96 days until kickoff, and Anthonie Cooper is ready to make his comeback at Arizona State

Our countdown continues, and after spotlighting an underrated Sun Devil lifer yesterday in Shawn Patterson, today marks a focus on the man who could be the next great lifer. With 96 days to go until football is back, we look at defensive end Anthonie Cooper

Cooper is an Arizona native, growing up in Goodyear and playing high school ball at Millennium High School. Rated as a low 3-star prospect, he committed to Arizona State in the 2019 class, the first full recruiting class of the Herm Edwards era.

Listed as the 21st best player in Arizona and the 94th strong side defensive end in the nation, Cooper represented one of the first successful efforts by the Edwards regime to reignite in-state recruiting operations.

Cooper saw some limited playing time in 2019 while preserving his redshirt season, and then earned an extra year of eligibility the next season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Going into the 2021 season, though, Cooper had become a key rotational player on the defensive line alongside the likes of BJ Green, Tyler Johnson, Stanley Lambert, and Joe Moore.

Cooper finished third on the team in sacks with three despite most of his snaps coming on early run downs due to his larger frame. He earned a more prominent role with the graduation of Johnson, but the impact of the recruiting investigation into Edwards, Antonio Pierce, and others stifled the team's success in 2022. Still, Cooper finished second on the team in sacks.

When that season ended, and Kenny Dillingham was hired, Cooper was one of many players to enter the transfer portal. For the first time in his life, Cooper was looking at playing football outside the Valley. However, after meeting with Dillingham and new defensive coordinator Brian Ward, Cooper took his name out of the portal and opted to return to Arizona State.

Dillingham and Ward saw Cooper as a foundational piece for their defensive line, with plans to use him as a defensive end on run downs and move him inside on pass rush downs. That plan took some time, though, as Cooper suffered an injury in training camp that caused him to miss the first three games of the year.

He came back and played a few games, getting eased into action, but suffered another injury that robbed Cooper of three more games. In total, he finished the year playing in just six games, but rarely playing as much as the coaching staff had initially wanted out of him.

Coming into 2024, though, the staff still had high expectations for Cooper. Unfortunately, those expectations were quickly dashed yet again, as Cooper tore his ACL towards the end of spring practices last year. He never saw the field during the Sun Devils' magical run to the Peach Bowl.

Cooper was granted a medical redshirt, allowing him to come back in 2025 for what will be his seventh season at Arizona State but only his fourth and final year of athletic eligibility.

It seems unlikely that Cooper will have the large role that Ward once envisioned, partly due to the injuries but also due to the roster. Justin Wodtly, Clayton Smith, and Prince Dorbah all return on the edge, and the Sun Devils bolstered their defensive tackle rotation of CJ Fite, Zac Swanson, and Jacob Rich Kongaika by adding Oregon transfer My'keil Gardner.

Still, Cooper's size and length makes him a versatile piece that can move all along the defensive line. Ward loves having a deep rotation in the trenches, so Cooper's return adds just one more pitch to his repertoire, regardless of any playing time limitations Cooper may have at this point.

On a more intangible level, though, Cooper represents so much more. He's a local product who has remained in Tempe despite having ample opportunities to leave and go elsewhere. Not one person would've blamed him for leaving after the coaching change or after his spot on the depth chart was erased by injuries.

Yet Cooper remains.

In today's age of the transfer portal, a player like Cooper is a rarity. He's the embodiment of Dillingham's "Active the Valley" mantra, and also a representative of the toughness that Dillingham wants his players to have. Cooper has been dealt challenge after challenge, yet he keeps coming back and keeps bleeding maroon and gold.

Regardless of what Cooper does or doesn't do in 2025, he's already earned his place as a Sun Devil for life. It will be so good to see him on the field again, exactly 96 days from today.