Ex-coach Cooper at first wasn't sold on Tontozona

John Cooper was a hot commodity coach who had just turned around the University of Tulsa's football program when he was hired by Arizona State in 1985.

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The 110-degree heat in August was going to be a backdrop for Cooper to put together the most well-conditioned team in America, similar to his Golden Hurricane days.

Then he met former ASU coach Frank Kush and was told about Camp Tontozona.

"My first reaction was we're not going there," Cooper said in a phone interview Thursday. "We're going to stay in the heat and be the best conditioned team, blah, blah, blah."

So a compromise was reached. If Cooper took his team north for one August and hated it, he could stay in Tempe and never hear another word about Tontozona.

Cooper went through two weeks in 90-degree weather up north, then the team returned to 110-degree Tempe for late-night practices in August and September.

"That convinced me it was the best place to be," Cooper said of Tontozona.

Three Tontozona trips later, Cooper went from ASU to Ohio State in 1988, where he coached the Buckeyes until 2000. He'll be back at ASU for the Sept. 20 game against Georgia.

Cooper still lives in Columbus, Ohio, where his basement centerpiece is a mounted 6-pound rainbow trout he caught in the pond atTontozona.

"You have to give Frank all the credit to have a vision to practice there and make something out of nothing," he said. "Without that there was nowhere to go."