To family, he's always been "Junior," or "Little Cooper."
Griz fans have come to know Van Cooper Jr. as a three-year starter at strong safety whose fourth quarter interception in the end zone all but sealed Montana's 36-27 regular season upset win over Cal Poly last year.
As a prep star in Detroit and later Denver, Cooper was captain of the football and track teams and also played baseball. He was a national championship qualifier in the 100 meters as a senior and his relay teams set state records in the 400 and 1600.
Cooper gave the Griz D a burst of speed and power when he became a starter as a freshman in 2004. Since then he's played in every game and was named "Outstanding Special Teams Player," last season.
This season he says the Griz are better than he's ever seen them and few would argue that UM can thanks its defense for a ninth straight appearance in the Division I-AA playoffs. It remains to be seen how far this defensive unit - perhaps one of the best the Griz have ever fielded - can carry Montana.
Q: What kind of influence on you was Van Cooper Sr. when you were growing up?
A: My dad was a big influence on me. He was a big time football player and a lot of his friends were too, so he was always telling stories and he talked about his friends. He was one of the top recruits (in the country) coming out of high school in 1975. Now a lot of his old friends have sons who play football at different colleges, so I keep in touch with some of them. My dad keeps me grounded, he helps me out.
Q: Does he give you any pointers?
A: I guess he's a typical football dad. He gives me little tips here and there. These days he tries to stay out of it and just be more of a father, but he does try to help me out now and then.
Q: Was he excited about the Wildcats' big win over Cal a couple weeks ago?
A: We didn't really talk too much about it. He's been more of a Grizzly fan since I came here.
Q: Is there a story or long-standing family tradition behind how you got your name? Is "Van" short for anything?
A: It's not short for anything. My dad just gave it to me, I'm the only son he's has so he just gave me his name.
Q: If you have a son will he be Van Cooper III?
A: No, I think it's going to stop with me. I'll come up with something else for my son. I'm not thinking really about having kids right now anyway. That's pretty far down the road.
Q: Does the attitude of the Montana team change now that it's playoff time?
A: I think it adds more excitement. Everybody has that mindset that it could be one and done. I think people get more focused, they get more tuned in to what they have to do.
Q: What's your opinion of the BCS in Division I-A?
A: Truthfully, I think the BCS is a bunch of crap. They need a playoff system. They've got like10 teams that are 10-1 right now. I think it's a lot of BS and they need to fix the system because it's not fair for the players. You can't find out who is the true No.1 team just by using computer rankings.
Q: You're originally from Detroit but moved to Colorado, how and when did that happen?
A: We moved to Colorado before my junior year of high school and it was a pretty tough thing for me, because I had been in Detroit for like 12 years. I got used to it though and the experience (at Cherry Creek High School) was great for me.
Q: What are your memories of growing up in Detroit?
A: I have memories of playing Little League and I still have a lot of friends back home. Most of them are doing pretty good and I keep in touch with them. My dad's family is from Detroit so I keep in touch with them too. I try to go back every two years or so for a few days in the summer.
Q: Do you miss Colorado while you're in Missoula?
A: I like Colorado, but I don't miss it too much. Most of my friends from down there are playing college ball somewhere else now. There's a few people I hang with back in Colorado, but I've got good friends up here in Montana too.
Q: What are your favorite sports besides football?
A: I don't know. I like track and baseball. I played baseball for two years in high school. I like track a lot. I'd say those are my two favorite sports outside of football.
Q: What position did you play in baseball?
A: Catcher. They tried to move me to the outfield, but I didn't like it.
Q: Were you rooting for the Tigers in the World Series?
A: Not really, I'm not really much of a Tigers fan. They always sucked when I was growing up and now I'm not just going to jump on them because they're good now. I'm more of a fan of just individual players, since players switch to so many different teams these days.
Q: What's the best part of playing strong safety?
A: I like the the physical part of it. I like being able to hit somebody without getting in trouble for it. It's pretty fun to play safety, you get to run around the field and do a little bit of everything.
Q: What's the worst part?
A: Basically, getting beat deep because you're the last line of defense. Getting beat deep and giving up a touchdown in definitely the worst thing.
Q: Is there one experience or game that you've played for the Griz that sticks out in your mind?
A: I think last year against Cal Poly. That game sticks out in my mind because I had a pretty good game on special teams. I had a pick on defense and I think a fumble recovery on special teams.
Q: Is this the best defense Montana has had since you've been here?
A: I think so. Defensively everybody is really close. We've mostly all been together for our whole careers, we came in the same class. So everybody has that relationship and it just makes it special right now.
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