Lehi • It was a typical Sunday, and Cammon Cooper was throwing a football in his grandparents’ yard to the tune of his uncles’ and grandpa’s rundown of his performance on the field Friday.
“It’s like your traditional LDS, Mormon culture: everybody gets together on Sunday, and we grill Cammon on what he should have done better in his game,” joked Cole Cooper, Cammon’s father and Lehi assistant coach.
This is what being a Cooper at Lehi High School looks like. Senior Cammon Cooper, a Washington State commit, comes from a long line of Cooper quarterbacks. His great grandfather, grandfather, father and uncles all have carried on the tradition. The jump to college has plenty of adjustments in store for Cooper, and his family will make sure it does everything it can to prepare him.
“He takes it well,” Cole said. “Cammon, his demeanor, it’s not real high and it’s not real low, it’s just kind of even-keeled.”
Maybe it’s presumptuous to argue that Cooper was born to play football, but the timing of his birth — in the middle of his father’s senior college football season — makes it tempting to do so.
Cole Cooper played at Ricks College under then-offensive coordinator Ed Larson, who now coaches Cammon at Lehi, before finishing his college career as a two-year starter at Weber State. Cammon entered the world the week of Weber State’s matchup with rival Idaho State.
“So he didn’t have much of a choice,” Cole said about Cammon’s athletic future.
Indeed, Cammon was throwing a football in his grandparents’ yard as soon as he could grip one, and he joined a tackle football team in fourth grade.
However, he didn’t develop that fireball-slinging left arm until late in high school.
“When he was a sophomore, he didn’t really have great arm strength,” Larson said about Cooper’s first year as a varsity starter. “So he really had to use his anticipatory skills.”
The Pioneers went 3-7 that year. Cooper’s calm demeanor served him well as he soldiered through the disappointment. Then once he put more meat on his bones, it helped him lead the state in passing yards (4,059) last season.
Cammon went from weighing about 165 pounds early in his high school career, Cole estimated, to walking around at 6 foot 4 and 205 pounds this year.
Developing a meal plan and weightlifting regimen were key, but perhaps just as helpful were meals at grandma’s house.
“Grandma Cooper fixes him and his buddies lunch,” Cole said. “They’ll leave church [and go] there for Sunday brunch. She’ll pack him a lunch.”
Once he got bigger, good habits carried over from having to compensate for a lack of strength his sophomore year.
Accuracy and a quick release paired with power were a potent combination.
“Recently I’ve kind of gotten off some things I was doing my sophomore year,” Cooper said. “I just need to start taking what they give me and stuff, instead of trying to force things down the field when I don’t need to. But all around, every aspect has gotten a lot better.”
Cooper announced his commitment to WSU in May. He got to know senior quarterback Luke Falk, a Utah native who played for Logan High School, through the recruiting process.
“He’s really cool,” Cooper said. “He’s nice, you can definitely tell he’s from Utah. We all kind of have the same kind of demeanor.”
Larson said he thinks Washington State will be a good fit for Cooper.
“If you’re a quarterback and you want it sling it around, I don’t know of a [better] program,” he said. “They do a good job of getting the ball down the field, and I think Mike Leach really does a great job. If you watch him, he has set plays, but I think he tailors it for the guy he has in that position.”
Cooper is on track to graduate in December and start at WSU in the spring. He said he hopes spring ball will give him a leg up as he prepares to compete for the starting job at QB since Falk is a senior.
For Cooper, a guy who has his college plans lined up and set state records for single-game passing touchdowns (10), completions (44), attempts (74) and yards (609) in his first contest of this season, what’s next?
“Honestly, the only goal right now is to win each game and take each game at a time,” Cooper said. “And if I have crazy stats that game and we win, that’s all that matters.”
CAMMON COOPER <br>School • Lehi <br>Year • Senior <br>Position • Quarterback <br>College choice • Washington State <br>Accolades • Passed for a state-record 609 yards and 10 touchdowns in win over Alta in Week 1. … Threw for 4,059 yards, third best all-time, as a junior. … Earned All-Tribune team honors last year.
Cooper and the Pioneers achieved that goal in their first two contests of the season, a 72-66 double-overtime win at Alta and a 21-14 victory against Pine View. They stumbled to a 40-7 loss at Lone Peak on Friday.
It’s a sure bet that Cooper will be back at grandma’s house Sunday tossing the pigskin and getting feedback from all angles.
“The worst thing I could have,” Cole said, “is in two or three years from now for him to look back and say, ‘Why didn’t you push me? Why didn’t you help me reach my potential?’”