SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

When Mike Bobo came on staff as the Gamecocks’ offensive coordinator in mid-December, one of the first things he did was get the ball rolling to get Joe Cox to Columbia.

Thursday that became official with Will Muschamp announcing Cox as the team’s new tight ends coach, bringing experience with Bobo’s system and a good evaluator of talent into the fold.

“He’s very personable, very sharp and has a great work ethic,” Muschamp said of Cox. “He has all the things you’re looking for as far as the intangible qualities are concerned. I trust Mike and his judgment."

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Cox had been with Bobo at Colorado State since 2015, coaching tight ends for four seasons before moving over to wide receivers last year.

He was part of an offensive coaching staff that constructed the 14th-ranked pass offense in the country.

Now, Cox joins a staff with his mentor in Bobo, who advocated hard to get him into the fold before the start of winter workouts.

“I appreciate Coach Muschamp giving me this opportunity and I'm excited about continuing to work with Coach Bobo," said Cox. "We have a long history together; first at Georgia, then at Colorado State. I'm also looking forward to getting back to the South and the places where I'm most comfortable. I am anxious to get started working with this staff, the group I have this spring, and adding more quality players to the tight ends room."

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Cox played at Georgia in the late 2000s, but before that played at Independence High School in the Charlotte area, which is where he’ll get to recruit once coaches are allowed back on the road.

Muschamp said Cox will recruit the Rock Hill and Charlotte areas since he grew up and played there. He was also an assistant at Mallard Creek in North Carolina as well before moving up the coaching ranks.

“We’ve got 10 coaches that recruit the state of South Carolina and he’s in one of those areas. That’s really moving through Rock Hill area,” Muschamp said. “He’s from charlotte and you talk to the coaches in that area that I know extremely well and they all had nothing but great things to say about him as far as his relationships with prospective student athletes and the high school coaches in the area.”

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Cox will have other areas to recruit as well with coaches getting an in-state area to recruit then assigned another area in the team’s pipeline of Georgia, Florida and North Carolina.

Coaches are allowed to get back on the road recruiting Jan. 17 for a final push before the late signing period.

“We’ll end up having five coaches in North Carolina, six in Georgia and six in Florida,” Muschamp said. “I’d have a hard time telling you where everybody’s recruiting right now. We just finished that on Monday.”