John Harold Cooper (born July 2, 1937) is an American former college football coach and player.

He graduated from Powell High School in 1955, then served in the United States Army for two years.

In the 1965 season, UCLA finished first in the AAWU and #4 in the final AP Poll and won the Rose Bowl.

From 1972 to 1976, Cooper had his final assistant position at Kentucky, first under John Ray in 1972 then Fran Curci from 1973 to 1976.

In 1993 Ohio State was ranked #5 and undefeated, needing only to beat Michigan to get its first trip to Pasadena in nine years.

With this victory, Cooper became the first coach to win the Rose Bowl with a Pac-10 and a Big Ten team.

To add insult to injury, Michigan's win was highlighted by the performance of Ohio native and 1997 Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson, who made game changing plays on offense, defense, and special teams.

The team did go on to beat Michigan that season and won the Sugar Bowl over Texas A&M, 24–14, eventually finishing #2 in the polls.

[13] They rebounded to 8–4 a year later, but a 38–26 loss to Michigan cost Cooper his job at the end of the season.

He was the first non-interim Buckeye head coach since Wes Fesler, Hayes' predecessor, to have left Ohio State without winning an outright Big Ten title.