Hunkie Cooper uses local ties, passion to make impact at UNLV

RENO — A respectful resentment for UNR still resides in Hernandez “Hunkie” Cooper, trickling Monday morning into the Fertitta Football Complex when UNLV’s preparation for the Wolf Pack began.

Out of Cooper during a speech to this iteration of Rebels came 33 years of impassioned personal and historical perspective on the intrastate rivalry.

“He’s been invested and understands the rivalry as good or better than maybe anybody in our building,” Rebels coach Barry Odom said. “I knew the importance leading up to this week, but now even more so being in it for a few days.”

Helping Odom and the Rebels prepare for the Wolf Pack is the charismatic Cooper, their former quarterback, running back, wide receiver, defensive back, punt returner and kick returner turned first-year director of football player development and community engagement.

His position was newly created by Odom and gives Cooper an indelible impact in the program with his institutional knowledge of the city, college and conference — along with his passion for the gridiron game.

“There are people in this city that have impacted my life in a way that if I’d have went anywhere else … I don’t think I’d have the same outcome,” said Cooper, one of the greatest all-around players in the history of the Arena Football League.

“If I had $100 million, I couldn’t repay those people. So I have to serve. And my service is through a game.”

Cooper is 54 years of walking wisdom, packed still in a solid muscular 5-foot-9-inch frame.

Appropriately nicknamed “Hunkie,” he was forged by an upbringing in Palestine, Texas — playing in high school against the likes of Patrick Mahomes Sr. and winning a national junior college championship at Navarro College en route to two years at UNLV and 13 years of professional football.

Coaching came naturally to Cooper, who counts former coaches among his most formative mentors.

So did living in Las Vegas, his fervent love for the city developed while representing the Rebels. He was an assistant at Bishop Gorman and the head coach at Canyon Springs from 2009 to 2014, winning 43 of 63 games and graduating all of his players, sending several to Division I programs and providing guidance that extended beyond their tenures with the program.

“But every time a job (at UNLV) came open, no phone call,” Cooper candidly remembered. “So I just quietly went about my business. I knew that I knew the game, and I know more than anything else, I knew how to develop young men.”

San Diego State would hire Cooper to coach their wide receivers. He maintained close relationships with local high school coaches, ensuring from 2015 to 2022 that the Aztecs recruited local players. But they didn’t renew his contract, triggering in February a return to Las Vegas for a convention for the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches, of which he’s a board member.

He would meet Odom at a UNLV booster’s behest, turning a scheduled 30-minute meeting into four hours of spirited conversation. The result was a role on Odom’s staff formally announced on March 1.

“He’s just been genuine,” Cooper said of Odom. “He’s the right guy for the job. And to be part of his staff and be in an off-the-field role, I get to see things from a different lens.”

Cooper’s role is wide-ranging, requiring his football and social savvy all the same. He advises coaches and mentors players, helping entrench Odom in local recruiting by showing him the lay of the land.

He also gives one helluva a speech and wants the Fremont Cannon the way he would if he still played for the Rebels.

“We work hard to get the mindset to match the skill-set,” Cooper said. “We’re going to do it the right way. We’re going to do it with a model that’s been successful. And if he we stick to the plan and have guys that want to be here, I think we’ll have a lot of success.”

Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.