Coaches Corner: Mauger

During the past year, Kell head coach Derek Cook has had a front row seat to the Quincy Mauger show.

The star safety and recent Georgia commit had five interceptions in his junior year and made almost countless other plays beneath the Friday night lights.

The show that Cook has witnessed, however, can't be simply confined to what happens on the field for the Longhorns.

According to Cook, Mauger is the total package.

"With a lot of kids, you have a kid that has great ability and character but may struggle in the classroom, or you have a kid that struggles in another area, but Quincy has it all," said Cook. He has great grades. He has well over a 3.0 grade point average. I think it is like a 3.3 or something higher. He is a high character kid, and he is a tremendous talent. He has it all really."

Thus far in the 2013 recruiting cycle, Mauger has flown under the radar a bit, but according to Cook, it isn't because he doesn't have the ability.

"He is a good kid but he is also a great athlete. He finished fifth in the state in the hurdles, and he doesn't have the body style you normally look for in a hurdler. He isn't that tall, long legged type guy. He is a 6-foot kid, so that should speak to how nimble he is," said Cook. "He's also a great football player with great size. He is a 4.5 guy in the 40 that knows how to play the game and play his position."

While his athletic ability is certainly a strength, it is also Mauger's mental approach to the game and his leadership qualities that make him a great player in Cook's mind.

"He approaches the game the right way from a mental standpoint and works hard to prepare. He watches a lot of film and understands what we are trying to do and does a good job communicating with his coaches to make sure he knows what to do," said Cook. "He is also a great leader out there. He isn't afraid to call guys out for not doing things the right way, but he is hard on himself. He makes sure his house is clean before he starts getting on other guys, so we definitely love that about him."

Another important aspect of the Kell safety's game is his work ethic.

According to the Longhorn head coach, the UGA program and fans can expect his guy to set the pace when it comes to working to getting better.

"He has worked ever since he got here to get better. He has been here for around a year now, and he has gotten so much better just in that short time from working hard. He has put on great mass and muscle. He has taken two tenths of a second off his 40 time. He has improved a lot," said Cook. "He and (Brendan) Langley and some other guys get together just about every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and work on stuff and get that extra work in."

Rivals.com has yet to rank Mauger at this point in the process, but Cook wouldn't be surprised to see his star defender make a move for some playing time for the Bulldogs in his first fall on campus.

"It wouldn't shock me at all to see him play early. It all depends on his ability to get on campus and learn and get through the complexities of what they do defensively. With him enrolling early, I don't have any doubt that he can do that, but that will be his biggest challenge," said Cook. "I said the same thing with Brian Randolph who signed with Tennessee after playing here. We know how good he is and I'm not so sure Georgia knows how good of a player Quincy is or can be. They have seen flashes, but like with Randolph, we have seen it and what he did at Tennessee early didn't surprise us. What Quincy does won't surprise us either."

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