Clay O'Brien Cooper

Clay O'Brien Cooper

5 Seasons

"Be a student of the game." - Clay O'Brien Cooper. Clay O'Brien Cooper has competed in 29 National Finals Rodeos in his career bringing home 7 World Titles and has earned just over $3 million in career earnings. Cooper, a renowned figure in team roping, brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to his instructional series on Roping.com. As a multi-time World Champion Header, he shares essential techniques and strategies to enhance roping skills. Cooper's videos cover various aspects of heeling, mental preparation, and competition tactics, making them invaluable for ropers at all skill levels. His expertise, paired with practical insights, ensures that viewers gain the tools needed for success in the arena.

Clay O'Brien Cooper
  • Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper: What They Miss Most About Competing

    Episode 1

    Clay knows exactly what he misses most: his 25-year-old body. Life is a blessing and youth is a special thing, but beyond the physical it is the people he misses most. The friendships, the old buddies, and the time spent with people who understood the life. Clay gets personal talking about the Ya...

  • Jake Barnes & Clay O'Brien Cooper: If the House Was on Fire What Would You Save?

    Episode 2

    Jake and Clay get asked one of those questions that says a lot about a person. Clay's answer is straightforward: he grabs whatever his wife tells him to or heads for the cash and the safe. Beyond that, the trinkets don't mean as much as people might think. The memories live between him and God, a...

  • Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper: Most Memorable Runs and the Ones That Stung

    Episode 3

    Jake and Clay look back at the runs that defined their careers, winning the George Strait, the BFI, and the NFR, and the ones that still sting. Clay roping a leg when they were on the verge of winning the George Strait is one that comes up fast. They talk about the luck of the draw, how confidenc...

  • Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper: Getting Through the Hard Times on the Road

    Episode 4

    Jake and Clay get honest about the lean years and how they managed them. Jake says he was never broke because he always had roping schools running on the side, keeping money coming in during the dry spells. Clay took a different route, borrowing money from his grandma once and paying her back rig...

  • Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper: Life on the Road Together

    Episode 5

    Jake and Clay take a trip down memory lane and talk about what life on the road actually looked like. They remember the rigs they traveled in, from Dodge Cummins trucks to Capri campers, and taking their families along for the ride. They had their roles figured out early: Clay drove at night and ...

  • Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper: The First Time They Saw Each Other Rope

    Episode 6

    Jake and Clay sit down and go back to the beginning. Jake first saw Clay rope in college and at the World Junior Finals and knew right away he was watching something special. His own roping education came from the Ropers Sports News, and he and Clay reminisce about the old days and how the sport ...

  • Clay O'Brien Cooper: Practicing Right, Building Muscle Memory, and Trap vs. Air

    Episode 7

    Clay O'Brien Cooper makes a point that not enough ropers take seriously: throwing a lot of loops does not mean you are getting better. If you are practicing the wrong way you are only building bad muscle memory, and that is harder to fix than starting from scratch. The goal is to practice correct...

  • Jake Barnes: Dummy Roping, Loop Mechanics, and Barrier Confidence

    Episode 8

    Jake Barnes picks up the dummy rope and makes the case for one of the most underrated practice tools in the game. If you are short on time or can not always get to the arena, 25 to 30 minutes a day on the ground dummy for a month will sharpen you up. He walks through loop mechanics, roping theori...

  • God’s Plan: Marriage and Rodeo

    Episode 9

    Life is about more than rodeo, but being married to a rodeo cowboy is no easy road. Jake Barnes and Clay O’Brien Cooper have had completely different experiences with their marriages and their lives despite rodeoing side-by-side for decades, and this might be their most raw on-camera interview ev...

  • Aging and Confidence with Jake and Clay

    Episode 10

    Jake Barnes and Clay O’Brien Cooper still see themselves as the young guys they were back before they won their first gold buckles. How are they handling their aging and their roping, and how are they mentally handling their decreasing strength and increasing aches and pains?

  • Is Clay Cooper Actually Retired?

    Episode 11

    Is The Champ really retired? Aaron Tsinigine wanted us to ask him, so we got his answer on the record for the world.

  • Rodeo Responsibilities

    Episode 12

    Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper talk about how they split up responsibilities on the rodeo trail throughout their careers. 

  • Long vs. Short Game Evolution

    Episode 13

    How did the reaching game develop? And who was responsible? Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper discuss the evolution of heading.

  • Are Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira the Greatest Team of THIS Generation?

    Episode 14

    Are Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira the greatest team of this generation of team ropers? Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper weigh in.

  • Roping's Evolution 

    Episode 15

    What forces team roping, and how has roping changed, since Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper won their world titles? Barnes and Cooper talk about how they've seen the event become the premier event in Western sports. 

  • The Team Ropers' Battle for Equal Money at the NFR

    Episode 16

    For a long time, team ropers were second-class citizens in the eyes of ProRodeo. Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper—seven-time world champs—were part of the struggle to get equal money in the largest event in ProRodeo. 

  • Rodeo Stories with Jake Barnes & Clay O'Brien Cooper

    Episode 17

    Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper tell stories about traveling in the early days of their careers with Allen Bach, including crazy camper travel stories. 

  • Jake Barnes & Clay O'Brien Cooper's Wildest Turnout Story

    Episode 18

    Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper tell the story of getting turned out in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with Allen Bach. 

  • Jake & Clay's Origin Story

    Episode 19

    How exactly did Jake & Clay become Jake & Clay? Jake Barnes and Clay Cooper talk about their first time meeting and how they developed into the most iconic and longest-lasting team in history. 

  • The Elusive 8th Gold Buckle

    Episode 20

    How badly did Jake Barnes and Clay Cooper want an eighth gold buckle? And what did not winning it mean to them and their careers?

  • Partnership Struggles: Jake and Clay Get Real About Partnership

    Episode 21

    There are ups and downs to every partnership, and Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper weren't immune to partner problems. In this exclusive interview, Barnes and Cooper talk about the struggles they ran into in their partnership over the last four decades.