Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-11-08
Head coach Joey Jones was joined by coach John Turner and host Lee Shirvanian for his radio show on Tuesday, November 8, 2011.
They have already started preparing for Cal Poly. The team is practicing three days this week (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) then the coaches will be recruiting Thursday and Friday. The players will have Thursday, Friday and Saturday off before getting back in and starting back in game week mode.
The extra three days of practice will be a huge help for the team, especially for the defense as they have to prepare to defend the triple option. It’s an offense that you don’t see often anymore. Kids don’t see it in high school any more nor do you see in the college game much either. I wrote an article about basics in defending the triple option you can read by following this link.
They are working on fundamentals and are really focusing on special teams fundamentals. This week they have really broken down the special teams fundamentally this week and Coach Jones can see results.
Lee posed a question to Coach Turner about the offensive line preparation for Cal Poly. Coach Turner said that they have seen several 4-3 base defenses this year and over the past couple years so they are ready fundamentally. So they will repeat some of the game plans that they have installed already this year as well as any other plans they think are needed for this game.
In The Orthopedic Group’s injury update segment Coach Jones said that B.J. Scott is still recovering from his knee injury and is listed as doubtful for the game. Jereme Jones, who hurt his shoulder against Henderson State, is currently listed as questionable (50/50) but is looking better each day. Gabe Loper who left the game against MVSU with a hamstring issue will probably be ready by game time. Finally Bryson James has slowed with a back injury but is doing well and has more than a 50% shot at playing but will only list him as questionable right now.
Lee asked for another update on Brandon Ross’ status. He was at practice where he had been running and is looking pretty good. However he said that he is probably 75-80% and thought if they had pushed him harder, he probably would have been ready to play in the final game but there was no need to hurry his recovery just to play in one game and risk re-injuring his knee. They are focused on getting his well and ready for next season.
Lee mentioned their depth and running back and how injuries this season had thinned out the stable. Coach Jones said that Keels playing time was necessitated because of injuries at running back.
A caller asked if Coach Jones preferred playing in a divisional format with a conference championship or would be prefer something like the Big12 has where each school plays each other and have a conference champion coming out from that. Coach JOnes answered that he preferred the divisional format with a conference championship.
He actually talked to the team recently about something like that. This is their third season without anything to really play for beyond an undefeated season. It’s hard preparing for each game without a goal to strive for.
Next season that changes somewhat as they are playing in the Sun Belt Conference but will not be eligible for the conference championship nor will they be eligible for a bowl game. But they do have a bowl like trip to end the season at Hawaii to strive for. But they will be able to directly compare themselves to other teams in the conference. He guarantees that if they win more games than anyone else, they may not be recognized by the conference, but they will be recognized by the school.
Another listener called in about kickoff times and how they relate to Alabama and Auburn with their TV games. Coach Jones they talk about kickoff times alot in the offseason. He could not care what time they kick off beyond what is best for the fans. They don’t want 11am kickoffs because they have such a great tailgating presence and they don’t to do anything to hurt that.
Next year game times will be more fluid due to conference scheduling, TV and other outside factors. Coach Jones is worried about the quick turnarounds as they are starting to play Tuesday night games on ESPN. He does not want to play a Saturday game and have to turn around and play Tuesday. Or Play on a Tuesday and turn around for a Saturday game.
An email question asked if they would be able to sign a few JuCo players and be able to back sign them to this past recruiting season. Coach Jones said that they can and they will. They want several for offensive line and secondary players.
Lee asked if the offensive line was going to be the hardest hit group from graduation. Coach Jones said that they are the only graduating players on the team pretty much. They will be losing Brian Krauskopf, Jon Griffin and Chris Brunson, all starters on the offensive line. Jon Griffin has started every game since he has been at South Alabama. Two more players they are losing are Paul Bennett and Kevin Helms, which amounts to a lot of experience and ability.
Coach Jones is very confident in the leadership and ability in the players they have recruited. They can see their leadership and they will have a chance to step up and make a difference.
Other players that are Seniors are corner backs Jeremy Roberts and Anton Graphenreed, Safety Coleman Hornaday, Placekicker Jordan Means, offensive lineman Ryan Norris and wide receivers Lamontis Gardner and Donte Rome.
Lee asked how many offensive lineman they are targeting for this recruiting class. Both coaches answered that they are looking to sign seven to eight offensive linemen this time. They will be addressing that need with some JuCo players as well as several high school signees.
