Southwestern Oklahoma State Athletics

SWOSU alum Dan Cocannouer enters his ninth season as the head coach of the Southwestern Oklahoma State football team in 2017, where he has led his alma mater to a record of 34-53 since returning in Weatherford prior to the 2009 season.
 
Cocannouer earned three Coach of the Year awards in 2015 after leading the Bulldogs to the Live United Texarkana Bowl, garnering the award from the Great American Conference, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) for Region 4 and OklahomaSports.Net for all small colleges throughout the state. He enters the 2017 season with 34 career wins, which ranks him fourth all-time among SWOSU Football coaches.
 
Cocannouer has led the Bulldogs to a winning record twice in his tenure, going 6-5 in 2013 and 8-4 in 2015, and his teams have won at least five games in four of his eight seasons. He bettered the Bulldogs win-loss total in each of his first three seasons, improving his team from 1-10 in his inaugural season to 5-6 in 2011, their first season in the GAC.
 
The Bulldogs had eight players earn All-Great American Conference status in 2016, including two with First Team honors, three Second Team selections and three who earned honorable mention. Cocannouer has now coached 65 players to all-conference honors, including one Freshman of the Year, one Defensive Player of the Year and 15 First Team All-Conference selections. Additionally, he has seen six players earn All-America recognition along with four Academic All-District honorees and one Academic All-American.
 
The breakthrough season of 2015 came with accolades as Cocannouer was named the Great American Conference Coach of the Year and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 4 Coach of the Year after leading the Bulldogs to a five-win turnaround and second-place finish in the GAC after being picked to finish seventh. SWOSU ended the season with a defeat at the Live United Texarkana Bowl, which was just the eighth postseason game in Bulldog football’s 107-year history.
 
Resilience was the key for SWOSU in 2015 as the Bulldogs bounced back from starting the season 2-3 to win six straight games and earn their postseason appearance. The winning streak is the longest by the Bulldogs as members of the NCAA and helped break a postseason draught of nearly 20 years. SWOSU’s offense set records for scoring as they went undefeated at ASAP Energy Field and earned their best Great American Conference finish since the formation of the league.
 
The resume for Cocannouer added another significant honor in the spring of 2015 as it was announced that he would be inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Association (OCA) Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2015. He is one of 13 inductees from across the state of Oklahoma to be selected for induction following his storied coaching career at the prep level.
 
The 2013 season saw the Bulldogs open the year with an exciting 27-23 come-from-behind win over Harding – an NCAA Division II playoff team the previous season – in the Fast Lane Kickoff Classic. SWOSU then defeated Arkansas Tech on the road to improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2007. The Bulldogs then lost two of their next three games before alternating wins and losses the final six games of the season, including a 62-17 throttling of Northwestern Oklahoma State in the season finale that secured the winning season.

Prior to coming back to SWOSU, Cocannouer had spent 25 seasons as a high school head coach in the state of Oklahoma, establishing a reputation as one of the most prominent and well-respected coaching leaders in the state. He came to SWOSU after eight years at Edmond Santa Fe High School where he compiled a 70-26 record (.729 winning percentage) and led the Wolves to the Class 6A finals in 2003.
 
His other high school stops included lead high school programs at John Marshall, Chandler, Alva, Pauls Valley and Walters High Schools. All total, he has coached more than 36 years, including the last 30 as a head coach. He led five different schools to the state playoffs and served on the Oklahoma Football Coaches Association (OFCA) Advisory Board for several years and he is a past President of the Oklahoma Coaches Association (OCA) and the OFCA. With his prep success came the opportunity to coach in numerous all-star games, including the Oklahoma All-State game (1988), Jim Thorpe Classic (2000, 2002), Oil Bowl (1997-98) and Enid Shriner All-Star Game (1992-96).
 
Cocannouer played at SWOSU from 1974-77 under legendary head coach Otis Delaporte, helping the Bulldogs to conference titles in 1974 and 1977. He was a senior leader on the Bulldog team that won a school-record 11 games and finished as the NAIA National Runner-up in 1997 after playing in the Apple Bowl at the Seattle Kingdome. By returning to lead his alma mater, he became the first SWOSU graduate to lead the Bulldogs since Joe Metcalf did the same from 1952-57.
 
Cocannouer holds two degrees from SWOSU. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Health and Physical Education in 1978 before serving as a graduate assistant for the Bulldog football team while until he earned a master’s degree in Education in 1983. He also later obtained a secondary administrative certificate from Northwestern Oklahoma State in 1996.
 
Dan is a native of Tuttle, Oklahoma. The Cocannouer family lost their beloved wife and mother, Jeri Lyn, in early August 2015. She now has the best seat in all stadiums to cheer on the Bulldogs! They have two adult daughters and son-in-laws Cory and Janie Pence of Dallas, and Colton and Josie Blackburn of Edmond.

 

Season	W	L	W	L	Conference Finish
2009	1	10	1	4	5th/LSC North
2010	3	8	3	3	T-3rd/LSC North
2011	5	6	3	5	7th/GAC
2012	3	7	2	6	T-7th/GAC
2013	6	5	6	4	T-4th/GAC
2014	3	7	3	7	T-7th/GAC
2015	8	4	8	3	T-2nd/GAC
2016	5	6	5	6	7th/GAC
Totals	34	53	31	38

 
THE COCANNOUER FILE

Coaching Career
2009 – Present: Southwestern Oklahoma State (Head Football Coach)
   Record: 34-53 (.391)
 
2001 – 08: Edmond Santa Fe HS (Head Football Coach)
1999 – 00: John Marshall HS (Head Football/Golf Coach)
1997 – 99: Chandler HS (Head Football/Golf Coach)
1994 – 96: Alva HS (Head Football Coach/Athletic Director)
1992 – 94: Pauls Valley HS (Head Football Coach/Athletic Director)
1991 – 92: Comanche HS (Offensive Coordinator)
1984 – 90: Walters HS (Head Football & Track Coach/Athletic Director)
1979 – 84: Altus JH/HS (Assistant Football & Wrestling Coach)
1978 – 79: SWOSU (Graduate Assistant)
 
Education
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
   Bachelors of Health & Physical Education, 1978
   Masters of Education, 1983