A native of Decatur Georgia, Jim Cox was introduced to wrestling at Druid Hills High School where he wrestled for four years. After graduating high school in 1967, Cox attended the Citadel earning a degree in Math Education in 1972. Remaining in Charleston, Cox accepted his first teaching job at Bonds-Wilson High School and started a wrestling team there in 1973. Over 13 seasons in South Carolina, Cox coached at Bonds-Wilson, Belton-Honea Path, Westside, and TL Hannah High Schools. In 1978, Cox started the TL Hannah wrestling program and was assisted by the famous James "Radio" Kennedy, who was a team manager. TL Hannah hosted the 1981 South Carolina state tournament, and, using only paper and pencil, Cox and his wife Brenda ran the tournament. In 1986, Cox returned to active duty for the US Army, stepping away from wrestling for a few years before moving to Greensboro in 1991. For the next 22 seasons, Cox was the head wrestling coach at Southeast Guilford High School where his teams captured three conference titles and qualified for the state playoffs four times. In total, Cox coached for 35 seasons over 41 years amassing over 300 career wins and coaching 67 state qualifiers, 32 state place-winners, 14 regional champions, and 11 state champions. In 1977, Cox was named South Carolina Coach-of-the-Year and conference Coach-of-the-Year at Southeast Guilford in 2011, 2012, and 2013. After retiring from coaching in 2013, Cox's longtime assistant and son, Jed Cox, took over the program at Southeast. Starting in 2003, the father-son coaching duo of Jim and Jed worked together in both the corner and in the classroom. Jim, while assisting his son, was a part of Southeast's team capturing state tournament championships in 2016 and 2017 and finishing as runner-up in the 2015 dual playoffs. In addition to coaching, Cox also served as a Lieutenant Colonel for 28 years in the US Army reserves, retiring in 2000. Now in full retirement, Cox still volunteers with the Southeast wrestling team in addition to spending time with his grandsons.