New Offensive Coordinator brings a fast style to UCF
By his own admission, Junipero Serra High School quarterback coach Jalani Eason is often pretty tough with his players. It’s a trait ingrained in him from his own college playing days, particularly from his own quarterbacks coach at Portland State, Steve Cooper.
“I didn’t realize it, obviously at 18, why he was always so tough. But I realized as I got older it was because he believed in me,” Eason said. “We didn’t always see eye to eye, but definitely the way he coached helped me through my freshman year, for sure.”
But it wasn’t just Cooper’s tough approach that stood out to Eason, it was also the passion he has.
“You [UCF] do have a coach and a coordinator who put 110% outside of practices, outside of the game, to make sure the offense is where it needs to be,” Eason said. “Football junkie at heart, and he loves his players just as much. So as fans, you should be very excited.”
Since Eason’s time at Portland State, Cooper has had several more years of coaching experience as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Now, as the new offensive coordinator for UCF Football, Cooper may have bigger things planned for his new team.
The 38 year old Oregon native’s football career started playing at Oregon State for one season, before playing the final three years of his career at Portland State. With the Vikings, he was a two-time varsity letter winner at wide receiver and immediately after his graduation, he became a graduate assistant for the team. Just a year later, he was promoted to tight ends coach.
As tight ends coach, Cooper worked closely with former NFL tight end Julius Thomas. He then moved to wide receivers coach for the next four seasons at Portland State, and eventually was promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2015.

With Cooper calling the plays, the Portland State offense improved its scoring average by 10 points per game and rushed for more than 3,000 yards. In 2016, the Vikings averaged 454.2 yards and 33.2 points per game.
As quarterbacks coach, Cooper was a guide and mentor to several young athletes, including former Portland State quarterbacks Davis Alexander and previously mentioned Jalani Eason, in their freshman years. Alexander started in three games that season and had 1,165 passing yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. Eason started five games and had 803 passing yards, 222 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.
When it comes to coaching at UCF, Eason had some predictions as to how Cooper will run the team.
“The offense will play fast. It’s a very quarterback friendly offense.” Eason said. “You’ll see a lot of motions. You’ll see a lot of things that will help move the ball down the field.”
After his long run at Portland State, Cooper was hired as an offensive quality control coach at the University of Nebraska, where he worked closely with recently re-hired UCF head coach Scott Frost. In their time together, the Huskers offense put up some impressive numbers.
In 2018 the Huskers had both a 1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver for the first time in program history. In 2019, Nebraska tallied its most total yards and points ever in a Big Ten Conference game, and in 2020 ranked second in the Big Ten in rushing offense. In 2021, Nebraska ranked 20th nationally in total offense.
Despite the impressive offensive statistics, the team’s overall record throughout their time in Nebraska did not live up to expectations. This ultimately led to Frost being fired during his fifth season with the Huskers, and subsequently, Cooper left Nebraska at the end of the 2022 season.
Cooper was then hired by the University of Maine as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2023. There, he’d lead the Black Bears to the 10th-ranked passing offense in the NCAA D1 FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) with 3,081 yards. His quarterback Derek Robertson ranked ninth nationally with 25 passing touchdowns and 2,993 passing yards.
Long time University of Maine play-by-play radio announcer Rich Kimball has seen many offensive coordinators come and go, but remembers Cooper’s coaching vividly. Specifically, he recalls how Cooper would put his philosophy degree to work through his coaching style.
“He’s pretty cerebral. He looks at the game differently than a lot of coaches do,” Kimball said. “Some coaches are wedded to a specific system, and Cooper has the ability to look around at the talent he has and adjust his approach to the game based on the talent.”
Stylistically, Kimball said Cooper’s approach to running an offense was never caught up in trying to outsmart the opposing team’s defense. Kimball said that coach Cooper knew the strengths of his offense, and the weaknesses of the opposing defense, and approached it from that angle instead of trying to get in the mind of the defensive coordinator.
When it comes to what UCF fans can expect, Kimball had confidence in Cooper’s ability to maximize the talents in the UCF locker room.
“He’s shown the tendency throughout his career to lead players to positions and skills that they maybe didn’t know they had themselves, so he gets the best out of people.” Kimball said. “Put all that together, the football knowledge, the use of technology and the knowledge of people and I think they’re going to be really excited about what he does for the Knights program.”
After his short time at Maine, Cooper was hired as an offensive analyst at Boise State in 2023, when the Broncos won the Mountain West Conference Championship behind star running back Ashton Jeanty.
Finally, Cooper finds himself in Orlando as offensive coordinator for UCF, and once again working under head coach Scott Frost. There’s no doubt that Cooper has an extensive resume when it comes to running an offense, however, this will be his first time as an offensive coordinator at a P4 school. It will be interesting to see how Cooper adjusts to his new role over time, and if his offense can get close to reaching the heights of UCFast.
Great read. Wonderful insight into his coaching path.