Colgate Men's Lacrosse Instagram
Colgate’s Matt Karweck announced the addition of Chris Cooper to his men’s lacrosse coaching staff in August 2018.
Cooper arrived after two seasons as the top assistant at Binghamton, while Crawley spent last season as the volunteer assistant at Notre Dame.
“Chris is a true educator, a dynamic leader, and comes from a long history under some of the great coaches and mentors in the game.” Karweck said. “He brings a knowledge on all sides of the ball and will lead our defensive, recruiting and rebranding efforts.”
Cooper already has put together successful stops at multiple levels. Most recently in the last two seasons as the top assistant at Binghamton, he boosted the Bearcats to a program record for wins in a season and only their second appearance in the America East tournament championship game.
The squad under Cooper’s watch produced two USILA All-Americans and six All-Conference performers, including the defensive player of the year, as well as America East coaching staff of the year.
“I would like to thank Matt Karweck and the entire search committee for this incredible opportunity,” Cooper said. “Through the interview process, it became very clear that the experience offered at Colgate to young people and their families is both high level and well-rounded.
“This, coupled with the vision of Coach Karweck to help develop his student-athletes into the best versions of themselves both on and off the field, made us feel like it was the perfect fit for our young family and my professional career.”
Head Coaching Experience
Before Binghamton, Cooper spent one season as head coach at Division III John Carroll. He led JCU to a 12-6 record, a OAC regular season championship, OAC tournament championship and its first NCAA tournament appearance. Other honors included OAC offensive player of the year and coaching staff of the year.
Prior to JCU, Cooper served one season as volunteer coach at Princeton. The Tigers that season won a share of the Ivy League regular season title and advanced to the Ivy League tournament championship.
His first NCAA experience came in the 2013-14 seasons as an assistant at Division III Denison. Over that two-year span, the Big Red set records for consecutive wins and wins in a season (19). They captured the NCAC regular season and tournament championships, made an NCAA quarterfinals appearance and were named NCAC coaching staff of the year.
Cooper’s coaching career started at Michigan State, where he helped the Spartans to new heights. They earned CCLA Conference regular season and tournament championships as well as MCLA national coaching staff of the year.
Cooper is a graduate of Central Michigan University. He and his wife, Stephanie, are the parents of sons Walker and Wells.
