Jonathan Cooley enters his third season with the Panthers, and second as the Carolina's defensive passing game coordinator after initially serving as the team's secondary/cornerbacks coach (2023).
In his first year as passing game coordinator, Cooley coached cornerback Jaycee Horn to the first Pro Bowl appearance of his career. Along with cornerback Mike Jackson, who finished tied for third with 17 passes defensed, the duo combined for the most passes defensed by a cornerback tandem in the NFL (30). In addition to his career high in passes defensed, Jackson also logged single-season bests in tackles (76) and interceptions (two). According to NFL Next Gen Stats, neither Horn nor Jackson allowed a reception as the nearest defenders against the Saints in Week 9 and were the only pair of outside corners to play at least 25 coverage snaps league-wide in Week 9 and not allow a single catch.
As the secondary/cornerbacks coach in 2023, Cooley's group allowed just 171.5 passing yards per game, the third-lowest in the league. The secondary also improved both their completion percentage and passer rating allowed from the previous season, while ranking in the top 10 in touchdown passes allowed (fourth) and yards per attempt allowed (sixth).
With the Rams for three seasons (2020-22), Cooley was elevated to defensive backs coach in his final season in Los Angeles (2022). That year, the defense finished tied for seventh in the NFL with 16 interceptions and tied for the 10th-lowest opponent touchdown to interception ratio (1.44). Cornerback Jalen Ramsey recorded four interceptions and finished second in passes defensed (18), earning his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl nod.
After begin selected for the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship with the Rams (2019), Cooley joined the staff the following year (2020) as a defensive assistant/quality control coach. He later served as assistant to secondary coach Ejiro Evero with the Rams (2021) during the team's Super Bowl LVI Championship run. That year, the secondary ranked fifth in opponents' passer rating (83.8), third in interceptions (19) and second with just 17 passing touchdowns allowed.
At the University of Akron as defensive backs coach (2019), Cooley helped the Zips ranked second in the Mid-American Conference, despite having only one returning starter in the secondary that season.
Prior to Akron, Cooley coached the secondary and defensive backs at Kent State (2018) and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga (2017) and served as a defensive graduate assistant at Kentucky (2015-16).
Cooley spent two seasons as secondaries coach at his alma mater, John Carroll (2013-14) and coached safeties at Bluffton University (2012), while he also served as the team's equipment manager. His first coaching job came as a defensive backs coach and assistant special teams coordinator at Millikin University (2011).
As a player at John Carroll, he was a four-year letterman and finished in the top-10 in pass breakups for the Blue Streaks. Cooley is also tied for the most pass breakups in a game in school history (five). A Columbus, Ohio native, Cooley earned his bachelor's degree from John Carroll in 2011, and went on to earn an MBA in sports leadership at John Carroll in 2014.
