Jaguars Open Fall Camp
The South Alabama football team held their first practice of fall camp in earnest on Wednesday under the leadership of first-year Jaguar head coach Major Applewhite.
Applewhite was selected to assume the position after the departure of Kane Wommack. Applewhite, who served as offensive coordinator in all three seasons under coach Wommack, was a natural fit for the position.
Coach Applewhite had previous head coaching experience at Houston where he went 15-11 during his two seasons at the helm. Between Houston and USA, he served as an analyst on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama. He also served in various coaching positions including offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Texas over the course of five seasons (2008-13) with Mack Brown. His first stint at Alabama was only one season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2007.
Coach Applewhite and his staff worked hard in the offseason to recruit and fill positions on the roster that either graduated or transferred. His hiring helped to solidify a number of players who tested the waters in the transfer portal after the announcement of Wommack’s departure. But they also brought in a number of player via the portal as well.
Applewhite, who spoke after practice, said that he was pleased with the retention the players demonstrated from spring and summer workouts.
South Alabama’s fall camp runs through August 23rd then they will go into normal game-week mode preparing for the season opener on Saturday, August 31st at Hancock Whitney Stadium when they host North Texas for a 4pm kickoff.
The Sun Belt preseason coaches poll voted South Alabama to finish 5th out of 7 in the Western Division and 8th overall. Last season the Jags finished 7-6 with the programs first bowl victory in the 68 Ventures Bowl over Eastern Michigan. While the season was a small letdown from the 10-3 record in 2022, it was highlighted by a 33-7 win over Oklahoma State in Stillwater, OK.
The Jaguars and coach Applewhite intend to show that, despite the change in leadership, there’s no change in competitiveness.
Their 2024 schedule is ranked the 3rd toughest in the conference behind Old Dominion and Georgia Southern. They open their conference slate in Game 4 with a trip to preseason conference favorite App State. In Game 5 they wrap up their out of conference schedule with a trip to Baton Rouge to face LSU. They also have trips to upstarts Arkansas State and Louisiana while hosting Troy and Texas State.
They also want to show that the preseason coaches poll wrong and add to their postseason trophy case while they’re at it.