Dothan graduate Conner Cook putting in the work at Tulsa this summer
DOTHAN, Ala. — According to the gobigrecruiting.com, in the United States there are 125 Division One football programs. Each has 85 scholarships annually for players. That is roughly 10,600 scholarships for an estimated 1.5 million high school players. The odds of receiving one are less than 1%. Count recent Dothan High School graduate, Connor Cook in that coveted 1%.
Connor signed earlier this year to be the long snapper for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His football career started in the 8th grade at Beverlye and continued at Dothan High. Connor played defensive end and outside linebacker. But, in his junior year, he took up long snapping. He worked with Brian Jackson with Team Jackson Kicking in Dothan to learn the finesse of long snapping. In January of 2021 Connor attended a camp in Dallas and finished last out of 14 players. He said, “That motivated me.” That was the last time he would finish last.
In May of 2021 he attended the Wilson All American Camp and finished second out of all the long snappers, kickers, and punters. From this camp Jackson posted videos and Connor started getting invited to talk to teams and attend other camps. He received recruiting calls from Army, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Miami/Ohio, Ball State, Alabama, Lafayette College (Pennsylvania, Alabama State, Memphis, Troy, West Florida, Sagu (TX), and Tulsa.
So, what drew Connor to Tulsa? One hook was the prestige of the schools’ mechanical engineering program. Money.com has ranked the program the 7th best engineering school in the United States. That is important to Connor because he aspires to be a mechanical engineer. Connor said other factors included the overall high quality of education and small class sizes. Head Coach Phillip Montgomery told Connor “it’s faith, family and then football.” Those three things are very important to Connor and in that order.
Connor arrived in Tulsa on June 4th to begin the weight program and prepare to play football on the D-1 level. His parents, Shannon and Chris Cook, will be at every football game possible. His mom said they are just so impressed with how much Tulsa emphasizes service and serving others. She said, “I love that!”
I ended our conversation with a simple question…what motivates you? Connor said, “The thing that motivates me is that I want to go to the NFL one day…it is the best of the best. Less than 1% go to the NFL and I want to be in the 1%.” Connor said that he is also excited about getting a good education and going into the engineering world if the NFL doesn’t work. His long-term goal is “to be able to have a good life so I can take care of my family and live comfortably.” Good luck Connor! We will be cheering you on!
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