Jarius Cooper

Jarius Cooper arrived at Stanford in the fall of 2019 to coach the sprinters, hurdlers, and relays, after successful tenures at Arkansas State and Connecticut.

Cooper, an All-Southeastern Conference hurdler at Florida, coached under current Stanford Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field J.J. Clark at Connecticut in 2019 after six seasons as an assistant at Arkansas State.

Cooper developed Sharika Nelvis of Arkansas State into not only the nation’s top collegiate hurdler, but into the nation’s top women’s track and field athlete, winning the 2014 Honda Award for her sport. Nelvis was the NCAA champion in the 100 hurdles outdoors (12.52w) and the 60 hurdles indoors (7.93) and, a year later, made the U.S. team for the IAAF World Championships and won a U.S. indoor title in the 60 hurdles. Nelvis won seven Sun Belt championships and was among three finalists for The Bowerman, college track’s most prestigious honor.

Another top performer coached by Cooper was Jaylen Bacon, also at Arkansas State. While a collegian, Bacon was fourth in the 100 at the U.S. outdoor championships, earning a spot on the U.S. national team’s 4x100 relay for the World Championships in London, winning a silver medal.