UAB Lineman LD COX’s GOAL IS TO DOMINATE
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - August 21, 2024
UAB defensive lineman LD Cox keeps it simple when detailing his goal during his final college football season.
“Dominate,” is Cox’s one-word response to how he wants his lone season at UAB to play out.
Time will tell if Cox, who played at Ole Miss and Indiana before returning to his home state, can meet that goal. However, if the progression he’s shown thus far at UAB is any indication, the 6-foot-4, 305-pound Mobile native should be one of the premiere defensive linemen in the American Athletic Conference.
“Oh man, he’s grown tremendously,” said UAB defensive line coach Miguel Patrick. “He's grown as a leader first and foremost off the field. He's definitely the unquestioned leader of our group. And then on the field his pad level has gotten better, he's striking better and he's definitely improved his pass rush tremendously. So, we can look forward to him getting to the quarterback a lot this year.”
Cox played in 37 games during three seasons at Ole Miss and two seasons at Indiana. All four of his college starts came last season at Indiana, including his first start against nationally ranked Ohio State. He had 19 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss in 24 games at Indiana.
UAB head coach Trent Dilfer and his staff felt Cox was capable of much more.
“He was a really good player at Indiana, but he was banged up a lot,” Dilfer said. “We recruited a player that had kind of gotten beat down physically and maybe a little bit mentally and emotionally, knowing that there is kind of a building back process. And I think, again, Lyle (Henley) and his team has done a great job in the weight room. He’s significantly stronger, his stamina is much better. His technique was already good. I think Miguel and John (Jones) have done a great job making it better. He's become a better football player since coming here, and we've really focused on keeping him healthy.”
Cox quickly showed during spring that he would be a big piece of the Blazers’ defensive front. One thing that jumped out quickly was his athleticism, which he developed as a youngster in Mobile.
“I was kind of skinny back in the day,” said Cox. “I didn't get big until like 8th grade year, going into high school. That's when I realized, yeah, I got to put my hand in the dirt. Yeah, before then, I thought I was a skill guy. When I was younger, I was always tall, lanky and quick. I’m still a skill player at heart.”
He was a force at defensive line at McGill-Toolen High, earning all-state mention twice and helping his team reach the AHSAA Class 7A state championship game as a sophomore and junior. The 2019 graduate had several SEC offers, including Auburn, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Georgia, according to 247 Sports. Now he’s set to conclude his time in college back in his home state.
As Dilfer said earlier, they were selective in choosing reps for Cox during camp. But that hasn’t lessened his impact.
“You know, like, he doesn't get a million reps,” Cox said. “He gets the right reps. He does a great job on his own. He does a great job with the technical things, and individual drills, group drills, stealing team reps. You know, in a six -player rack, he might only get two reps, but they're dynamic reps, and they can ruin some plays.”
Patrick said Cox has shown he is comfortable lining up at different spots, which complicates offensive game plans. He is one of the better run stoppers on the defensive front but also can slide toward the outside at times.
“On third down, he gives you somebody that you can move around from the three-technique to the nose and even to the edge where he can rush the passer,” Patrick said. “It's tremendous, for the fact that you can't game plan to where he's going to be every play. If he was just a three-technique, you could game plan, ‘Hey, he's gonna be here every single snap.’ When we put him at the nose or he's (outside), they can't game plan for that all the time. They don't know when we’re going to move him, so it’s going to be hard for them to plan for him.