The veteran of the Cougar coaching staff, Jack Coppes is in his 13th straight season with Azusa Pacific football, and his 14th overall. Coppes, who oversees the Cougar kickers and defensive linemen, first served a season on the staff in 1993 with Azusa Pacific Hall of Fame coach Jim Milhon. He returned in 1997 to work on staff with Vic Shealy and stayed on when Peter Shinnick took over in 1999. He is the only link between the Cougars' past 4 coaches ? Victor Santa Cruz, Peter Shinnick Vic Shealy and Jim Milhon.
Under Coppes' tutelage, Azusa Pacific special teams have experienced some of the finest punters (B.J. Litchfield and Andrew Lutton) and place kickers (Mike Betancourth and Ben Hansen) in program history. Litchfield, Lutton, Bethancourth and Hansen have either set school records or led the NAIA in their specialties.
Other than his service with Azusa Pacific, Coppes' entire 27-year coaching career was on the high school level, coaching at Whittier High, Nogales High, Diamond Bar High, Don Lugo High, Chino High and Alhambra High, where he began his coaching career in 1971.
He prepped at Whittier High where he was a 4-year letterman and a member of the 1964 CIF 4A title team. He was recently inducted into the Whittier High Hall of Fame. He played 2 years at Rio Hondo College and another season at Whittier College from which he graduated in 1973.
Coppes, who lives in Rowland Heights with his wife Linda, retired in 2007 after 22 years of teaching at Whittier High. He had been the Cardinals' head wrestling coach for 17 years and has served \the boy's golf coach for 6 years.
His oldest son, Paul was an All-American catcher on the Cougar baseball team during the mid-1990s. A younger son, Chris, played football for Whittier College during its 1996 conference championship season.
