by Rusty Ellis
Upperman senior Ean Cox made his commitment to Sewanee: The University of the South official on Friday, as he signed his NLI to play college football upon graduation.
Cox says he’s spent the entirety of his high school career working towards this moment, and he’s thankful for Sewanee and the opportunity they’ve given him.
“I really did have to grind, and it feels great for hard work to pay off,” Cox said. “To be going to a great university like Sewanee, I’m just very thankful for this opportunity…the academics are priority one for me and it’s a very prestigious university for academics. I went down there and talked to the offensive coordinator and the rest of the coaches down there and they offered me. I’m very grateful to go there.”
Upperman head coach Adam Caine has watched Cox commit to the grind and earn his playing time over the last two seasons, and says it’s an opportunity that the lineman has earned.
“It makes you love the kid for the work they put in,” Caine said. “He came in and kind of redshirted for two years, toiled on some scout teams and probably had that question mark in his head…I call him a program guy because he had to come in and pay his dues and figure out if he was serious about becoming a good football player, and he answered those questions.”
Caine has personal ties to Sewanee, and in conversations he had with Cox about playing college football, he made it clear he believed Cox would belong.
“He’s a really smart kid and wants to challenge himself academically and athletically,” Caine said. “There’s no better place for him than Sewanee. I spent three years there as the defensive coordinator, and I’m pretty intimately familiar with that school and football team, and I think he’s a perfect candidate to thrive on that campus.”
There’s a lot that Cox says he’ll miss about playing at Upperman, and the thing that sticks out the most is the community support he and his teammates received every Friday night.
“The small-town aspect of it, I don’t think there’s anything like football in a small town,” Cox said. “Football is kind of all these people have for a couple months out of the year, and I’ll definitely miss Coach Caine. I’m very thankful to have played for a coach like him.”
