UA All-America Game: Cooper likes Taggart's plan
ORLANDO — December 20 was the first day of the early signing period for the class of 2018. As of December 18, Rivals 250 defensive tackle Robert Cooper, a long-time Florida State commit was planning to visit Alabama in January and sign with a school February 7.
Then on December 19, just a couple of days after Cooper took his official visit to Tallahassee, new Florida State head coach Willie Taggart had an in-home visit with with the four-star. One day later, the 6-foot-2, 350 pound run stuffer signed with the Seminoles.
"It was December 19 when I made the decision to sign early," said Cooper. "I knew where I wanted to go, so I said to myself, why wait and I signed. Coach Taggert had come in, explained his plan to me, we got to know each other a lot better and I knew I was not going to change my mind.
"Coach Taggert wants to change a few things, he has a great plan and our visit together went very well. He is a cool dude that I like him a lot."
Taggert's decision to retain defensive line coach Odell Haggins did not hurt things either. Haggins and Cooper have been in contact for four years, so the two have a deep relationship.
"I can say that I love coach Haggins. I have been around a lot of coaches going through the recruiting process and I can say that he is the best. He is a cool guy, he is someone who cares about his players and we have a great relationship.
"I feel very comfortable with him and he has a plan for me. He loves how I am a two gap player and can stop the run, so he really wants to help me improve my game as a pass rusher.
"I could not ask to play for a better coach."
Alabama was the only school Cooper was considering taking an official visit to. He remained in regular contact with the Crimson Tide staff throughout the 2017 season after visiting Tuscaloosa for their spring game.
He caught Alabama by surprise when he signed a week and a half ago, but Cooper knew where his heart was. Cooper now hopes to showcase his talent and do some recruiting in the coming days in Orlando.
"It feels great to be done with recruiting and now I want to get some guys to come with me," said Cooper. "I am going to be talking to Christian Meadows this week to make sure he stays with Florida State and I will get more names to work on.
"I will be recruiting and playing hard this week. I think some guys will come here and look to have fun, but I will go hard every play. I missed five games with a shoulder injury this season, so I want to show everyone that I am back."
