DATE: Sunday, September 21, 1997            TAG: 9709190398

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 16   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   73 lines

HORNETS' COX STILL ADJUSTING TO HOT SEAT

SHOCK, ALBEIT pleasant, was David Cox's reaction when he was offered the Deep Creek head football coaching job this summer.

``I was all prepared to come back as an assistant,'' said Cox, 34. ``I always thought about being a head coach, but I didn't want to leave because I was very happy here.''

Cox had been an assistant football coach as well as boys and girls track coach at Deep Creek since 1986. But two months ago, Cox's life changed when Jerry Carter unexpectedly resigned as the Hornets' head coach.

His promotion came only about three weeks before the (practice) season started.

Cox, who spent 11 years in the Deep Creek system under Jim Garrett and Jerry Carter, played tight end at Western Branch and was a kicker at Virginia Tech.

Deep Creek, 33-4 over the last three years, opened the season with a 15-6 loss to Booker T Washington. The Hornets bounced back the following week with a 42-18 victory over Wilson.

Here's what Cox had to say about being the new head coach of the Deep Creek football team:

Q. Did you have much of a relationship with the players prior to this season?

A. I've been here and I've worked with the guys. Not just with football but also with track. The shock didn't come with knowing the system or the kids. The shock came with all of the other responsibilities.

Q. What are these other responsibilities?

A. Everything. Organizing coaches meetings, practices, practice schedules. Dealing with grades; kids schedules; inventory. It's all the small things that get to you. You get ready to get on the field and you get a phone call.

Q. How much pressure is associated with this job?

A. The pressure, I don't think, is with the wins and losses. All the pressures come with the duties that didn't come before.

Q. What's the most important thing you want to achieve this season?

A. The first goal is to win the district and advance to postseason play.

Q. Looking back to the Booker T Washington defeat, did you second-guess yourself on the team's preparation?

A. No. Actually, we did some good things against Booker T. One guy (James Green) ran for 100 yards. They had one kid (Ronald Marcus) we didn't account for who was in our backfield all night. I wouldn't say I second-guessed myself on anything. We were pretty well prepared. If we could do it over, we would stick with the game plan.

A. What did you take away from the Booker T. game?

Q. We made some changes up front. If we can make some improvements, we'll be a little bit better prepared

Q. What's been the most fun about being the head coach?

A. (Laugh) I haven't gotten to the fun part yet.

Q. What is it like coaching for a school that was a high school rival?

A. It's always been fun. It was a lot more fun in my younger years. I used to get really excited. I used to wear my old (Western Branch) jersey to practice. Now, I don't even bring it up that I went to Western Branch.

Q. So the Western Branch game is not circled on your calendar.

A. No. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by IAN MARTIN

``The shock didn't come with knowing the system or the kids,'' new

head coach David Cox said. ``The shock came with all of the other

responsibilities.''

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