Cooper Fouts heads into his fourth year serving as the pitching coach and first as associate head coach for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. 

In his three seasons working with the pitchers, has coached two All-Americans (Ethan Bates and Ryan Harland), three All-Region selections, six All-Conference USA selections, has had five arms taken in the MLB Draft (Ryan Jennings, Kyle Crigger, Cade Gibson, Landon Tomkins, and Sam Broderson) along with two undrafted free agents (Jarret Whorff and Jackson Lancaster).

During the 2024 season, Fouts led the pitching staff to a single-season program-record 619 strikeouts, which ranked 11th nationally in Division I.

With Fouts' guidance, Ethan Bates received six All-American honors in 2024 from Baseball America, D1 Baseball, NCBWA, ABCA, Perfect Game, and the College Baseball Foundation. The standout closer led the nation and set a single-season program record with 17 saves in 36 appearances.

Year two was highlighted by Friday night starter Jonathan Fincher and shutdown closer Ethan Bates. Fincher collected a team-high eight victories on the mound, tied for the second most in Conference USA. Meanwhile, the newcomer Bates anchored the team with a 3.02 ERA and 10 saves, tied for the second most in program history.

In his first year, Fouts was part of the NCAA Regional and C-USA Tournament champion Bulldogs after leading the LA Tech arms to a program record 606 strikeouts. The staff as a whole finished ninth in the nation in walks per nine (3.06), ninth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.12), and 18th in WHIP (1.30). The Bulldogs tossed three shutouts in 2022 and held opponents to a .252 batting average.

Head coach Lane Burroughs announced the addition of Fouts on Monday, July 26, 2021.
 
After being hired by and working under then-Purdue head coach Mark Wasikowski during the 2018-19 school year, former LA Tech head coach and current Purdue skipper Greg Goff chose to retain Fouts as an assistant when Goff was elevated to head coach at Purdue in June 2019. The 2020-21 school year was his third season with the Boilermakers.

Fouts has 16 seasons of collegiate coaching experience prior to joining the Louisiana Tech baseball program, highlighted by five seasons over two stints at Pepperdine (2011-12, 2016-18). At Purdue, Fouts led the recruiting efforts alongside the rest of the Purdue staff. He also coached and developed Boilermaker catchers and assisted with the Purdue offense.
 
Before arriving at Purdue, Pepperdine head coach Rick Hirtensteiner brought Fouts back to California in the summer of 2015. Fouts also served as an assistant coach at Utah Valley (2013-15), College of Southern Nevada (2007-10), and Lubbock Christian University (2006). His final season at CSN featured Bryce Harper winning the Golden Spikes Award and being selected No. 1 overall in the 2010 MLB Draft. The Coyotes won 52 games and finished third at JUCO World Series that season.
 
Fouts helped Pepperdine win West Coast Conference titles in 2012 and 2018. He worked under current Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez during his first term with the Waves.
 
In his second stint at Pepperdine, Fouts' recruits helped the program post an 11-win improvement in 2018. The Waves won the WCC with a 17-10 record after being 8-19 the year prior. Pepperdine's 2012 team won 36 games and was a finalist at the Palo Alto Regional.

Fouts served as a recruiting coordinator at Utah Valley, where he helped the Wolverines win 71 games over three seasons. He played a key role in helping build a roster that went on to lead Utah Valley to 37 wins and an NCAA Regional berth in 2016 as the Western Athletic Conference Tournament champion.

In Fouts' final season at College of Southern Nevada, nine pitchers were drafted and 14 more student-athletes were signed by NCAA Division I programs. CSN won three conference titles, two Region 18 championships and Western District tournament in 2010 during his four seasons on the coaching staff.

He graduated from Las Vegas' baseball powerhouse Bishop Gorman High School in 2001 and was selected in the 26th round of the MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics, but opted to enroll at the College of Southern Nevada. After one season, he made the move to the Division I level where he played in over 150 games as a three-year starting catcher for Texas Tech from 2003-05.

Fouts was part of a pair of NCAA Tournament wins as a junior at Texas Tech. He helped 2004 Red Raiders win 40 games and earn the No. 2 seed at the Atlanta Regional. As their starting catcher in all four games of the regional, he helped Texas Tech defeat Mississippi State twice and earned a spot on the All-Regional Team. He was recognized as honorable mention All-Big 12 as a senior after again being among the top defensive backstops and top-throwing catchers in the league.

The former Red Raider earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise sports science from Texas Tech in 2006. He and his wife, Bri, were married in 2010 and have three children – Harper, Emmit, and Nash.
 

CAREER YEAR	TEAM	POSITION
2006	Lubbock Christian	Assistant Coach
2007-10	College of Southern Nevada	Assistant Coach
2011-12	Pepperdine	Volunteer Assistant Coach
2013-15	Utah Valley	Assistant Coach
2016-18	Pepperdine	Assistant Coach
2019-21	Purdue	Assistant Coach
2022-24	Louisiana Tech	Assistant Coach
2024-present	Louisiana Tech	Associate Head Coach