Cooley took up coaching for the Tasmanian Tigers as at one time or another an assistant coach to the state team, the state's junior development officer, fitness advisor, pace bowling coach and under-17 coach. As the bowling coach for the
England national team, he was considered instrumental in helping players such as
Andrew Flintoff,
Steve Harmison,
Simon Jones,
Matthew Hoggard and
James Anderson amongst others improve their bowling, though the form of the latter after Cooley's intervention suggests otherwise. Following the lack of an offer from the ECB, he left his post at the end of his contract in December 2005, and in May 2006 became the bowling coach for the
Australian national team. The England Cricket Board (ECB) was criticised for letting him move as he was seen as a key figure in England's
2005 Ashes success. Following England's loss of the first test in
The Ashes in Australia in 2006, former England captain
Tony Greig commented that England missed Cooley. After England had lost the fourth test, Cooley commented that the English side has lost its "intensity", and was surprised at the team bringing back injured players like
Ashley Giles who had little recent form. At the end of the
2010–11 Ashes series, Cooley became head coach of
Cricket Australia's
Centre of Excellence in Brisbane. Cooley left Cricket Australia in 2021 and joined the BCCI where he was responsible for Ccoaching and setting up the National Pace Bowling Program. In early 2026, he returned to the England coaching team as national pace-bowling lead, where he would be 'responsible for development and coaching of fast bowlers across the England men, Lions and Young Lions.' ==Family==