A Pennsylvania State Trooper, Loran Cooley enters his first season as the wide receivers coach at California (PA) in 2022.
Cooley spent the last two years as an assistant coach at Westminster (Pa.), a NCAA Division III program. He previously served as a coach at the scholastic level for over a decade with multiple WPIAL programs, including three seasons as the head coach at Baldwin.
While at Westminster, Cooley helped the program capture back-to-back Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championships while posting a 13-3 record over two seasons. The Titans completed an undefeated shortened season in the spring of 2021 before sharing the league tile during the traditional fall campaign behind an 8-1 league mark.
Cooley mentored a pair of wide receivers that earned All-PAC honors over the last two seasons. Tylon Eilam received All-PAC Second-Team status in each of the last two years while totaling over 1,100 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns on 85 receptions. In the fall season, he ranked third in league with 827 receiving yards and finished fourth with eight receiving touchdowns. Denny Dennison received All-PAC Honorable Mention during the fall campaign after totaling over 450 yards on 31 receptions.
Prior to entering college coaching, Cooley served as the head coach at Baldwin from 2017-19. He guided the Class 5A Highlanders to appearance in the WPIAL Playoffs during his final season, marking the school’s first post-season appearance since 2013. Cooley led Baldwin to a pair of five-win campaigns in his final two years as head coach after the program went a combined 1-22 the previous three seasons.
Cooley served as the offensive coordinator at Clairton during the 2016 season, as the Bears won their eighth WPIAL Class 1A title in a span of nine years. Clairton later advanced to the finals of the 2016 Class 1A PIAA Championship behind the Gatorade Player of the Year Lamont Wade, who played defensive back at Penn State from 2017-20.
A native of Pittsburgh, Cooley started his coaching career at Gateway from 2009-12 as the wide receivers coach and pass-game coordinator under then-head coach Terry Smith, who is currently the associate head coach at Penn State. He then spent three years as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Plum.
Cooley was a wide receiver at Duquesne from 2000-03, as the Dukes captured four-consecutive championships while members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Duquesne also claimed the 2003 1-AA Mid-Major National Championship during his senior season. The Dukes posted an undefeated 26-0 mark in league play during Cooley’s career and appeared in three-straight Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Classics.
Cooley earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Duquesne in 2003. He and wife Sasha have four children, Camden, Kya, Layla and Myla.