Coach Jones jumped in and said that their plan, which has been very successful so far, they have been very careful about who they sign. They didn’t sign just to have numbers, they signed a calculated number of players and thus they will be able sign over 20-24 scholarship players instead of the 10 that they would have been able to sign otherwise.
An email question about balancing money games against playing other teams to help get to a bowl game. Coach Jones said that they will have to play some money games for the financial stability of the program. But they hope to have some good scheduled games like Navy. But they were very fortunate to get teams like NC State, Mississippi State and Oklahoma State to come to Mobile for games, but they lost some financially in doing that. But what they lose there, they gain with exposure and things for the area.
Lee asked if he could ever see a time when Alabama or Auburn could be on the Jags schedule. Coach Jones said that he could see a time when that could happen.
Rounding out the show, they had the Fuego Who’s Hot segment and asked who are the most improved players this season. Coach Turner said that Brian Krauskopf would be one that he would single out as the most improved this season in technique. Younger guys have gotten better as well and he named Tremain Smith, Shawn Artz and Drew Dearman out of the young guys that have really improved. Coach Jones said that Gabe Loper has really improved and come one this season. He did not begin the season as a starter but jumped in there when needed and has really improved. They started him at safety but they think he is more natural at corner back. Since moving back there he seems to have grown more comfortable there and settled in nicely.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-11-01
One of Kendall Houston's three rushing attempts versus Henderson State.
Joey Jones and Lee Shirvanian joined by strength and conditioning coach Justin Schwind for this week’s Joey Jones Radio show at Baumhower’s Restaurant on Airport Boulevard.
Lee started by mentioning that the Jags got off to a good first half, but that it looked like they just wanted to get the game over with as quickly as possible in the second half since it’s a short week. Coach Jones said that they got players out of the game to rest and give other players some time to play.
They immediately went into the Fuego hot players of the game. Lee and Coach Jones mentioned linebacker Desmond LaVelle is a great player, hard worker. The coaches love his attitude and nose for the football. He was actually named linebacker of the week by the coaching staff. Then Coach Jones mentioned offensive lineman Melvin Meggs, a redshirt freshman that really played well, probably his best game of the year. Very effective on Bakers 7 yard run for a touchdown in the game. Getting really good with the technique for an offensive lineman. They further mentioned Demetre Baker with first 100 yard game of the year even after not practicing much during the week due to a bum knee and another defensive player was Gabe Loper who is becoming a good force in the secondary with good man-to-man skills and his zone technique is getting better.
Next they went into the Orthopedic Group injury update. Coach Jones mentioned Jereme Jones hurt his shoulder in that 65 yard run against Henderson State and will not be playing against MVSU on Thursday. Jereme was the only player he mentioned.
The PAT was a fake that was preplanned that didn’t work. The blocked was wrong and caused him to get stopped, but if they had picked up the correct guy to block, then he would have walked into the end zone Coach Jones said.
Lee asked about being up 16-0 and deciding to go for the two point conversion instead of kicking the PAT to make it 17-0 and not have to “chase points.” Coach Jones said that it was to be a surprise when they may not be expecting it plus doing that tells the other teams that you are willing to fake it any time which helps with the rush. He also mentioned that they probably should have done it earlier in the year and that Coach Perry is on him all the time about faking it to keep teams honest.
Lee mentioned Keels first start, CJJ said it was mainly because of injuries. Kendall has been nursing a knee injury for a while now, but he indicated that today was the first time he looked close to 100% in the last two weeks. Also it was mentioned earlier that Baker had been nursing a knee injury as well. At one point they weren’t sure either Baker or Houston would even play in the game.
Lee mentioned that you could never have too many running backs since the Jags have a good stable of backs. Coach Jones agreed and said that Brandon Ross could possibly play in the final game of the season, but they are not going to do that but rather wait for him to come back next season instead. Jones said he’s probably 90-95% right now but they don’t want to risk it.
Caller asked Coach Jones thinks that the team is ahead of schedule? The caller remarked that, looking at other teams in the conference, he thinks the Jags could be in the “upper echelon” of the conference right now. Coach Jones said he does not know where they would be and said that they are not at their full scholarship level yet, but they will be after this recruiting class. They want to be competitive in the Sun Belt but knows it will be tough with teams like Troy and FIU with teams like Western Kentucky and Arkansas State getting better. But the biggest difference and the toughest thing will be facing good FBS teams week after week.
The next caller to the show asked about the problems Trey Clark had snapping the ball to the quarterback in the shotgun. Coach Jones said that Trey was complaining about his hands being dry from the cold air and wind. So they put a glove on him and his snaps improved. Plus with the wind and his style of snapping can cause problems because it’s not like a spiral so it can be affected by gusty winds at times.
