All eyes on the Kupp
Cooper Kupp keeps his heart on the field, eyes to the future
After having a record-breaking freshman season, redshirt sophomore Cooper Kupp, the 2013 Big Sky Conference Freshmen of the Year, is not fully satisfied.
Kupp, a Yakima, Washington native, believes the key to continuing his success from his freshman year is to remember the preparation that got him there and to not be pleased with it.
“Really, you have to flush everything that happened that first year. Let that go, the good and the bad. Remember what happened, remember what got you there and redo that,” Kupp said.
Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. described Kupp as one of the hardest working players on the Eagles’ football team.
“He’s just a humble guy and he just gives it his all every single play, and I love to play with a dude like that,” said Adams. “He’s definitely the best receiver I have ever played with in my life.”
Being content is not in Kupp’s vocabulary when it comes to the game of football.
“You know the worse you can do is just sit back and say ‘I put in the work already so I’m good.’ That’s just how you remain the same and that to me makes no sense,” Kupp said. “Why would you want to be content with where you are? You always should be striving to be better.”
First-year wide receiver coach Nick Edwards, who is a former EWU football player, describes Kupp as a workaholic who wants to get better every day.
“He just has a conscience effort that he just wants to get better every day,” said Edwards. “He wants to be the best wide receiver that ever came through here. There’s a long list of good wide receivers and he wants to be the best.”
Edwards also acknowledged Kupp’s knack for teaching the younger players which has helped his game since his freshman season.
“He’s doing a good job of coaching the younger guys like Terence Grady and Nic Sblendorio,” he said. “So when you’re in the teaching moment, you’re learning stuff yourself because sometimes you say things that you wouldn’t really think about. You’re better when you’re a teacher and helping others as well.”
Even though Kupp is just a second-year player, his work ethic has already made an impact on the team. For head coach Beau Baldwin, Kupp’s biggest impact this year has been his leadership role in the locker room.
“It’s huge and it goes above and beyond the receiving core too and a lot of times leaders develop regardless of their age,” said Baldwin. “It’s more by their actions, their demeanor, their toughness, how they handle the classroom, the weight room and he just does all those things at such a high level and practices at such a high level. So, he does all the things you expect out of a leader whether you’re a sophomore, junior or senior.”
Cooper Kupp on Oct. 4 playing against Idaho State University.
Kupp credits his father, Craig Kupp, for instilling a strong work ethic in him at a young age. He reminisced back to a time in middle school when he was 5-foot-0 and about 90 pounds and was playing on an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball team. His team would travel all around the northwest every weekend and every game Kupp sat on the bench and did not play.
“He told me the one thing I’m going to have to learn through these experiences is that I’m going to have to have heart,” said Kupp. “I’m going to have to be willing to work because I don’t have that God-given size or speed, but God did give me this blessing of being a diligent worker. That was the defining moment that changed my life. I was going to earn everything given to me.”
In his freshman season, Kupp recorded 85 catches for 1,567 yards and 21 touchdowns. All three are Football Championship Subdivision records for freshmen, and records that earned him the coveted Jerry Rice Award for the Most Outstanding Freshman in the NCAA FCS.
Kupp’s clear vision of his future goals is what keeps him level-headed and prevents him from getting devoured by the “college life experience.” He recognizes that his actions today can affect his future plans in football, and also with his fiancé, Anna Croskrey.
Even though Kupp is just a second year player, his work ethic has already made an impact on the team, and that is what matters the most.
“Coming in I think a lot of people, especially football players, want to have those records that’s going to leave a mark here but records are meant to be broken,” Kupp said. “Football is the platform. It’s something I enjoy doing. I love being an Eagle, but if I can walk across the stage after all this and I can say there have been lives who have changed by the way I’ve lived my life, how Anna has lived her life, how we lived our lives together, then that’s what I want to be remembered for.”
