Tom Cox gets an encore as Mount Vernon football coach
By Jim Henry, The Joplin Globe, Mo. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
"I've always missed it," said Cox, who hasn't been a head football coach since 1990. "I really had no intention of becoming a head coach again, but when this opportunity came open, I just realized I still had a desire to head this program up."
Cox succeeds
Cox's coaching resume this school year is interesting to say the least. He was an assistant for Riley last fall, then seventh-grade boys basketball coach at
He applied for the football job at
"Our house is two minutes from the brand new football stadium (at Mount Vernon)," Cox said. "I left Mount Vernon once, and I did not want to leave again. I want to be a Mountaineer."
Cox, former all-conference defensive back at Missouri Southern, returned to his alma mater --
"I took the job at Mount Vernon and thought maybe I'd be one year here," Tom said. "We ended up staying eight years."
Cox was an assistant for two years under
Cox left Mount Vernon to become head football coach at Webb City in 1987, and one year later he began a three-year stint as head coach at Ozark. The Cardinals went 6-4 under Cox and started several sophomores who were seniors on the Cardinals' first state championship team under
"I enjoyed my time at Webb City," said Cox, who has a 68-36 record in 10 years as a head coach. "I had no intention of leaving there, but Ozark made an offer and I couldn't turn it down. Cindi's family is from the
Cox returned to
In addition to coaching football, Cox will be in charge of the school's weight training classes in grades 7 through 12. He also will work with the Mighty Mite program. He's been the color commentator on Missouri Southern football broadcasts the last two seasons, a job he will have to relinquish.
Ironically, as Tom returns as a head coach, Cindi is stepping down after coaching the high school dance team, the Coquettes, for 30 years. She will continue to teach third grade in the district.
They have two children. Their daughter, Piper, is head volleyball coach at Republic, and their son, Kellen, is the head of the
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