Column: Don't Overlook the Extraordinary Legacy of Amari Cooper at Alabama

When wide receiver Julio Jones officially retired from the National Football League during the offseason, he was the last remaining player from Alabama's amazing recruiting Class of 2008. When tackle James Carpenter was recently waived by the Jacksonville Jaguars, he was the last man standing from the Class of 2009.

With linebacker C.J. Mosley calling it a career, the Class of 2010 was done as well. Wide receiver Amari Cooper's retirement announcement the other day didn't mean the end of the Class of 2012, as defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson is set to play with the Arizona Cardinals this season, but it does mean that the only player from the 2009, 2011 and 2012 national championship teams who is still playing football is center Ryan Kelly.

These were some of the guys that Nick Saban would be talking abut when he said things like it's a really good sign when your best players are also the hardest working. He said that a lot about Cooper, especially during the 2014 season when he finished third in Heisman Trophy voting.

Actually, the coach got so many questions about him that he ran out of descriptive words to use with reporters. “Outstanding” was the staple for much of the fall and then by November he started using “phenomenal.”

But following the 55-54 victory over Auburn, during which Cooper established numerous program records while helping lead the Crimson Tide’s dramatic comeback, not even that seemed sufficient.

"Cooper, what do you say about him?” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said the week of the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.

Regardless, it was pretty obvious that the wide receiver was without peer, which might be the greatest compliment of all.

“Amari is not worthy of anyone comparing him to anybody else. He is Amari Cooper. He has his own style. He’s a very competitive guy who works really, really hard. Has really good speed getting in and out of breaks. Works hard in the game to get open. Does a good job of executing, has made a lot of really big plays for us this year.
Nick Saban

His final Iron Bowl may have been the perfect example because as Cooper heated up so did the Crimson Tide.

With his first reception, a 5-yard gain to help set up Alabama’s initial touchdown, Cooper established a new program record for career catches.

With three touchdown receptions, which tied the Crimson Tide single-game record, he broke his own single-season record of 11 set two years previous as a freshman. Cooper had previously tied his mark and had notched 14.

With 224 receiving yards he tied his own single-game record, set against Tennessee earlier in the season. His 14th career 100-yard game was another career record after being tied with DJ Hall (13, 2004-07).

Cooper also set numerous Iron Bowl records including for receiving yards in a game, and was the only player to have three 100-yard performances in the rivalry. He had 109 yards in 2012 and 178 for an encore, giving him 511 for his career, topping the all-time record held by Julio Jones (318, 2008-10).

Yet at halftime he had just six receptions for 60 yards and a 17-yard touchdown.

“You know we didn’t throw the ball downfield that much in the first half,” Saban said. “The only time we did was a touchdown and I kept saying to (offensive coordinator) Lane (Kiffin), ‘We made a lot of explosive plays throwing the ball downfield, let’s take some shots on these guys.’

“They’re certainly doing that to us and we’re not having much success. I thought a couple of those big plays really changed the momentum of the game.”

Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Amari Cooper on the Sports Illustrated cover of the 2014 college football preview

Saban credited Cooper’s 39-yard touchdown reception in particular as being a turning point in the third quarter, and he then topped it with a 75-yard bomb.

Regardless, the Tigers obviously never had an answer, causing Crimson Tide tackle Austin Shepherd to quip: “I’d have the whole defense on him.”

“He’s a great player,” Kelly said at the time. “I’ve got a buddy who said they tried to play two on him at some point in time. But if they’re going try to put the entire team on him then other guys are going to be open.”

Regardless, Cooper put up most of his biggest numbers against some of the best pass defenses in college football.

At the end of the regular season he had faced seven of the top 50, including two in the top 10 and three in the top 20. In those seven games he caught 69 passes (9.9 per game) for 1,041 yards (148.7 yards) with 10 touchdowns. He had three 200-yard performances while his lowest output was eight catches for 83 yards and a touchdown at LSU, which had the nation’s No. 2 pass-efficiency defense.

Against the six opponents ranked in the Associated Press Poll he caught 58 passes for 756 yards and seven touchdowns. That’s an average of 9.7 catches and 126.0 yards.

“You never know what kind of route he’s going to run by the way he moves,” safety Landon Collins said. “That’s just Coop.”

Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Amari Cooper at the Heisman Trophy ceremony. — Dec 13, 2014; New York, NY, USA; (left to right) Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Amari Cooper and Wisconsin Badgers running back Melvin Gordon and Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota pose with the Heisman Trophy during the pre-announcement Heisman finalists press conference at the New York Marriott Marquis. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Saban expanded on that: “He really pays attention to detail, tries to do things right, doesn't get frustrated when it doesn't go right and sort of just keeps being a relentless competitor out there. … He's got really good speed and he's got good size and he's got really good hands, and he plays with really good toughness.

“Because he's smart we can move him around a lot of different places and utilize what he can do in different spots which makes it difficult for the defense to track him.”

Saban added that Cooper played through “a lot of injuries,” obviously including having one of the greatest performances in Iron Bowl history while wearing a knee brace to protect the deep bruise from a helmet hit the week before against Western Carolina.

“The brace actually helped me,” said Cooper, who had 13 receptions against Auburn. “It eased some of the pain.”

After the SEC Championship Game, the accolades started pouring in for Cooper, including the SEC offensive Player of the Year, and All-American status, which will make him someday eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame.

Amari Cooper's Crimson Tide Career

• Won 2014 Fred Biletnikoff Award
• 2014 SEC Offensive Player of the Year
• 2014 unanimous All-American
• 2014 All-SEC
• Fourth-overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft
• Finished third for the 2014 Heisman Trophy
• Broke Alabama’s single-game receiving yards record with 224 against Tennessee and matched it against Auburn
• Set an SEC record with 124 receptions in 2014
• Set school single-season records with 1,727 yards and 16 touchdowns
• Became Alabama's all-time leader in receptions (228), receiving yards (3,463), and receiving touchdowns (31)
• Team captain

When we did our Saban 250 last year, ranking the top players of the Crimson Tide dynasty, Cooper was No. 14. Quite frankly, he deserved to be higher up the list, just like how his only appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated was on a regional season preview. But that speaks volumes for just how impressive those players and teams were while combining to win six national titles.

Instead, chalk it up to another example of how Cooper persevered and was always better than most thought, like in our recent update on What Nick Saban's Former Alabama Players Made in the NFL he was second after the 2024-25 season at $136,692,228.

That's rare air indeed.

Then consider some of the players who came after him, who all wanted to be next Cooper: Calvin Ridley, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, DeVonta Smith, Javon Waddle, John Metchie III and Jameson Williams. Alabama became something none of us thought was possible, WRU. Some of the credit obviously has to go to Jones, to Saban for hiring Kiffin, to the quarterbacks to flocked to Tuscaloosa.

But Cooper in 2014 was the turning point. He was the first player in Alabama history, and just the second from Southeastern Conference, to win the prestigious Biletnikoff Award as receiver of the year.

Now he's made his last reception, Julio has scored his final touchdown, and Mosley notched his final tackle. Consequently it's with a little sadness that we turn to our first Sunday of the NFL season knowing that we'll never see them in a football uniform again.

But the legacy of each is immense, especially the wide receivers.

Jones is likely going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Smith wiped out many of Cooper's records en rout to the winning the Heisman. In between them was the man who redefined the position at Alabama, and finished right alongside them as one of the greatest wideouts in Crimson Tide history.

Christopher Walsh is the publisher of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI/BamaCentral and has been covering Alabama sports since 2004. Some of the information here was also used in the book "100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die."