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WELCOME TO SWOSU FOOTBALL Southwestern Oklahoma State University football, a tradition dating back to 1905, is under the direction of Head Coach Dan Cocannouer, a former player at SWOSU in the 1970’s. Coach Cocannouer decided prior to the 2014 season that the Bulldogs would return to wearing the traditional while helmets as opposed to the navy ones that had been worn since 2005. “I’ve been thinking about ways to help our program out each year and one of the biggest pieces of feedback I get from our former players is, ‘When are you going to go back to white helmets?’,” Cocannouer said. “’I’ve thought about it quite a bit, because I like the blue helmets, they’re very sharp, but I’m ready to get back to tradition.” SWOSU has worn several variations of the white helmet HOME JERSEY COMBINATION: through the years, with different Bulldog logos along with Navy Jersey/Navy Pants/White Helmet the popular ‘SW’ logo that was on the side of the lids from 1988-2003. It was also the helmet worn by SWOSU during the programs only National Championship in 1996. That helmet design was replaced by a white helmet with the new ‘SWOSU’ logo in 2004 before the change to blue occurred in 2005. “When you look at our history, all but one conference championship was won by the team while they were wearing white helmets,” Cocannouer mentioned. “We’ve come a long way since we’ve been here and I feel like it’s time for our kids to start expecting to win. We’re at the point with our program where we feel like we should expect to win and these white helmets are going to keep us in mind of that.” AWAY JERSEY COMBINATION: White Jersey/Navy Pants/White Helmet 2 @@SWOSUATHLETICSSWOSUATHLETICS @@SWOSUFOOTBALLSWOSUFOOTBALL HEAD COACH DAN COCANNOUER SWOSU alum Dan Cocannouer completed his seventh season as the head coach of the Southwestern Oklahoma State University football team in 2015 with a record-setting season that included an 8-4 record and the Bulldogs fi rst-ever NCAA Postseason appearance in the Live United Texarkana Bowl. Cocannouer, who returned home to lead his alma mater in 2009, has a career record of 29-47 at SWOSU. 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 fi ve-win turnaround and second-place fi nish in the GAC after being picked to fi nish 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 fi nish since the formation of the league. SWOSU had seven players earn GAC postseason honors as well as Cocannouer being named the conference Coach of the Year. Leading the honors were First Team All-GAC cornerback Trevon Hartfi eld and return specialist D.J. Jones, who also become SWOSU’s ninth All-American of the NCAA Division II era, earning First Team honors as a return specialist from the D2CCA and second team Associated Press Little All-America honors as an all-purpose player. The resume for Cocannouer added another signifi cant honor in the spring of 2015 as it was announced that he THE COCANNOUER FILE 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. NAME: ............ Dan Cocannouer Cocannouer has led the Bulldogs to a winning record in two of the past three seasons and he is alone in seventh- place for all-time wins at SWOSU, just two wins shy of moving into the top-fi ve on the career wins list. He bettered the EDUCATION Bulldogs win-loss total in each of his fi rst three seasons, improving his team from 1-10 in his inaugural season to 5-6 HIGH SCHOOL: Tuttle HS, 1974 in 2011, their fi rst season in the GAC. The 2014 season was highlighted by the All-America season of senior defensive tackle Devin Benton, who was named the GAC Defensive Player of the Year and Super Region 3 Defensive Player of the Year by one outlet after a COLLEGE: ....................SWOSU dominating and record-setting season. He became the fourth All-American coached by Cocannouer at SWOSU as he BS, Health & PE, 1978 earned consensus honors with four different honors, including fi rst team selections from Beyond Sports Network and M.Ed. in Education, 1983 Don Hansen, a second team choice by Daktronics and an honorable mention pick by D2Football.com. With seven players earning All-Great American Conference honors in 2015, SWOSU has now had 35 all- conference honorees in the four-year history of the conference. Benton is also leading that list as the only four-time FAMILY: all-conference selection in the brief history of the league. Wife: ...........Jeri Lyn(Burch) The 2013 season saw the Bulldogs open the year with an exciting 27-23 come-from-behind win over Harding – an Daughters: .....Janie & Josie 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 fi rst time since 2007. The Bulldogs then lost two of their next three games COACHING CAREER before alternating wins and losses the fi nal six games of the season, including a 62-17 throttling of Northwestern Oklahoma State in the season fi nale that secured the winning season. 2009-present: ...............SWOSU Nine players earned All-Great American Conference honors in 2013, giving the Bulldogs 21 all-conference Head Coach honorees in the three-year history of the conference. Among those earning honors were fi rst team selections Ryan Corbin and Devin Benton, who each earned First Team All-GAC distinction for the second consecutive season. 2001-08: ........ Edmond Santa Fe Corbin and Benton both landed on the All-Super Region Three team as well and Corbin went on to be named to Head Football Coach fi ve All-American teams, making him the third All-American coached by Cocannouer at SWOSU. Corbin was a First Team All-America selection by Beyond Sports Network, second team by D2Football.com & Daktronics, and earned third team honors from the Don Hansen Football Committee and the Associated Press All-America Team. 1999-00: ...............John Marshall In 2012, the Bulldogs had four players earn All-GAC honors after fi nishing 3-7 in their second year with the Head Football/Golf Coach conference. Following the season, Colton Rainey became Cocannouer’s second player to earn All-American recognition by picking up an honorable mention selection by Beyond Sports Network. 1997-99: .................Chandler HS In 2011, SWOSU safety Clarence Laster earned several All-American honors for the Bulldogs after leading the Great American Conference with eight interceptions and a total of 97 tackles. His eight interceptions were the most Head Football/Golf Coach by a SWOSU player since 1980 and ranked third in all of NCAA Division II. Laster was a three-time GAC Player of the Week that season and he was named a fi rst team All-American by Daktronics and a second team selection on the 1994-96: ........................ Alva HS Associated Press Little All-America squad. His other All-America honors were second team selections by Don Hansen Head Football Coach/AD and D2Football.com. 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 1992-94: ............Pauls Valley HS came to SWOSU after eight years at Edmond Santa Fe High School where he compiled a 70-26 record (.729 winning Head Football Coach/AD percentage) and led the Wolves to the Class 6A fi nals in 2003. His other high school stops included lead high school programs at John Marshall, Chandler, Alva, Pauls Valley 1991-92: ..............Comanche HS and Walters High Schools. All total, he has coached more than 36 years, including the last 30 as a head coach. He led Offensive Coordinator fi ve 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 1984-90: ................... Walters HS (1988), Jim Thorpe Classic (2000, 2002), Oil Bowl (1997-98) and Enid Shriner All-Star Game (1992-96). Head Football/Track Coach/AD 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 1979-84: ..................Altus HS/JH and fi nished as the NAIA National Runner-up in 1997 after playing in the Apple Bowl at the Seattle Kingdome.