Alumnus Gary Cooper’s Back as Mount Miguel’s Football Coach

For Gary Cooper, it’s a homecoming. The 1968 graduate of Mount Miguel High School has been named head football coach at his alma mater. Cooper replaces nine-year-coach Brian Smith, who resigned to take an administrative post at Granite Hills High School.

Cooper has eight years of Grossmont League coaching experience, four years as an assistant at Valhalla from 1975 to 1978 and four years as head coach at Monte Vista from 1979 until 1982. Cooper’s Monte Vista teams were 26-12-1, winning two league titles.

“I’m one of these guys who’s very sentimental and believes in tradition,” said Cooper, who played college football at Kansas. “I’m excited. A lot of coaches applied for the job. This is a fine place to coach a team. I’m very fortunate.”

According to Mount Miguel principal Tom Flood, Cooper was chosen from a pool of 30 candidates.

“Gary’s familiar with the area, staff and community. That’s a real benefit. And he’s coached in the Grossmont League,” Flood said.

Cooper, an English teacher, quit his coaching job at Monte Vista after the 1982 season because of cuts in the school’s athletic budget.

“I still knew I wanted to be a coach,” Cooper said. “It was a matter of the right opportunity coming up.”

Cooper inherits a Matador team that may be one of county’s best.Last season, Mount Miguel was 10-2 and won the Grossmont League championship. The Matadors advanced to the San Diego Section 3-A semifinals, where they lost to Vista.