GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T graduate kickoff returner Taymon Cooke claimed two additional All-American accolades on Tuesday as a return specialist, bringing his total to four following the 2023 college football season.
Cooke received two huge recognitions on Tuesday. Stats Perform released its All-American team presented by FedEx Ground, with Cooke earning second-team honors as a kickoff returner. Phil Steele/Draft Scout also released its FCS All-American team, with Cooke securing first-team honors.
A wide-ranging array of talented players comprise the 2023 Stats Perform FCS All-America Team. Their All-America team consists of 109 players representing all 13 FCS leagues and 57 schools. Across the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference, 25 players were selected to either the first or second All-American teams. The 19 first-teams tied with the Missouri Valley Football Conference for the most of any league, and the 25 combined honorees were the most of any conference.
Josh Buchanan helped compile the Phil Steele/Draft Scout team. The teams were presented by Phil Steele & the draftscout.com staff. Draftscout.com, since 2001, has been the gold standard industry-leading database built for compiling & charting College Football Prospects from Prep to Pro.
Cooke has racked up the awards for his outstanding season since it ended in November. In addition to Tuesday's recognitions, Cooke was recently named HBCU special teams player of the year by BOXTOROW. BOXTOROW also named Cooke an HBCU All-American. In partnership with Sports Illustrated, FCS Football Central also named Cooke to their All-American team.
Cooke tied with Merrimack's Donovan Wadley for most kickoff returns for touchdowns during the 2023 season with three. His four career KOR for TDs ties the program record with Brian Rodman (1990-93) and Malik Wilson (2015-18).
In addition to finishing in a tie for the nation's lead in KOR for TDs, Cooke ranked second in yards per kickoff return (34.2). He led the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) in the aforementioned statistical categories. All three of Cooke's touchdowns came at home inside Truist Stadium. Cooke's first kickoff return for a score came against chief rival North Carolina Central University (NCCU) on September 9. Cooke's 80-yard kickoff return in the second quarter helped the Aggies trail by just one at halftime to NCCU, 17-16.
His second was a 94-yard kickoff return against Villanova on October 7 that put the Aggies in front, 7-3, in the first quarter. His final return for TD came against Richmond two weeks later, when he went 91 yards in the second quarter for the Aggies' first score of the game. In his final season as an Aggie on the field, Cooke compiled 547 yards in kickoff returns, 148 yards receiving, and a touchdown on 11 receptions, and he rushed for 28 yards on seven carries.
In three seasons and 43 games played in Aggieland after transferring from Marshall University, Cooke returned 48 kickoffs for 1,340 return yards (27.92 per return). He also had 417 receiving yards in his career on 35 receptions (9.70) and two touchdowns.
