Ex-Michigan running back Michael Cox getting settled at UMass, Wolverines' Week 3 opponent
Former University of Michigan running back Michael Cox, pictured carrying the ball against Bowling Green in 2010, will suit up against the Wolverines for UMass on Sept. 15.
AnnArbor.com file photo
Cox will get a chance to add to his career yards at the Big House on Sept. 15, but it won't be wearing the jersey he envisioned wearing when he first stepped onto campus in Ann Arbor.
Cox will be playing for a different UM that Saturday, the University of Massachusetts.
With a year of eligibility -- but also a Michigan degree -- to his name, Cox had a decision to make after last season. Cox appeared in just six games for the Wolverines as a redshirt junior and his only logged statistics two kickoff returns for as many yards in the Sugar Bowl. He had the option of staying at Michigan for a fifth year and likely not playing much, or enrolling in a postgraduate program at another school and trying to prove himself to a third set of coaches in five years.
Cox chose the latter, transferring to UMass where he is enrolled in an early childhood education postgraduate program, just two hours from where he grew up.
“It was kind of funny because I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do,” Cox recently told the Boston Herald.
When asked in the spring if Cox -- one of four fifth-year seniors to leave the program this year -- made the decision to leave or whether it was mutual, Michigan coach Brady Hoke said, "I think that's their decision (in every case)."
A Dorchester, Mass. native, Cox -- who played high school ball in Connecticut -- chose to move close to home and is now fully entrenched in his life as a Minuteman.
“Being an upperclassman, a senior this year, and coming from a Big Ten school and everything. I’m just trying to teach a lot of the younger guys the ropes of D-1 football. There are different things they can do better or I help them whatever they may need,” Cox told the Herald.
Read the entire Boston Herald article.
Comments
81wolverine
Tue, Aug 21, 2012 : 7 p.m.
Cox was always considered one of the best pure athletes on the team, but apparently that didn't translate into success at the running back position for him. For whatever reason, the other RB's were seen by the coaches as better options. I hope he does well for Massachusetts (except on Sept. 15th).
A2D2
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 7:03 p.m.
I'm sorry, Mr. Cunningham, but I think you forgot a verb or something in this paragraph: When asked in the spring if Cox, one of four fifth-year seniors to leave the program this year, Michigan coach Brady Hoke said, "I think that's their decision (in every case)." .....but I knew what you were getting at. No harm, no foul.
Pete Cunningham
Tue, Aug 21, 2012 : 3:02 p.m.
Thanks for pointing that out. The correction has been made and the sentence now reads ..."When asked in the spring if Cox -- one of four fifth-year seniors to leave the program this year -- made the decision to leave or whether it was mutual, Michigan coach Brady Hoke said, "I think that's their decision (in every case)."
MassMittenz
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 4:59 p.m.
Sad to see him in another jersey, but now he's on the other team!
Jim
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 4:30 p.m.
You may want to fix the caption underneath the photo. It says "Former University of Michigan running back Michael Cox, pictured carrying the ball against Illinois in 2010, will suit up against the Wolverines for UMass on Sept. 15." The problem with that is those are not Illinois uniforms in that picture. Those are Bowling Green uniforms. Both BGSU and Illinois have orange uniforms, but you can clearly see BG on the helmets.
Pete Cunningham
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 4:35 p.m.
Thank you for pointing out the error. It has been corrected.
garrisondyer
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 4 p.m.
It's sort of a strange feeling to see a guy like Cox playing for another team, after reading his name in UM football articles for the last 3-4 years. It seems like he is thinking about his future outside of playing football, considering his grad program. Is he still considered an ex-Michigan player as opposed to a former Michigan player, seeing as he did get his degree?
Dwayne
Wed, Aug 22, 2012 : 12:26 p.m.
I will say that as a former Marine, there is a difference between the two designations (Ex VS Former). Just because a journalist decides to use them interchangeably, doesn't make them the same.
garrisondyer
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 6:30 p.m.
Ahhh, thanks for the clarification, Pete. For some reason, I always thought "ex"-Michigan player meant they decided to leave for the NFL/another team early (or were dismissed), whereas "former" Michigan player meant they had finished out their Michigan career/eligibility. I had never really thought about Mike Cox's situation before, though.
MassMittenz
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 4:58 p.m.
I thought about that too, but I address him currently as a Minute Man. Next year, Maybe I'll remember him as a Wolverine...
Pete Cunningham
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 4:37 p.m.
We use the two phrases interchangeably on a regular basis, usually for headline shortening purposes.
heartbreakM
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 3:51 p.m.
I always thought Cox looked great when he came into games, though obviously he didn't impress the coaches enough in practice to actually get into the games at a time that mattered. He never griped publicly and I wish him well. I hope he runs well all year except one week.