By Harry King
LITTLE ROCK — To help the newbies prepare for media days, maybe the Southeastern Conference sent crib notes to Dan Mullen, Gene Chizik and Lane Kiffin.
Even without such a memo, the coaches will discuss leadership and sing the praises of the league’s top-to-bottom quality. Those topics are on the checklist of each and every coach.
Mullen, the new man at Mississippi State, is up today, along with Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson and Kentucky coach Rich Brooks. Chizik of Auburn and Kiffin of Tennessee are front and center on Friday, along with Steve Spurrier of South Carolina and Les Miles of LSU. On Thursday, Nick Saban, Mark Richt, Houston Nutt and Urban Meyer will hold court.
Each coach brings along one offensive player and one defensive player, and three of them will have quarterbacks in tow. Two are gimmes — former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow of Florida and NFL prospect Jevan Snead of Ole Miss.
Three guesses at the other invitee?
How about strong-armed Ryan Mallett of Arkansas, Chick-Fil-A Bowl MVP Jordan Jefferson of LSU, talented but erratic Stephen Garcia of South Carolina or patient Greg McElroy of Alabama.
Nope. The winner is Joe Cox of Georgia, and Richt’s choice raised a question about the qualifications of the bland, fifth-year senior. For instance, Tebow has thrown 686 passes for 6,390 yards in three years and Snead was good for 2,762 yards and 26 touchdowns last year alone.
Cox has attempted 58 passes in his career and his highlight is leading a rally against Colorado in 2006. His only experience against an SEC opponent in 2008 came when he was 2-of-4 in a 39-point loss to Florida. His other participation was limited to non-conference games that the Bulldogs won by 24 and 39.
The last time Georgia’s only option was a fifth-year quarterback was 2005 and Joe Tereshinski was eventually replaced by freshman Matthew Stafford.
The Bulldogs have a couple of Stafford types in Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger, but Richt said he believes Cox’s situation is such that it “would be very difficult to knock him out of the box.”
Cox is of immediate interest to Razorback fans because Georgia is Arkansas’ second opponent of the year. Rebuilding their offense after the departure of Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno, the Bulldogs are a swing game for the Razorbacks.
Pressed about Cox, Richt talked about how he knows the assignment of every player on offense. That might sound trivial, but during Arkansas’ 10-1 season of 1979, offensive linemen would occasionally consult with quarterback Kevin Scanlon about their duty on a particular play.
For months, Richt has repeated the story about how his players were asked a variety of questions at the end of spring practice, including naming the team’s leaders. Cox was included by 107 of the 110 players who completed the exit interview.
A reporter with The Macon Telegraph followed up, asking more than a dozen Georgia players about Cox and the most telling response might have been left tackle Trinton Sturdivant’s reference to Cox’s confidence.
“I don’t know the critiques he’s being given by the commentators or the scouting reports, but when we look at him, we look at a ball player,” he said. “And when we look at him, we’re ready to play.”
——-
Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.
