Breaking news came out of Athens yesterday in the form of the surprising dismissal of former 5 star recruit Brenton Cox from the Georgia program. Cox was a rising sophomore coming off a lackluster freshman campaign, but was poised to make his mark for the Dawgs in 2019. With expectations high of the 6’4 245 lbs OLB, fans around the country had just one question in mind: What happened?
First things First
To begin to answer the question of “What happen?”, let’s not forget the fact that Brenton Cox was the subject of an arrest back in April 2019. The arrest came on misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession. And while this incident seemed to be worked out internally, perhaps some things just never were the same.
Since the Arrest
It is being reported that as time marched on in Athens, Cox began to continually find himself in the “Dawg house” of Kirby Smart and staff. It is believed that the dismissal comes from an attitude problem. He became a locker room distraction. “This is probably not a one incident type thing. This is one of those things… that this is a culmination of things.” Jake Rowe of Dawgs247 said in the Junkyard Dawgcast. “… a missed meeting here, this is a didn’t finish practice here, this is a didn’t go get treatment when you were told to go get treatment there. It’s a culmination of things. And when that happens, you know finally there’s a straw that breaks the camels back…” Rowe went on to say in the podcast.
Reports also state that Cox found himself struggling on the practice field as well. He had fallen severely on the depth chart as fall camp got underway and rumors even suggest that he asked for a position switch to defensive end. With newcomer outside linebackers Jermaine Johnson and Nolan Smith in the 2019 class on top of an already deep OLB group; Cox probably did not see himself getting the 277 snaps he did as a true freshman for the Dawgs. This is where the attitude problem probably stemmed from.
UGA Fan Day
Above is a picture of Brenton Cox participating in the annual Georgia “Fan Day” on Saturday August 3rd. This tells us that at the time, him and the team were in good standing, or at least good enough for him to represent the team in front of the fans. The incident that “broke the camels back” is believed to have happened after that, whether it was big or small.
Mutual Decision and the Transfer Portal
It is understood that this separation of ways comes as as an agreement on both sides. With Cox already being in the transfer portal, that would suggest so. “With this particular situation I was told he filed for his transfer portal rights to be put in and Georgia immediately signed those. So when I mean it was mutual, that’s what I mean. There was no “Hey, let’s wait. let’s talk about this…” Rusty Mansell of Dawgs247 stated on the situation.
What does this mean for Georgia?
This is without a doubt a big loss for the Georgia program. Cox was a key piece in this defense who was expected to contribute this year. But at the end of the day; Cox was heralded on his potential, not production. He recorded only 20 tackles and 1 sack in 277 snaps played last year. Georgia is losing a lot of potential in Cox, but not production. And with a ridiculously deep OLB room, UGA should not miss a beat.