Roger Cooper enters his 10th year with the Idaho State football program. Cooper came to Idaho State as a running backs coach in 2012 and he has since been promoted to Associate Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator while coaching the linebackers. He has coached linebackers since the 2013 season.

In 2013 Cooper assumed the role as Co-Defensive Coordinator and moved to the inside linebackers. He continued to coach in the same role in 2014 before being named the Assistant Head Coach for Defense in the spring of 2015 and following the 2016 season he was given the title of Associate Head Coach.

In 2014, Cooper oversaw a group of linebackers that sparked great improvement in the Bengal defense. Redshirt freshman Mario Jenkins led the defense with 120 tackles and was named Big Sky Freshman of the Year. Jenkins finished fourth in the Jerry Rice voting, an honor that goes to the FCS Most Outstanding Freshman. Jenkins finished second-team all-conference while his sidekick, Mitch Beckstead, earned third-team all-league and finished with 117 tackles.

The Cooper-coached linebacking unit in 2016 was one of the best in the Big Sky Conference as Jenkins earned second-team all-conference and Joe Martin earned third-team honors. The defense was led by the play of Jenkins, Martin and Hayden Stout. The linebacking trio combined for 259 tackles, six interceptions, five sacks, 16 tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries.

Following the 2017 season Cooper had starting linebacker Mario Jenkins join the Kansas City Chiefs in Rookie Mini Camp. 

Cooper assumed complete control of the defense in 2018. The defense saw immediate improvements as the amount of yards the team had given up was the third fewest since the 2006 season. In 2019, the defense allowed its fewest rushing yards in a season since 2010. The 2019 season all saw linebackers Kody Graves and Luke Holloway earn all-conference honors. 

in the six-game 2021 spring season the Bengal defense continued to make strides, holding three of the six opponents to under 30 points. 

Cooper is well familiar with the Big Sky Conference as he had a standout-playing career at Montana State and a three-year professional career in the NFL and NFL Europe. Cooper spent the 2011 season at Montana State as a graduate assistant coach where he assisted the coaching staff with all functions relations to academic performance, on field development, strength and conditioning and camp organization.

Prior to serving as the graduate assistant, Cooper was the defensive coordinator at Bozeman High School where his defense was rated number one in the state of Montana at Class AA. The team also won the school’s first-ever state championship in 2010.  

As a player at Montana State, Cooper was a three-time unanimous All-Big Sky linebacker from 2002-04. He was named the Big Sky 2004 Defensive MVP and was nominated for the 2004 Buck Buchanan award. Cooper spent time playing for the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, San Diego Chargers and the Frankfurt Galaxy.