Friday Features: Delta State safety looks to avoid School of Hard ‘Knox’
By Maurice Patton
At 27,
Jon Knox should long have been out of school.
The Statesboro, Ga., native signed with the University of Georgia as part of its 2007 recruiting class.
Nine years later, though, Knox is serving as one of the defensive leaders for a
Delta State team that’s ranked in the Top 25 in NCAA Division II heading into a Halloween matchup at North Alabama.
Knox, who played in 12 games and started two for Georgia as a redshirt freshman in 2008, currently has 23 total tackles (15 solos) for the Statesmen, with four for loss, along with three interceptions and four pass breakups.
His play, following a junior season last fall that saw him post 52 total tackles with a pickoff and five breakups in 10 games (nine starts), has helped bear out veteran Delta coach
Todd Cooley’s decision to bring him on board despite a four-year layoff.
“He e-mailed me, I looked at his tape, I talked to him on the phone, I liked him on the phone and I offered him,” Cooley said regarding Knox’s recruitment prior to the 2014 season. “He didn’t even visit. I told him we’d give him a chance. At the time, I thought he was a good player. I knew he was going to struggle through the spring but if we could get him through the spring, he’d be OK.
“A lot of times, a guy hasn’t played in forever. I thought, let’s give him a chance. He’s been out in the world, he’s going to take advantage of the opportunity. We had a positive experience with that on a couple of occasions (when I was) at Ouachita Baptist. I’ve probably got a soft spot for those guys.”
Academic issues resulted in Knox’s departure from Georgia, and he subsequently spent the 2009 season at Northwest Mississippi Community College – recording 58 total tackles with a forced fumble – before returning to Statesboro.
“Playing in the (Southeastern Conference) was lovely,” he said. “Each week, you’re gonna have a Top 10 team, they’re gonna come and give you their best. You’re going to have a lot of fun out there.
“Being in the situation I was in after the fact, it was like ‘what do I do? I know I can play ball, but how do I get these teams and these coaches to trust me again?’ “
While he was out of the classroom, Knox was hopeful of getting back on the gridiron.
“I didn’t want to get too much in the work field,” he said. “I felt like if I did, I’d forget about football. I knew somewhere down the line I was going to play football again.
“I sent 10 letters. I sent four to (Gulf South Conference) teams. Two of them – Delta State and North Alabama – contacted me back. I sent them a resume’ I had from Georgia, convinced them I could still play ball.”
Since arriving on the Cleveland, Miss., campus, Knox has proved that to be the case. In the process, he’s created some high expectations for himself as a part of a Statesmen team that looks to stop a two-game losing streak Saturday.
“We have high expectations of him and all our players,” Cooley said of his 5-3 (1-3) team. “He’s had some big games, but he needs to be more consistent. When he plays well, he plays really well. We need him to produce down the stretch over these next three weeks.”
And while Knox has been focused on the field – turning in a three-interception performance against Florida Tech earlier in the year – getting a second chance to earn his degree is what really excites him.
“When I was out of football, I couldn’t do what I wanted to do because I didn’t have a degree,” he said. “Getting a degree helps you get a job you like to do, something you went to school for and spent your time in the classroom to do. That’s something that can’t be denied.”
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