Owls kicker Cooper starts over after rough first season

Temple coach Matt Rhule believes that instilling confidence in his players is part of his job description, and he uses the term significantly more often when discussing his kickers.

That's understandable, because after a season in which they made just three field goals - two in the final game - the Owls must make an abrupt about-face in that department in 2014.

Jim Cooper became the poster boy for all that ailed the Owls' kicking game in 2013. Cooper, a 2013 participant in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, won the job in camp last summer to replace Temple's all-time leading scorer, Brandon McManus. But Cooper missed his first two field-goal tries - at Notre Dame and against Houston - before making his lone kick of the season against Fordham.

While he continued with kickoff duties, Cooper never attempted a field goal after the third game of last season.

Now a sophomore, Cooper is once again in the mix to be the team's kicker and will get the chance to live up to his vaunted high school reputation. But the former three-star prospect from Mainland (N.J) now finds himself with competition.

Freshman kicker Austin Jones and redshirt junior Tyler Mayes (Downingtown East) are slightly ahead of Cooper. Mayes and redshirt sophomore Colby Perry (Coatesville) appear to be the leading contenders to handle punts. This could change by Wednesday afternoon, when the kickers will have a camp competition that should bring more clarity to where they stand.

Cooper has come to grips with last season and promises that he has left the baggage of 2013 behind him.

"It was a culture shock," Cooper said. "I had a solid career through high school, and it didn't start here the way I wanted it to. But Coach Rhule says he wants to see how people respond when things aren't going their way.

"With that being said, I went into the offseason with a chip on my shoulder, and I don't want to let people down. I knew after last season that it wasn't the end of the world and things just sometimes don't go your way. It was a learning experience."

Rhule said Monday that he expects Cooper to eventually have a breakthrough.

"At some point here, Coop is going to figure it out and be just fine," he said. "It's just in those moments, we need Coop to go out there and kick just like he does in practice."

Which all comes back to his confidence.

"It comes from a demonstrated ability," Rhule said. "You can't give it and you can't rob guys of confidence. He's going to go out in one of these scrimmages, make a good kick, and the weight of the world is going to come off his shoulders."