There’s still three weeks left before Georgia Tech opens the season against Northern Illinois, and lineup combinations are tentative. But, after a week, offensive lineman Kenny Cooper has positioned himself for a potential return to the starting lineup.
Cooper has been working at left guard with the first-team offense in recent days, lining up between left tackle Devin Cochran and center Mikey Minihan.
“Kenny’s playing really good,” Minihan said Friday after the Jackets’ seventh practice of the preseason. “I missed playing next to Kenny. I think the last time, it was two years ago.”
Minihan is accurate. Cooper was a productive starter at center in the 2017-18 seasons for former coach Paul Johnson, and was a starter for the first four games of coach Geoff Collins’ first season in 2019 before suffering a season-ending hip injury. In 2020, his redshirt season, he was unable to win his starting job back, playing in seven games as a backup.
It seemed a logical time to move forward. He graduated in December with his business degree. To come back and use his extra season of eligibility, allowed by the NCAA because of COVID-19, would mean a sixth season on the team with no guarantee of playing time. He chose to return.
“The one thing that made we want to come back is just what we talk about every day – winning,” Cooper said. “Because we’re at the point now where we can turn this around and win some games and everything. And that’s really it.”
Cooper is one of three Jackets who joined the team in 2016 and remain on the roster, along with defensive tackle Djimon Brooks and tight end Joseph Macrina.
When the preseason opened Aug. 6, Cooper played some center early on, but with injuries along the line, he has been tried out at right and left guard, and now has a spot on the left.
A player who has demonstrated his toughness, agility and tackle-moving strength, Cooper has earned offensive-line coach Brent Key’s approval.
“He’s blocking,” Key said. “That’s the nature of what we do.”
Long a supporter of Cooper, Key went on to extol his maturity and leadership before returning to his play.
“He’s helping the younger guys, he’s taking care of his body, he’s getting himself in playing shape – all of the things that we expected from Kenny the last couple years,” Key said. “And, finally, knock on wood, he’s staying healthy out there, he’s able to work. He’s repped both guard spots, the center spot. I move him around a lot of places, but I’ve been very pleased, especially the last couple days since we’ve full pads on.”
Cooper said his improved health is significant.
“It’s just mentally, I just flipped the switch that I needed, and it’s been helping me out,” he said. “It’s also motivating from everybody else from the offensive line that’s helping me go, giving me encouragement.”
While Cooper previously was a center – a position where Minihan appears entrenched – playing guard suits him. The position has less of a mental demand than center, where Minihan is required to make calls and set the line.
“Right now, I’m enjoying playing guard because I’m just playing loose and am able to do what I’m supposed to do, especially since I’ve been kind of in a little rut,” Cooper said. “It’s really helped me a lot to be able to loosen up and just play.”
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