John Cox, the legendary voice of the Golden Eagles, recently achieved a career milestone when he called his 500th career USM football game. And the six-time Mississippi Sportscaster of the Year and longtime Southern Miss play-by-play commentator was ecstatic when he received the recognition.
“How in the world did I get to 500 games?” he said when news of the milestone set in.

Cox called his first game in 1978, which has led to a career spanning nearly 47 years. Reaching his 500th game caused him to reflect on how he got to where he is today.

“It made me reflect back to all those years and all those games that I’ve been a part of at Southern Miss,” he said. “It was a little bit strange and it made me feel old, 500 games over the course of football as it’s been a lot of games over a lot of years. But I was excited, as the win made number 500 a little bit more special.”

In a career such as Cox has had, one or two games are bound to stand out. But for him, it was difficult deciding which one, until he thought about the first ones he called.

“I’ll always remember that first one, calling back to back games in 1978 against Bowling Green and Louisville on the road away from Hattiesburg,” he explained.

Another game that stood out was in 1982 when the Golden Eagles went into Bryant-Denny stadium in Tuscaloosa and beat legendary head coach Bear Bryant and the Alabama Crimson Tide 38-29 that broke a 57-game winning streak for the Tide at home.

While every game will be different from one another depending on the opponent or what’s at stake, Cox usually loves to embrace the atmosphere of gameday.

“I love to get to the games early,” he said. “When it’s a home game at The Rock, I usually get here at 8 or 8:30 in the morning, as I like to go up there and sit in the booth where I may study a little bit or check equipment. But I just love the atmosphere.”

As Cox continues with this year of Golden Eagle athletics, he is currently the third longest active play-by-play college broadcaster in the nation. He says getting into the field of sports broadcasting and play-by-play announcing is no easy feat and neither was his journey to becoming the voice of the Golden Eagles, which required a little help.

“It was as a thanks to the former voice of the Golden Eagles, Bill Goodrich,” Cox remembered. “Bill eventually let me be a spotter. In the meantime, I started with the campus radio station, WSUM, which at the time, let me do women’s basketball and a few baseball games whenever I had a chance to do so.”

He keeps his advice simple to those interested in sports broadcasting and play-by-play announcing.

“Just to do it and be available,” he said “Get out there and do it.”