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This might be Eli Cox’s sixth year of college football but it is different in one special way — it is his first season as a married player.

The Kentucky offensive lineman married Lauryn Willis in January and says life has been “pretty good” on and off the field going into Saturday’s season opening game with Southern Mississippi

“Just having that support system that she’s been for me has been great and she helps out a lot of ways with me getting all the extra meals I need for the calories and the protein and things like that. I’ve enjoyed married life a lot,” the former West Jessamine High School standout said.

He said his wife understood how much time a college football player had to devote to the sport because this is their fifth football season together.

“She’s well aware of the schedule and what it means time-wise for me,” he said. “We met in my second year of school (at UK) in a stats class.”

Maybe a college statistics class would not seem like the ideal romantic setting to meet his future wife but it worked for Cox and the marriage date was impacted in a way by football.

“When we had the decision of whether we’re going to declare for the draft after last season or come back, we thought it would be easier in either scenario to go ahead and be married,” Cox said. “That way if we did end up declaring for draft wherever we ended up getting drafted we could have just picked up and moved everything and focused on that and not have to worry about planning a wedding.

“So that was always kind of planned and it’s made the sixth year a lot easier for me and having that out of the way we’re able to focus on the season and getting ready for the NFL.”

He has played in 44 career games and made 35 straight starting assignments going into Saturday’s game. He has started games at both center and guard but is going into this season again as UK’s No. 1 center.

His parents, John and Katherine Cox, have been long-time UK football season ticket holders and Big Blue fans. Cox knows they were probably as happy as the UK coaches when he opted to stay with the Wildcats for a sixth season to anchor the offensive line again.

“My parents were excited. They’ve loved coming to the game since we were little kids and this is another year of them getting to watch me play,” Cox said. “The coaches obviously we’re excited for me to come back as a leader on the team. I really saw the excitement that got going with the playmakers that we have and I just wanted to be another piece to contribute and win games.”

Has being married changed his perspective on football or even his daily life?

“It definitely makes me feel older. I’m going on 24 and married and some of these kids I mean, I started playing college football before these kids could even drive so it makes me feel older. But it’s been good. I’ve been really excited with it,” Cox, who graduated in May of 2022 and is now working on his graduate degree, said.

Cox is one of three UK football representatives on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the fourth straight year. He has also been on the SEC Leadership Council for two years and was chair of that group last year.

“My teammates respect what I have to say. They know that I’m not going to steer them the wrong way,” Cox said. “They know that everything that I say I’m saying to them respectfully and for their greater good and for the greater good of the team. I feel like it’s a great feeling to have knowing that every one of my teammates respects me and wants to know what I have to say.”

Cox was part of the Big Blue Wall that former UK offensive line coach constructed before his passing and knows the last two years have not been up to the same standard. He believes that will change this year.

“We have a bunch of guys that want to play together. I feel like they’re a brotherhood and we can trust each other and that means a lot,” Cox said.