Tongue was one of very few England players to emerge with credit following the 4-1 defeat in the Ashes, during which he was overlooked for the first two Tests before bursting forward with 18 wickets in the last three.
His pace and fuller lengths from an awkward angle caused havoc and, while he is still occasionally wayward, Tongue is optimistic of advancing his game under Cooley, England's Ashes 2005 fast-bowling coach.
Cooley has also worked to develop Australia's vaunted trio of quicks in the past and, more recently, teamed up to help Jasprit Bumrah in India before, in January, the 60-year-old was announced as England's national pace bowling lead.
"He's coached the likes of (Mitchell) Starc, (Josh) Hazlewood, (Pat) Cummins and he was part of India as well," enthused Tongue.
"I had a little chat with him on the phone the other day, I feel like we're going to get on really well and he's going to help me get even better than where I am now."
Cooley's brief is not limited to just the senior team and he will work with the Lions and Young Lions, while England will still occasionally bring in other fast bowling coaches on an ad-hoc basis.
It is a revolving-door policy they have had since 2022, with James Anderson, Tim Southee and another Australian David Saker taking temporary roles, but Australian Cooley already looks to have made an early impression on Tongue.
"There was a bit of humour in the phone call which was quite funny," Tongue said. "His first line was 'I'm in Aussie, do you accept the rate (to reverse the charges)?' And I was like 'yeah, I accept the rate'.
"Then we had a little chat about the winter and moving forward."
Tongue's performances in Australia have almost certainly made the 28-year-old Nottinghamshire bowler an automatic selection for England this summer.
He's taken 23 wickets in four Tests against Australia, with an outstanding average of 22.3, and was player of the match in England's lone success at the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. Tongue has also dismissed Steve Smith four times in three matches.
"Doing well at the MCG was the icing on the cake," he said. "I want to bring those moments more. I want to try and make an impact when I play games for England and try and put us in good positions to win games."
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