Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2010-11-09
Head Coach Joey Jones greeting fans during Jaguar Prowl before South Alabama took the field against Henderson State.
Lee Shirvanian and Coach Joey Jones were joined by strength and conditioning coach Justin Schwind at Baumhower’s Restaurant on Airport Boulevard. Lee opened up by asking Coach Jones about his confidence in Lawson McGlon in the kicking game. Coach Jones said that he is very confident in McGlon, but he doesn’t have the leg strength. His range is about 42 yards but we do have guys who are capable of making a 50+ yard field goal. However McGlon is the most accurate of the kickers.
Then Lee transitioned and asked about the fumble in the endzone by Henderson State, coach Jones said that we recovered the ball but it was a missed call on the field. The video they shot showed that USA recovered the fumble. The reason it wasn’t a safety was because the Henderson State player never had control of the ball, if he had and then fumbled and recovered it in the end-zone, it would have been a safety.
Coach does not think the players took him serious about how good Henderson state was. He thinks it may have been a case where he has been saying that all season and this time they didn’t quite take him serious.
Coach Schwind joined the program and Coach Jones introduced him and told some of his background about how he has payed his dues and worked hard to get where he is now. He would drive across the nation to go to something that might make him a better strength and conditioning coach even when he was barely making ends meet. He worked with him at Birmingham Southern and brought him down here to continue working together.
Coach Jones stressed how, as a head coach, he must have someone that he can trust and someone who knows what they are doing because the coaches can only work with the kids for a certain period of time during the year, but the strength coach works with them all year round.
Coach Schwind said that during the season they lift two days a week, but in the off-season they work out five days a week. He believes as athletes, they have to keep working and moving but he does not run them into the ground. Working out five days a week does not mean they are lifting weights every day, they could be doing other workouts that do not involve lifting.
Lee asked, using the quarterbacks as an example, if he does certain things with different position players so as to keep them from being “musclebound” or something. Coach Schwind answered by saying that with the quarterbacks they do not do any overhead lifts and with bench presses they put a board on their chest to prevent them from doing the full range of motion so as not to impinge on their range of motion in the shoulder. Beyond that, they work on shoulder flexibility and shoulder strength with exercises throughout the season and off-season. Coach Schwind also mentioned that he does not devise a workout for every individual player, but he has workouts for every position.
When asked who lifted the most, Coach Schwind said that Paul Bennett was definitely the one to work out the hardest and best overall athlete. He benches around 490, squats around 650 and runs a 4.65 in the 40.
Coach Jones said that Brandon Ross is doing well after surgery. He is such a good kid, he has been texting with Coach Jones about what they should do. He can’t wait to get back and coach Jones said he cannot wait to have him back as well. But they are very fortunate to have two running backs in Ross and Houston that they can turn to in order to pound the ball.
Lee then asked if there could be a situation next year when they may put Houston and Ross in at the same time during a game. Coach Jones said yes, they could put the quarterback in the shotgun with both of them on either side of the quarterback. Then he said, no doubt about it you want to put your best players on the field. Lee said it was not usual to see teams to put both of their best running backs on the field at the same time and indicated that it would be interesting.
Lee asked Coach Jones if they were going to try to get more pressure on Arkansas-Monticello which they did not do a very good job of against Henderson State. Coach Jones answered that they are a different team from Arkansas-Monticello in that they are more balanced and are actually more of a running team than a passing team. They can also run the option, so they have to have plans to cover the option as well. Coach Jones thinks they match up better than they did against Henderson State because they have smart linebackers who make sure to get into good positions.
Lee asked about the deal with players transferring into the program and not having to sit out. Coach Jones said that any player who transfers up to next summer, they will be able to play immediately, but if they transfer after next fall, they will have to sit out a year. This is due to the program beginning the transition into Division I.
Coach Jones went over some stats from the team such as the rushing yards per game and 3rd down conversion percentage for the opponents (26%). But overall, Coach Jones says he is not really a big numbers person, but some numbers do give you an insight into your team.
Lee brought up some current news about head injuries and concussions and asked about what they can do to prevent such injuries from occurring. Coach Schwind said that there has been lots of research about this and that quite a bit of it has pointed to working out those muscles. So they work on them quite extensively such that when they take one of those big hits, they are less likely to have a concussion or serious injury.
Next week is the last episode of the Coach Joey Jones show on the radio. They will have a recap of the Arkansas-Monticello game and hopefully a recap of another undefeated season.
Just as a reminder, they will kick-off at 6pm for the game and the Jaguar Prowl will be at 3:45pm.