Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper picked up the Biletnikoff Award, unanimous All-American recognition, a BCS national championship and a lesson in hard work from coach Nick Saban during his three seasons at Alabama.

“One of the things that I learned from him, from afar I would say, is what goes into actually winning and being the best you can be,” Cooper said on Monday during an appearance on NBC Sports’ “PFT PM.” “He’s a really diligent guy, really studious. I mean, he’s the first one in the facility and he’s the last one to leave. I think the guy sleeps like two or three hours. He really puts in the work, so that we can go out there and actually be the winning football team that we were, and not everybody’s willing to put that work in.”

Cooper knew before leaving Miami Northwestern Senior High School in Florida to join the Crimson Tide that hard work would be expected at Alabama.

“(Saban) really didn’t have to do much to close me because I had my intentions set,” Cooper said on his decision to come to Alabama during a Monday appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show.” "I knew if I got an offer from Alabama, that’s where I wanted to go … just because I liked what they stood for. I liked that they were winning. Obviously, that’s the most important thing. But just the way he coached the game, he approached the game.

"It was all about hard work there. It wasn't any promises like most recruiters would do and tell you you would come in and be a starter. He just gave me the flat-out truth that if I was good enough to play as a freshman, I would play, and that's all I really wanted to hear because I really just wanted to compete for a spot. And so I think they did everything the right way."

Amari Cooper spoke at a camp today about the importance of hydration, drinking Gatorade



Best camp memory: When he was 17, ran a route that made the DB fall



"It was right in front of Coach Saban. He just came up to me & took off his hat & shook my hand. I got an offer that day." pic.twitter.com/F4cFGCBawT — Jon Machota (@jonmachota) June 24, 2019

Cooper did play as a freshman at Alabama, reaching 1,000 receiving yards in his first season for Saban's third BCS national-championship winner.

Cooper set Alabama career records with 228 receptions for 3,463 yards and 31 touchdowns. In his final season with the Tide, Cooper established an SEC single-season record with 124 receptions and school-single season marks with 1,727 receiving yards and 16 touchdown receptions.

Cooper said he has his sights set on another record in his fifth NFL season. Cooper wants to become the league's first 2,000-yard receiver. The NFL record for receiving yards in a season is 1,964 by Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson in 2012.

Asked about another 1,000-yard season in 2019, which would be his fourth in five NFL campaigns, Cooper said: “You’ve got to put a two in front of that. That’s the goal, man.”

Cooper's NFL single-season high is 1,153 receiving yards in 2016. Last season, Cooper had 1,005 receiving yards, but he had only 280 in the first six games of 2018. That's when he was traded by the Oakland Raiders to the Cowboys. With Dallas, Cooper caught 53 passes for 725 yards and six touchdowns. But even at that rate, Cooper's season total would be 1,290 receiving yards.

“I think I have so much more to prove," Cooper told Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News on Monday. "I think I’m just scratching the surface. I think people haven’t seen half of what I can do out there on the field. I have so many more great plays in me, so much more good football ahead of me.

"My best football is ahead of me.”

Cooper is entering the final season of his contract, signed after the Raiders selected him with the fourth choice in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Dallas had a 3-4 record when Cooper arrived in 2018. The Cowboys went 7-2 for the remainder of the regular season and won the NFC East. Dallas defeated the Seattle Seahawks 24-22 in the first round of the playoffs before the Los Angeles Rams ended the Cowboys' season with a 30-22 decision on Jan. 12.

The difference in the Dallas' offense pre- and post-Cooper has the Cowboys hoping to sign the wide receiver to a long-term contract before he reaches free agency. Either way, Cooper is in line for a lucrative deal.

Asked on ESPN’s “First Take” on Monday if he should be the NFL’s highest-paid receiver, Cooper answered: “Not now. I’m definitely looking forward to earning that respect and definitely looking forward to coming into this year and just putting up those numbers for my team and really showing what I can do in a full season as a Dallas Cowboy. I know that I have the skill set to be one of the highest-paid receivers. I’m just all about going out there and proving it.”

The Cowboys are scheduled to report for training camp in Oxnard, California, on July 26. Dallas will kick off its four-game preseason schedule on Aug. 10 against the San Francisco 49ers and its regular-season slate on Sept. 8 against the New York Giants.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.