Max Cooper Preparing for Final Ride

Hawkeye receiver healthy, ready to contribute

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Playing Big Ten football was always on Max Cooper’s wish list. “It was my dream,” Cooper said.

But dreams don’t always come true. And as a senior at Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha, Wis., where Cooper had 50 catches for 1,024 yards and 17 touchdowns on a state championship team, he was still waiting for a Big Ten school to court him. Cooper had some other opportunities, so he accepted a scholarship offer from Central Michigan. His father, Steve, had been a backup quarterback there.

But a few weeks before signing date, Cooper’s wish was granted after all. Iowa offered a scholarship.

“As soon as Iowa offered, it probably took an hour or two to figure out I wanted to go there,” Cooper said. “I hadn’t even visited the school before I committed.”

Max had seen the Hawkeyes play a game. It was against Michigan State in the 2015 Big Ten Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.

“My cousin was a walk-on at Michigan State,” said Cooper, who was a junior in high school when he first saw the Hawkeyes in person. “So I grew up watching Michigan State football, and Big Ten football. I was at that game, and I thought it was an awesome experience.” Cooper’s Iowa career has struggled to gain traction. Injuries have played a major part of that. He tore an ACL and meniscus in a knee as a sophomore in 2018. He tore the meniscus again in spring ball a few months later. He pulled a hamstring before practice started last season, got healthy and then pulled it again.

His career statistics read like this: four catches for 12 yards, one carry for nine yards and six punt returns for 29 yards. Two of those punt returns came against USC in the 2019 Holiday Bowl.

Cooper, who has earned a business degree from Iowa, could have said goodbye to football after last season. But the 6-foot, 191-pounder is back, trying to work his way into the wide receiver rotation.

“There were just so many pros to coming back,” he said. “I couldn’t turn down the opportunity.” Cooper is fueled by a desire to succeed, despite what’s happened to him in the past. Asked what he brings to the table, he smiles and tells you.

“My experience,” Cooper said. “I haven’t played a ton, but just having that experience of being on the field, just knowing what it’s like on the field at Kinnick. Football in front of 70,000 fans. I don’t think I’ve lost anything with my injuries. I think I still have my speed, my intelligence. I think I do a good job of reading the field.”

Cooper was part of a 21-man Class of 2017 recruiting class. Four-year letterman Matt Hankins, the starting left cornerback, running back Ivory Kelly-Martin, punter Ryan Gersonde, wide receiver Henry Marchese and Cooper are the only ones still around.

That class included wide receivers Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Brandon Smith, currently in NFL training camps. Wide receiver was not a position of strength when the Class of 2017 made it to campus. But during Cooper’s time, the wide receiver room has made strides. 

“It’s been wild to see how much the wide receiver room has improved since I was a freshman,” Cooper said. “New guys have pushed the room forward. And it’s been really fun.” One season of eligibility remains for Cooper. One last chance to show why he was recruited by Iowa in the first place. And he is owed an injury-free final chapter.

“I’d love it, and I’m hoping for it,” he said. “I’m doing as much as I can to prevent (another injury).”

So what does Max Cooper want to do with his life?

“Still a tossup right now,” he said. “I’m really hoping to have a successful season this year. And whatever it brings, hopefully it will give me an opportunity, and open some doors, for life after football.”