Carlton Cooper

Carlton Cooper, who had been Oly's head football coach for three seasons and part of the coaching staff for eight, wasn't invited back at the end of the fall season.
...
The Trojans went 10-19 in Cooper's three seasons at the helm.Cooper also agreed the travel distance played into the decision."Essentially, they decided they wanted someone closer," Cooper said."If not in the building, in the district.I would have rather stayed on one more year and ended on a better note.But in hindsight, it might be best for all."Cooper said he had one interview for a head coaching position this season but did not get the job.He said he will likely work as an assistant coach at Fife High School while continuing to coach baseball at Surprise Lake Middle School, also in Fife.Next season, Cooper said he plans to pursue another head coaching job."We had a lot of fun with our kids," Cooper said.

"We struggled on tackling and catching," Olympic coach Carlton Cooper said after his second loss in two years to CK. "We had a series where we'd play like we were supposed to and then we'd make mistakes.
...
"We'll have to fix some mistakes and try to gear up for this week," Cooper said.

Carlton Cooper, an assistant at Olympic for the past five years, is the Trojans' new head football coach

Olympic High finally has its next head football coach, naming veteran assistant Carlton Cooper to the post following an exhaustive, six-week interview process.

Cooper has been an assistant at Olympic for the past five seasons, serving as offensive coordinator for the last two.

He replaces Pete Weymiller, who resigned after two years with a 5-13 record.

...
Polk said Cooper was one of five candidates interviewed for the position, and one of three finalists.
...
Cooper said he doesn't expect to make any major changes to the play book, though some new looks are probable.

"I anticipate we'll add a couple wrinkles here and there to take advantage of the talent we have," he said."We'll probably be a little more diversified (on offense) this year."

The Trojans finished 3-6 last season and allowed a whopping 35.3 points per game.They reached their low point in Week 7 with a 69-15 loss to Central Kitsap - a game that went down as the most one-sided contest in the history of the Battle of Bucklin Hill rivalry.

Preparing for the upcoming season will no doubt be more difficult for Cooper given his relatively late date of hire, but the coach said his familiarity with the program should help ease the transition.

"I was just happy to get the job," he said."At this point, yes, (the time) can be made up into spring and into summer.We have good kids at Olympic.They work hard, so I don't think there's going to be a huge loss in terms of transition time."

Cooper also said he likes the makeup of what could be a competitive team in 2002.

"I think we have good kids," he said."They work hard.I think we have good leadership in the senior class coming back and I think going in, we have more experience than we have had in the past."

Cooper is the seventh head football coach in school history.

"We waited too long to actually start playing," Olympic coach Carlton Cooper said.

CK fumbled a pitch deep on its side of the field on its second play of the half, and Olympic quickly put it in the end zone.

On the ensuing kickoff, Central Kitsap failed to field the kick, watching as several Olympic players fell on the ball.

Several Cougars thought the rules on a kickoff were the same as on a punt.

...
"We got down and we had the comeback and the emotions up and had the momentum on our side, then we got the turnover and momentum swung back to their side," Cooper said.

For Olympic, it was a damaging loss in terms of playoff hopes.

Olympic, tied with North Kitsap for third and final playoff berth from the Bridge Division before the game, fell a game behind after North's 37-6 win over Port Angeles on Friday night.

Oly sits in fourth place with CK and Bremerton.

...
"The kids know," Cooper said."They know how big this was and what was at stake."

Oly, opposite of CK, attacked through the air.

...
"If you look at the way the were playing, they had everybody up," Cooper said."We attempted to run, see what they were going to give us, and said 'OK, we have to pass.' "

Published in The Sun: 10/19/2002

Jarrell's an excellent running back and he's got a lot of speed , Oly offensive coordinator Carlton Cooper said.We tried to get him the ball early on to the outside and they started widening out , and so we decided to concentrate more inside.

We tried to mix it up enough , to try get enough guys involved.And they were still giving us the inside because they had to respect the outside..

"They capitalized on our mistakes," said Olympic coach Carlton Cooper.

Standout all-purpose running back, linebacker and special teams utillity man Reagan Logova was a bright spot for the Trojans.

If Cooper could have suited 10 more like him, the Trojans wouldn't be in the midst of a five-game losing skid.

"He's a warrior," Cooper said of his star playmaker, who has been been plagued all season with various ailments.

"He's a great guy," said coach Carlton Cooper."He's a throwback kind of a kid.He plays no matter what, through all the injuries."

Cooper estimates Logova was at no more than 75 percent at any time during the year, fighting two sprained ankles, a pair of shoulder injuries and banged up ribs."He never missed a practice," Cooper added, "not even when he was hurt and couldn't do much."

"They executed when they had to execute, and we didn't," said Olympic coach Carlton Cooper.