UGA’s Cox is Exhibit A for recruiting considerations

Five-and-a-half years after signing with Georgia out of Charlotte-Independence, Joe Cox is finally "Da Man" for "Da Dawgs."

Great story by Tim Tucker on Joe Cox in today’s paper. Even if you’re not a Georgia alumnus or fan, I don’t know how you can’t root for this guy.

I spoke to Cox yesterday at UGA’s pre-Oklahoma State media day and couldn’t help but come away thinking about the adage “attitude is everything.” Specifically I asked him if he could have envisioned when he signed out of Charlotte-Independence High in 2005 not winning the starting job at Georgia until he was a fifth-year senior.

“Of course you dream of coming in and playing early,” said Cox, who did earn one start at Ole Miss as a redshirt freshman in 2006. “But things change. No. 1 draft picks come in and play in front of you.”

That’d be Matthew Stafford, of course.

It’s not like Cox showed up at Georgia as an after-thought signee. He was a Parade Magazine All-American in 2004 and, as Tucker pointed out in his piece, hasn’t lost a football game as a starting quarterback since his last game in middle school.

But despite peripheral cries that he should transfer, Cox never considered leaving Georgia.

“It was tough in 2006 when everything first started sorting itself out,” Cox said. “But nobody made any promises. I knew I was going to have to compete against good players here. You know, you have to make the best of every situation. I just tried put myself in a position where I could still help the team win. And I tried to do that.”

No matter what the Bulldogs end up doing behind Cox in his only season as the undisputed starting quarterback, you know he’ll leave college as a winner.

Now for some links:

• Florida State believes it plucked a sleeper out of Colquitt County in Moultrie as 6-foot-5, 285-pound defensive lineman Cameron Erving committed to the Seminoles late last week. He reportedly chose FSU over GSU, as in Georgia Southern. Major loss for the Eagles, I’d think. . . .
• Georgia fans, if you want to get a glimpse into the future, set your DVRs and your TiVo for Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS) the next couple of weeks. Matt Stewart will be calling games the Dalton-Sprayberry game this Friday and the Calhoun at Cartersville on Sept. 11. UGA commitment Jalen Fields plays defensive end while dynamic wide receiver commitment Da’Rick Rogers plays for Calhoun. . . .
• Nice little story out of that college football hotbed known as Delaware (that’s a joke) on how technology is changing the business of recruiting. . . .
• Not sure if you saw this story on AJC.com earlier this week but former 5-star recruit Willie Williams was arrested for burglary in Gwinnett County. This should finally put an end to Willams’ checkered football career — mercifully. . . .
• Georgia State is not the only school launching a football program. In fact, according to a story on NCAAfootball.com, the Panthers are one of 17 colleges starting a football program between now and 2013. That will mean more scholarship opportunities, which is always a good thing.