 He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in history from Stonehill in 1994.Following college, Cooley taught history at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School in Massachusetts from 1994 to 1996.Meanwhile, Cooley began his coaching career at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, spending the 1994–1995 season as an assistant men's basketball coach before returning to Stonehill as an assistant coach in 1995–1996.