three seasons in the NFL, joins the Illini with 14 years of collegiate coaching experience.
Cooper comes to Champaign from Montana, where he spent the last four seasons as co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach (2024-25), linebackers coach (2023), and safeties coach (2022) under Bobby Hauck. He helped Montana to 43 wins, two 13-win seasons, four playoff appearances, and a trip to the 2023 FCS national championship game during his four seasons with the Grizzlies.
Hauck was named Illinois' defensive coordinator last week after stepping down as head coach of the Grizzlies.
"Coach Cooper has had an accomplished career on the defensive side of the ball as a coordinator, position coach, and player," said Bielema. "He will bring valuable experience to our program, both for our inside linebackers and our entire defense. Coach Cooper will be working alongside Archie McDaniel, who will be our outside linebackers coach. I am excited to get he and his family to Champaign."
"Thank you to coach Bielema and coach Hauck for the opportunity," said Cooper. "I am super excited to get to work with coach McDaniel and the rest of our staff in Champaign. Illinois has a championship standard and a history of elite linebackers, and I'm ready to build on that proud tradition with an outstanding group of student-athletes."
Former Montana defensive coordinator Ronnie Bradford has also joined the Illini staff, the program announced. Bradford spent the past two seasons in the NFL as a senior special teams assistant for the Miami Dolphins.
Cooper, who starred as a linebacker at Montana State during his playing career, helped Montana finish in the nation's top 20 in scoring defense twice during his four seasons, including helping the 2023 defense finish as one of the best in program history.
Montana's defense ranked in the top 20 in the nation in nearly every statistical category in 2023, including scoring defense (fifth, 17.2), turnovers forced (10th, 24), interceptions (fourth, 17), rushing defense (15th, 108.5), total defense (18th, 314.7), and passing efficiency defense (fifth, 111.39) on the way to the national championship game.
As linebackers coach in 2023, Cooper helped mentor Braxton Hill, who led the Big Sky in tackles with 128 during one of the top-10 tackling seasons in Montana history. Hill, a former walk on, was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the top defensive player in FCS.
Cooper also helped Riley Wilson make the switch from tight end at Hawaii to linebacker at Montana, finishing his first season in FCS ranked second in the Big Sky in tackles for loss and fifth in sacks during the 2023 season.
Cooper returned to the state of Montana in 2022 after spending 10 years at Idaho State, where he served as associate head coach, defensive coordinator, linebackers coach, and running backs coach throughout his tenure. During his first season at Montana, Cooper helped Robby Hauck become the Big Sky Conference's all-time leading tackler in 2022.
Cooper landed his first full-time collegiate coach job at Idaho State in 2012 as the program's running backs, before eventually working his way up to defensive coordinator in 2018. After one season leading the running backs room, Cooper switched to the defensive side, where he shined as a player, to become Idaho State's co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach from 2013-15.
He added associate head coach to his title from 2016-17, then was promoted to defensive coordinator and served as Idaho State's associate head coach/defensive coordinator/linebackers coach from 2018-21.
At Idaho State, Cooper mentored some of the top linebackers in the Big Sky Conference, including the league's 2014 freshman of the year and three-time all-conference pick Mario Jenkins. Jenkins, who finished fourth in the voting for the Jerry Rice Award given to the top freshman in the FCS and went on to earn an NFL minicamp invite from the Kansas City Chiefs, was one of 18 all-conference selections for Cooper's defensive units in his 10 years with the program.
Led by Cooper, Idaho State's linebacker unit in 2016 was one of the best in the Big Sky, with Jenkins earning second-team all-conference and Joe Martin earning third-team honors. The trio of Jenkins, Martin, and Hayden Stout combined for 259 tackles, six interceptions, 5.0 sacks, 16.0 tackles for loss, and two fumble recoveries that season.
Cooper began his coaching career at Bozeman High School in 2010, before serving as a graduate assistant at Montana State in 2011. At Bozeman High School, he helped lead the program to its first state championship since 1917 as the coordinator of the top-ranked defense in the state.
Cooper was a standout linebacker at Montana State from 2000-04, helping turn the program around from a winless season when he arrived on campus to a two-time playoff qualifier. As a senior in 2004, he was named to the All-America second team, the Big Sky's defensive MVP, and earned his third straight All-Big Sky honor. In 2022, he was named the 24th-best player in Montana State program history.
Cooper spent three seasons in the NFL and NFL Europe from 2005-2007, with stints in Dallas, San Francisco, San Diego, and Frankfurt, Germany, before suffering a career-ending injury.
