Cooter likes his unique name
Wesley Rucker, Staff Writer
Monday, August 26, 2002 - Volume 91 Number 4
http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/article.php/6791
If Jim Bob Cooter ever finds the game to match his name, he could be the first player in college football history to win four Heisman trophies.
For now, he'll have to settle for meeting more people than most in a 26,000- student university. Three weeks and campus is already turning into his own personal Cheers set for arguably the best name in UT football history.
"Everybody remembers my name, that's for sure," Cooter said. "I walk around campus everyday, and it seems like everyone says, 'Hey, there's Jim Bob Cooter.'"
Cooter vividly remembers what happened the first night after two-a-days at his first team meeting. Everyone else on the team does, too.
"The first night I was here we all had to stand up and say our name and the position we played. You know, 'I'm whoever from wherever and I play quarterback.'
"I stood up and said, I played at Lincoln County High School, I play quarterback and my name is Jim Bob Cooter. Everybody turned around and went, 'What?' and started laughing. Then everyone was like 'Really?' and I was like, 'Yeah.'
"But I've been hearing that stuff my whole life. It doesn't bother me at all. People ask me all the time, 'Why don't you just want to go by Jim or James or something.' People remember Jim Bob."
The next question asked by certain people was naturally, "Wait, isn't Lincoln County where they make ..."
Yes, it is. It's where they make Jack Daniel's.
Despite the fact he lives about one mile from the Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg, the only bootlegging he intends to do is on the football field, where he is a walk-on true freshman.
After turning down a baseball scholarship to Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin and a football walk-on invitation from Vanderbilt, Cooter decided to come to Tennessee six weeks ago.
"I wanted to be a football coach and figured this was the best way to go about it," Cooter said. "Vanderbilt gave me pretty much the same offer, but they didn't offer any scholarship money. That would have been like $38,000 a year for tuition. Then Tennessee came along with money, and it was a better situation for me anyway."
Cooter, and for that matter anyone associated with him, still isn't sure why Vanderbilt didn't offer a red cent to an in-state student from a rural community with a 34 on his ACT.
That's right, 34.
"You'd think they would at least offer something," he said. "But not even a penny."
That's not to say he's upset with his situation. His family has been Tennessee fans for generations, and he has been a Vol fan since he could remember understanding what his parents were saying.
"This was just the best option for me, and it worked out perfectly for me that it was Tennessee," Cooter said. "I grew up with Tennessee football."
Plus, UT is more conducive to his study habits than, say, Vanderbilt.
"I really don't study a lot," he said. "They keep telling me I'm going to have to study in college, but I don't know. I've never taken a book home in my life, or hardly ever."
On the field, Cooter knows his place. He doesn't have the poise and pinpoint accuracy of a Casey Clausen or an arm that could shoot down Scud missiles like C.J. Leak or the speed of a James Banks. But he said he's not the type of person to just give up.
"This year, I'm just looking forward to being on the scout team, which will probably start next week," he said. "I haven't gotten a lot of reps because C.J. and James have been getting all the back-up reps. The more reps I'll get, the better I'll get, and you never know what might happen.
"I'll do whatever it takes to get on the field. Whatever it takes."
Tennessee offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Randy Sanders already likes the intelligence and leadership qualities in Cooter, and said those types of players always help the program.
"He's a non-scholarship guy working his tail off," Sanders said. "He works hard to learn what's going on. Obviously, he's not going to really factor in the playing rotation this year, but he will do a lot in terms of helping the rest of the team get prepared. Those types of guys are awfully valuable."
Sanders also didn't rule out the possibility of Cooter holding for field goals or even deep snapping. It's not uncommon for college quarterbacks to do either.
If Cooter doesn't shine on the football field, he could still turn some heads in the UT athletic department. Baseball is his first love, and he is seriously considering trying out and walking on to the UT baseball team.
"I played in the outfield and pitched in high school but I'd probably have to play either first base or third base at the college level," he said. "We had a big first baseman in high school, and he really couldn't play anywhere else. They put me in right field because I had a decent arm. But I'm definitely better at first and third.
"I'm definitely interested in playing baseball, because that was my sport. I had better offers to play baseball than football."
But first comes first. If he does excel on the football field, his postseason award campaigns could make Peyton Manning's look like younger brother Eli's.
"It would be great Heisman hype, wouldn't it?" Cooter said. "You just couldn't beat that."
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