Jim Bob Cooter returns for his second season with the New York Jets as the team's running backs coach. Cooter has been an offensive coach in the league for the past 11 seasons, including three-and-a-half years as an offensive coordinator. He has been part of two staffs that reached the Super Bowl, the Denver Broncos in 2013 and the 2009 Indianapolis Colts.
In his first season with the Jets, Cooter helped free agent signing Le'Veon Bell produce 1,250 yards from scrimmage, one of just six Jets rushers with a 1,200+ scrimmage yards season in the last 20 years. Bell also finished as one of just 10 NFL running backs with 600+ rushing yards and 400+ receiving yards in 2019, while pulling in 66 receptions, one of just seven running backs with 65+ catches in 2019.
After initially joining the Lions as a quarterbacks coach (2014), Cooter was promoted to offensive coordinator in Week Eight of the 2015 season. During his time in Detroit, quarterback Matthew Stafford ranked in the top 10 in completion percentage (64.9%), passing yards (21,069), touchdowns (128) and passing plays of 25+ yards (151). Prior to his promotion to offensive coordinator, the offense under Stafford produced the third-most turnovers in the league. Following his appointment as offensive coordinator, the offense produced the fifth-fewest. In 2015, the offense led the NFL in red zone efficiency, while the 2016 offense produced eight fourth-quarter game-winning drives, with five different players catching at least 50 passes (only the fifth team in league history to do so).
Additionally, running backs in Cooter's offense ranked in the top four league-wide in both receptions and receiving yards in his time as offensive coordinator, while Theo Riddick's 211 receptions under him were the second most in the league in that span. Three different backs produced 25-catch seasons under him, including four by Riddick from 2015-18.
Prior to his time in Detroit, Cooter first worked with Gase as the Broncos offensive assistant (2013). That season, the Denver offense ranked first in the NFL in multiple categories, including total yards per game (465.3), total touchdowns (76) and points per game (37.9), and set an NFL single-season record with 606 points scored as the team earned its third-straight AFC West title. In his lone season in Kansas City, Cooter was part of a Chiefs offensive staff that oversaw the fifth-ranked rushing offense in the league, producing 149.7 yards per game, as running back Jamaal Charles finished with 1,509 yards (fourth most in the league), earning Pro Bowl recognition.
Cooter entered the NFL coaching ranks with Indianapolis in 2009, serving the Colts staff in a variety of roles as the team won back-to-back AFC South titles in 2009 and 2010, earning a Super Bowl XLIV appearance.
A former quarterback at the University of Tennessee, Cooter got his coaching start at his alma mater as a graduate assistant from 2007-08.
