High School

Casady Football Brings on Former NFL Receiver as Head Coach

Josh Cooper was the head coach at Hinton for one season

Kevin L. Smith

Former NFL receiver Josh Cooper (88), pictured here competing for the Cleveland Browns, has been hired as the new head football coach at the Casady School in Oklahoma.
Former NFL receiver Josh Cooper (88), pictured here competing for the Cleveland Browns, has been hired as the new head football coach at the Casady School in Oklahoma. / Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

A former NFL receiver has been hired as the new head coach for the Casady football team in Oklahoma.

Casady School Athletics announced on Friday that Josh Cooper will lead the Cyclones in the upcoming season. Cooper replaces Ty Prestidge, who stepped down in January after four years at Casady.

Prestidge, who has a career 81-70 career coaching record, recently celebrated 50 years in coaching. Before Casady, Prestidge had stops at Empire/Temple, Guthrie, Mustang, Plainview, Purcell and Westmoore.

Cooper was the head coach at Hinton last year and previously served as offensive coordinator at Deer Creek. The Comets went 0-10 in the 2025 season.

Now, Cooper takes over a Casady program that went 4-7 last season. The Cyclones lost 49-0 to Davis in the opening round of the OSSAA 2A playoffs.

Cooper is a former Oklahoma Coaches Association, Tulsa World and The Oklahoman all-state standout for Mustang High School. In his senior season for the Broncos, Cooper had 81 receptions for 1,328 yards and 15 touchdowns.

On defense, Cooper recorded 84 tackles and six interceptions for the Broncos. He also kicked eight field goals.

A three-star recruit, Cooper played at Oklahoma State for four seasons. He caught 161 passes for 1,695 and nine TDs and received All-Big 12 honors in 2011.

Cooper signed with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent following the 2012 NFL Draft. In two seasons at Cleveland, Cooper had 17 catches for 166 yards.

With former Oklahoma State teammate and quarterback Brandon Weeden as his teammate, Cooper’s best game for the Browns was the Cincinnati Bengals. Cooper caught two passes for 132 yards, which included a 17-yard reception.

Cooper was released by the Browns in May 2014 due to an injury. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings months later but was waived in July 2014.

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Kevin L. Smith
KEVIN L. SMITH

Kevin L. Smith, a Rochester (NY) native and a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, has been covering high school sports for over a decade. He started out as a freelance sportswriter in 2013. Since then, he’s held sportswriter and editor positions for newspapers in Coudersport (PA), Sayre (PA) and Oswego (NY). Smith currently covers high school sports in the Greater Syracuse Area for syracuse.com | Post-Standard, a position he’s held since 2021. You can follow him on social media @KevLSmittie. Story ideas can be sent to KLSFreelancing@outlook.com.

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