Before Rich Brooks turned the Kentucky football program around, playmakers like Randall Cobb didn’t come to Kentucky. They went to the Tennessees, the Alabamas, the Georgias and the Floridas of the Southeastern Conference world.Cobb, a bit surprisingly, chose UK over Tennessee two years ago, in part, because of Brooks’ vision for the UK program. Now that Brooks is on his way out, the Alcoa, Tenn., native has mixed feelings.”It’s a little bit of mixed emotions because I’ve learned so much from coach Brooks and he’s a great coach and a great man,” Cobb said Monday. “He’s one of the reasons I’m here and as developed as I am now. But I guess it’s time for a change, too. With Joker taking over I think there will be a lot of changes with our staff and with the way we approach things.”When Cobb was recruited of Alcoa High School, he was informed by the coaching staff that Brooks might not be the coach for Cobb’s entire collegiate career. Although he was fairly certain Monday’s announcement was imminent after the team meeting they had after the Music City Bowl, one in which Brooks told the team he was “80 percent” sure he was stepping down, Monday morning’s news still came as a shock to the sophomore sensation.”I was a little bit (surprised),” Cobb said. “I figured that it wouldn’t be while I was there. But it was and now I will have to cherish those memories that I have with him and continue to try to push the program forward.”Randy Sanders, who was the recruiting coordinator at the time of Cobb’s recruitment, was one of the main reasons Kentucky was able to pluck Cobb out of Tennessee’s backyard, but Brooks’ leadership played a big part as well, Cobb said.”When I was being recruited by Kentucky, I didn’t really know much about (Brooks) besides the fact that he had taken them to a few bowls in the last two years before I came,” Cobb said. “Really that was all I knew about (Brooks), but once I got to know him and got to meet him, I got to know what kind of person he is. His drive for excellence and his drive to be the best every day has really influenced me. He gave me opportunities my freshman year to go in and be the starting quarterback and he made me grow up pretty fast.”Cobb said Brooks was a like a grandfather to him, not only in terms of his maturity on the field but off of it as well.”If you could sit down and talk to him, it’s just like sitting in a family atmosphere,” Cobb said. “He’s pretty funny at times. Some of the things he says and some of the things he does sometimes is pretty funny. I’m going to miss that side of him too.”It was that connection with Brooks that ultimately made Cobb feel like he was at home in Kentucky and allowed him to blossom into one of the most dynamic players in the SEC. Brooks has long been remembered and praised for his down-to-earth honesty and relationship with the players. Despite the gap in generations, Brooks has had an uncanny ability to relate to today’s players. Cobb said he could tell that from day one, recalling one of his first visits to the Brooks house.”Whenever I first walked into his house, I was expecting it to be like real showy type, real luxurious stuff,” Cobb said. “When I walked in, it was a real old-timey, country-style house. I knew from then it felt like home to me.”And since then, Brooks has helped foster an even stronger drive for Cobb to one day become a coach.”I’ve learned a lot from him as far as being a man and being a player, but as well as my future in coaching,” Cobb said. “I’ve learned so much from him about the mentality you have to have as a coach.”Brooks told reporters Monday morning that he was just about the only one who felt comfortable with his decision to retire. Players and family members called and texted the longtime head coach during the last week, urging him to stay put. Cobb, however, was not one of those phone calls. “I tried to step back out of the way and let him make the decision for himself because I know how that was whenever I was getting recruited,” Cobb said. “A lot of people are trying to influence you to do certain things, but you have to go with your heart.”When Cobb learned of the final decision Monday morning, he called Brooks to simply “catch up.” Cobb said Brooks told him he would still be around in Lexington and that they would meet up in the near future, but Cobb said they didn’t talk about anything too serious.”I feel like I have a relationship with him where I can call him at anytime and we can talk about anything,” Cobb said. “It doesn’t have to be anything motivational or serious.”Despite the coaching change, Cobb sounded cool and confident that the program Brooks built would continue to move forward under Joker Phillips, a coach Cobb said he has all the confidence and respect in the world for.”Coach Brooks has really put that into our offensive mindsets that we were so close and we’ve brought the program to the edge and making sure that our team mentality is still pushing towards those goals,” Cobb said. “We just have to make sure we continue to move in a positive direction.”