UGA Football: Frierson Chats With James Cook

The years keep rolling one after another. One minute James Cook is a freshman running back competing for carries amid a very talented backfield led by D’Andre Swift and Elijah Holyfield, showing flashes of explosiveness when he got the chance. The next, Cook is a senior, a veteran leader trying to help lead the Georgia football team to a special season.

A senior from Miami, Cook and Zamir White have been the leaders of the Bulldogs’ talented running back group for the past couple of seasons. That depth has kept all of their totals down but it hasn’t kept them from making plenty of big plays. White led Georgia with 779 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns last season while Cook had 303 yards on the ground, averaged 6.7 yards per carry, and scored three rushing TDs. Cook also caught 16 passes for 225 yards and two TDs.

Cook’s older brother, Dalvin, is not only the Minnesota Vikings’ top running back, he’s one of the best in the NFL. Dalvin ran for more than 1,500 yards last season and caught 44 passes. Georgia doesn’t give James Cook as many carries as the Vikings do his big brother, but the Bulldogs do try to make the most of his versatility. Heading into Saturday’s big SEC game between the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs and No. 8 Arkansas, Cook has rushed 22 times for 123 yards (a 5.6-yard average) and caught eight passes for 27 yards and a score.

During a recent Quick Chat, Cook talked about being a leader, dressing up for the Dawg Walk, watching football in his free time, and much more. Here’s some of what he had to say:

Frierson: Whether it’s on the field or off it, what are you better at now than you were a year ago?

Cook: I think I got better at locking in on academics, knowing that I’m a senior, and knowing that I can finish. I’m just kind of keying on that and wrapping things up with that. School is something that I’m much better at now than when I was a freshman or a sophomore.

Frierson: It sort of blows my mind that you’re a senior. Do you feel that way?

Cook: It kind of came up on me fast.

Frierson: When you look back on who you were as a freshman, is there something that stands out where you’re like, I can’t believe I was into that or I can’t believe I was doing that?

Cook: For me, I think back to how the older guys helped me. And now I’m trying to help out the younger guys here, telling them that it’s going to be their team one day. I’m just implanting that in their heads and bringing them along.

Frierson: Who is the funniest guy on the team?

Cook: Since Mark (Webb) left, who is the funniest guy?

Frierson: Jordan Davis’ name comes up a lot.

Cook: Yeah, Jordan’s pretty funny but I’m trying to think if there’s somebody else that’s really funny. I think I’ll give it to Jordan.

Frierson: He’s one of those guys that you know is going to be great on TV once he’s done playing. Do you think much about life after football?

Cook: After football, I just want to own a business, real estate back home.

Frierson: When it comes to home games and the Dawg Walk, how much thought do you put into what you’re going to wear? I know some of your teammates take it really seriously and love getting all dressed up.

Cook: I don’t think about it too much. I kind of just know what I’m going to wear. I’ve got a lot of shoes so I’ll wear a different pair of shoes to every Dawg Walk. I pride myself on my shoes.

Frierson: Do you look forward to that because it gives you the chance to dress up a bit?

Cook: Yeah, it’s kind of nice, and your friends get to see how you dress and carry yourself.

Frierson: When you get the chance to travel again, to go anywhere in the world, is there one place you’re dying to visit?

Cook: I want to go to Jamaica. I’ve never been.

Frierson: You’re from Miami, so do you ever think about going the other way and heading to the mountains and maybe doing a ski trip or something?

Cook: I want to do that eventually, one day go to the mountains and do the whole skiing thing.

Frierson: When you’ve got free time on a Sunday afternoon, are you watching a lot of NFL games? I’m guessing you watch when your brother’s playing but do you watch otherwise or do you like to get away from football for a while?

Cook: I kind of like watching football, so most Sundays I’ll watch it. I’ll watch all of the college games that I didn’t see. That’s after I’ve watched my brother’s game.

(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He’s also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.