Therapy helped Arizona cornerback Jay'Vion Cole 'become the best version of myself'

FRISCO, Texas — Therapy was never in Jay'Vion Cole's vocabulary for most of his life. Like many, he dealt with life struggles internally.

Cole buried his feelings — good and bad — and didn't talk about them.  

After transitioning from Texas to Arizona last season, the UA cornerback started to speak to a therapist at C.A.T.S. Clinical and Sport Psychology, and his perception of mental health changed. 

"I wasn't really a people's person or super talkative," Cole said at Big 12 Media Days. "But now I go to therapy every Thursday. It's not even for negative stuff, it's there for someone to talk to. It has helped me grow mentally, especially coming here.

"I was so against (therapy). I've talked about it with so many people. I was against it. Talking to someone and getting intimate, I guess, with them was something I was against. My therapist, I love her dearly. I can talk to her about anything. It helps me become a better player and get stuff off my chest. Holding all of that in makes everything bad, so it was good to get stuff off my chest."

Oakland, California, is the city Cole calls home. He was a star alongside former Arizona cornerback and Seattle Seahawks rookie Michael Dansby at McClymonds High School. 

Cole started his college football journey at Cal Poly in 2022, then joined head coach Brent Brennan and cornerbacks coach Chip Viney, who are both at Arizona, at San Jose State the following season. Cole had 68 career tackles, 14 pass deflections, five interceptions and a touchdown at SJSU. After Brennan left for Arizona in 2024, Cole transferred to Texas. 

Cal Poly and San Jose State were "stepping stones" to the Power 4 stage, Cole said. Cole was seldomly used in the defensive secondary at Texas, playing a total of 31 defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. Cole had fewer special teams snaps (9) during his lone season at Texas. 

"That stop at Texas was a learning experience," Cole said. "It was good and it mentally helped me become a better player. It paid off here at Arizona. My journey has been electric."

Going from a key contributor at San Jose State to barely playing at Texas, "for some people it would be mentally draining, but it helped me," Cole said.

Lessons were learned in Austin, but barely playing still bothered Cole. As a result, he used the resources offered by the UA athletics department.  

"I brought so much negative energy from Texas here — and it wasn't anything negative from the team, but (not playing) definitely took a toll on me for a while," Cole said. "Going to therapy, opening up, becoming openminded, it helped me grow."

Since the second week of the 2025 season, Cole has seen a therapist weekly to talk about "whatever is going on in my mind at the time," he said.

Cole meets with his therapist on Thursdays, because "going into the back end of the week, I can have stuff off my mind and be ready to play, be the best version of myself," he said.  

Therapy isn't just about the down moments. Sometimes there are celebratory moments in Cole's life. 

"I have to talk about the good things," Cole said. "I can't dwell on the negative things. Whenever I'm going through something, I can talk to her about anything." 

Just days after Cole started seeing a therapist, he had a pick-six in Arizona's 48-3 win over Weber State in the second week of the season. Cole finished the 2025 season with four interceptions, which was the second-most in the Big 12. Cole had the second-best PFF grade (86.3) behind former Arizona star defensive back Treydan Stukes last season. 

"My success came from the team," Cole said. "It started with the front getting after the quarterback and forcing them to overthrow or make errant passes." 

However, Cole said "it's no coincidence at all" that therapy led to success on the field.

"Once I started going to therapy and talking, it helped me become a better individual, better teammate, better person," he added. "Then it went on to me becoming a better player and the best version of myself come Saturdays. 

"Contributing and giving my all to the team helped me in return. The coaches trust me and put me out there. We went up against any team on any given Saturday, so trusting me helped me out this past season." 

Supporting student-athletes' mental health journeys is something Brennan doesn't take lightly. The Arizona coach said, "student-athletes have never been under more scrutiny than they are today."

"No one has ever had more access to the players than they do today," Brennan said. "They can get to them through Instagram, Twitter, whatever. That part of it is so different. Anything that can help them navigate through that time — because that's not normal, when 50,000 people are telling you that you're not good at what you're doing. I'm 100% supportive of any mental help or training that can help our players navigate that time in their life." 

Cole will be one of Arizona's leaders at cornerback this season, along with transfers Tyrese Boss (Wyoming) and Dwight Bootle (Charlotte), who are "young in age, but have played a lot of college football. It'll be exciting to see them on the football field this year."

At safety and nickel back, Cole noted transfers Daylen Austin (Oregon), Cam Chapa (Northern Colorado) and Malcolm Hartzog (Nebraska) and returner Gavin Hunter as defensive backs looking to lead the UA secondary this season. Austin and Chapa were limited in the spring due to injury, but are set to compete in training camp, which starts on Aug. 5.  

"Just to see us all play together when camp starts back up, it'll be very exciting," Cole said. 

Cole "has a great voice within our team and they all really respect him," Brennan said. "He's going to be that guy in the secondary. We need him."  

Even though Cole will embrace more of a leadership role — especially after losing Stukes, Dalton Johnson and Genesis Smith, three players who combined to play 6,700 snaps at Arizona — which is different than what he's used to in Tucson, the one part of his life that won't change: therapy every Thursday afternoon.

"Therapy is useful for anybody in college — not even college sports, but sports in general," Cole said. "We worry so much about our sport and we don't really talk about things other than that sport. Being able to get that relief, it's amazing." 

Added Cole: "Someone who is reluctant to go to therapy, I would just try. You might not like it or be willing to do it consistently.

"For me, it helped me become the best version of myself." 

Extra points

– Cole, on Dansby getting drafted by the Seahawks in the seventh round of the NFL Draft: "I don't think people understand how amazing that is to me, personally. Knowing that I played with him since the sixth or the seventh grade and being teammates with him from Pop Warner, to high school, to college, then to see him get drafted to my favorite team is crazy. When his name got called, I almost dropped a tear. I wish him the best this upcoming season and I just want to see him ball." 

– Single-game tickets for Arizona's season opener against Northern Arizona on Sept. 5 at Casino Del Sol Stadium officially went on sale Monday.