John Cooper has coached in the Big Ten, the Southeastern Conference, the Big 12 and the Pacific 10.

        “I know almost every college coach in the country on a first-name basis,” the former Ohio State coach said Thursday afternoon, just hours after the Bengals announced his hiring as a consultant/special assistant in the club's player personnel department.

        “Maybe I can get more information on seniors.”

        Cooper, 64, who had a .715 winning percentage at Ohio State (111-43-4), will begin work today at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

        He will continue to live in Columbus but will have an office at Paul Brown Stadium, where he will spend significant time in the coming weeks before the draft (April 20-21) and minicamp (May 3-6).

        “John is an accomplished coach who is wired into the college football world,” Bengals president Mike Brown said. “Year in and year out at Ohio State, he identified and signed the top talent. He knows what we're looking for, and he should be a great help to us.”

        Paul Brown, the Bengals' founder and Mike Brown's father, coached Ohio State to the national championship in 1942.

        Cooper becomes the fifth member of the Bengals' personnel department, among the smallest, if not the smallest, in the NFL.

        The deal was struck at lunch Wednesday with Brown, coach Dick LeBeau and Pete Brown, senior vice president and the ranking executive in the personnel department.

        As Ohio State coach, Cooper had 16 players picked in the first round of the NFL draft and had 21 players named first-team All-America.

        Cooper was fired by Ohio State after the 2000 season and was paid $1.8 million to buy out the final three years of his contract. His buyout limited Cooper's employment opportunities, but he said Thursday he no longer has any ties to the university.

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