LEXINGTON, Va. – The Martin Cox coaching era has begun at Rockbridge County High School. The former assistant who spent the last 12 years at Jefferson Forest has been received well in the community since he accepted the job in February.
“We’ve had a lot of kids show up for spring and summer workouts and the parents and other people have been really supportive of us here at Rockbridge both academically and athletically,” Cox said.
Cox has always known the caliber of student-athletes that the Wildcats football program attracts.
“To be honest, years ago we scrimmaged Rockbridge a few times so when I saw the job was available, the first thing that came to mind was the type of kids they had,” said Cox. “No matter the score or what was going on they just always seemed to be hard-working young men with lots of energy. Good kids that always seemed to have some size as well.”
Rockbridge County has been in the postseason for five consecutive seasons so a certain standard has been set. Cox and his staff want to continue to build on that but with a few tweaks in the style of play. We can expect so see them run the ball more often than in years past when the Wildcats ran a spread under Mark Poston.
“What they did before was working because they’ve been successful so first we want to continue that tradition of putting a program together people will enjoy watching and that will be a positive force in the community,” said Cox.
The transition to a new coaching staff and style of play is growing on the players as fall camp starts to crank up.
“It’s been different but we’re all liking it. I think it’ll fit us good,” said offensive and defensive lineman Braeden Hartbarger. “I just hope we can all gel together and work as a team. It’s a different offense but I just hope we can play good together as a team.”
Rockbridge County opens the season against rival Parry McCluer August 26.