28 Facts About Dean Cox

Dean Michael Cox was born on 1 August 1981 and is a retired Australian rules footballer and the current senior coach of the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League.

Dean Cox was recruited to West Coast with the 28th pick in the 2000 Rookie Draft and went on to win the Simpson medal as the best player in the 2000 WAFL grand final before being upgraded to the senior West Coast list.

Dean Cox made his AFL debut during the 2001 season, and played in West Coast's 2006 premiership side.

Dean Cox won West Coast's best and fairest award in 2008, and finished in the top three on four other occasions.

Dean Cox retired at the end of the 2014 season, finishing his career with 290 games, a club record, and 169 goals.

Dean Cox was a naturally gifted sportsman who excelled at sports whilst growing up in Dampier, Western Australia.

Dean Cox played colts for East Perth in 1999 and at the end of the season was invited to train with the West Coast Eagles in their pre-season.

Dean Cox impressed enough for him to be rookie-listed, however he struggled in pre-season training and was criticised for being slightly uncoordinated.

Dean Cox began the season fifth in the order of an impressive list of ruckmen, but by season's end he had impressed so much he earned a place as the first ruckman in their grand final team and collected a Simpson Medal for his efforts.

Dean Cox came of age during the 2005 season, where he became a dominant player for the Eagles and is considered one of their best.

Dean Cox topped the year off with a terrific finals series, living up to his high standards.

Dean Cox got off to a superb start to the season and was one of the premier players in the competition early.

Dean Cox continued his good form and established himself as one of the league's premier ruckmen, averaging over 20 hitouts and almost 20 disposals per game through Round 8 of the 2006 Season.

Dean Cox returned to the side, and was a key figure in the Eagles thrilling 1 point win of Sydney in the 2006 AFL Grand Final, where he dominated against Sydney ruckman Stephen Doyle and Darren Jolly.

Dean Cox played 21 games in 2006, taking 141 marks and kicking 14 goals.

Dean Cox played 21 games in 2007 and all 22 in 2008 as the club missed the finals, in what was a turbulent few years.

The departure of Ben Cousins and Chris Judd and questions surrounding the clubs culture meant that Dean Cox had to step up.

Dean Cox made the All-Australian Team in both of these years, continuing to be the dominant ruckman of the competition despite playing in a struggling side.

Standout games included the Semi-Final against Collingwood in 2007 that went to extra time, where Dean Cox collected 27 disposals, 9 marks, 29 hitouts and a goal.

In Round 10 of 2008 against Collingwood, again an Eagles loss, Dean Cox gathered 30 disposals, 7 marks, 36 hitouts and kicked two goals.

Dean Cox finished his career with 6,628 hitouts, an AFL record at the time of his retirement.

Dean Cox was a very versatile ruckman, who tends to cover much ground.

Dean Cox was widely considered as the premier ruckman of the competition, as seen by his selection in six All-Australian teams.

Dean Cox joined the Sydney Swans as an assistant coach under senior John Longmire at the end of the 2017 season.

On 26 November 2024, two months after the club suffered a 60-point loss to Brisbane Lions in the Grand Final, the club announced Longmire's resignation as senior coach and that Longmire would hand the senior coach role to assistant coach Dean Cox, who becomes the 46th senior coach of the Sydney Swans.

In 2009, Dean Cox appeared alongside other AFL footballers in an AFL television advertisement titled "AFL: In a League of its Own", which featured prominent AFL players playing Australian rules football at famous sporting venues around the world, and in the middle of other sports being played, including basketball, Association football and American football.

Dean Cox is notably the first player featured in the advertisement, where he contests an opening bounce against Essendon player David Hille, with the latter winning the contest.

Dean Cox married Kerry Lavell at a ceremony at Leeuwin Estate in Margaret River in December 2011, having dated her for three years previously.