Lee asked about the strategy at the coin toss and if the wind was the major factor in choice after winning the toss. Coach Jones said it was, they wanted the wind at their back in the first quarter and more importantly in the fourth quarter. Around 4:00 the wind is pretty strong but by 7:00 it has died down. So after looking at weather forecasts they wanted it at their back when it is at it’s strongest.
When asked by Lee about concern about not being able to run the ball consistently inside the five yard line Coach Jones said he was very concerned. It has kind of snuck up on them, it was something they were very good at early in the year but now it has been clamped down on. The coaches have looked at it and changed some things. He also said that they should have picked up on that a week or more ago. They have some changes they are making that they think will get them back in gear again.
Lee and Coach Jones introduced Coach Schwind by saying that he has been with Coach Jones for about five years. He is very good at his job, is a great person and is a great motivator for the players.
Coach Schwind answered the question about how he motivates the players to work out and get stronger is by showing them the purpose of why they do it. How it translates into better performance in the game on the field. When asked who was the hardest worker in the weight room, Justin immediately said Paul Bennett.
Lee said that the jags are a very physical team and asked Justin if they meet his expectations for a physical team. Coach Schwind’s answer was yes, they are a very physical team and coaches from other teams tell them that the Jags are the most physical team they have played.
Talking about the Kent State game, Lee mentioned how the Jags were being pushed around by their defense and how physical they were with us. Coach Jones agreed and said that their defense was the most physical team they have played so far. He gave them credit for their play.
Lee also asked about the difference between workouts during the season and during the off season. Coach Schwind said that the off season is about getting bigger and stronger. In-season, the idea is recovery. Your emphasis is recovery and to maintain what they have.
A follow-up question by Lee was asking if there was such a thing as too much weight training. Justin answered with a “yes and no”. If you are doing the same thing every day then that is not good. You are going to hit a wall and over train an area while under training other areas. You have to plan the regimen to meet the needs of the kids and how they recover so you do not cause injury.
Later Lee asked about changes to their workouts as they go into an FBS schedule next season. Coach Schwind said that he has already talked to Coach Jones about this and that they have mainly discussed emphasizing discipline. Justin’s job in the off season is to focus on this in every thing they do. Strive for perfection and hope that continues into the season and onto the field.
Another follow-up question from Lee was about the possibility of strength and conditioning helping to prevent injury. Coach Schwind said that there is no doubt about it, it helps to avoid injury. If you are in a perfect anatomical position of the body to do something, your susceptibility to injury is greatly reduced. They train for a complete balance of the body, if you do not have a sound weight training regimen then you are opening yourself up to possible injury.
Coach Jones also chimed in to help explain. He said that if you only did benchpress without any Lat pulls to strengthen your back, you will have shoulder injury. He said Herchel Walker always talked about pushups, but he had shoulder injuries, possibly because he wasn’t balanced that way.
Turning towards Mississippi Valley State, Coach Jones said that they are very athletic. Defensively they very dynamic, they have a very big number of different blitz’s that they can run. They have lots of different coverages and different types of fronts they can use. Which is a lot to go through in a short week.
Offensively, they have quarterback who can throw and who can run some. They try to get him to the edge a good bit so they have to keep him contained and to watch down field for the big pass.
Talking about last Saturday’s game some more, Coach Jones liked the blue uniforms and said that they would wear them again. But he wanted to get some input from the fans about them. He said the players and President Moulton both liked them.
Free tickets to the game for high school kids with $5 companion tickets for the parents. These are end zone tickets.
A caller asked about designing plays. When the Jags play a team do they try to use plays that they see and like and put it into their offensive system. Coach Jones said not really, they don’t want to be what he called a “Monday football” team. Where they play a game and add plays that they see on Monday morning. First off, different teams have different personnel which factors into a play being fit for one team and not another.
Coach Jones used an example of a team using a speed sweep against the Jags. He said that, with T.J. Glover out, they are not a speed sweep team because they lack that speed to get out to the edge quick enough to make it work.
The previous question lead to Lee’s next question to Justin about developing speed in the weight room. Justin said that it can be done by technique. They can work on how to run and how to run fluidly. He said that fundamentally there are two ways to run faster; by improving frequency and by increasing stride. Improving frequency is about getting their legs and feet to get up and down faster to take more steps. Stride length is how many yards they cover in each step. Lots of times, when players get to college, they find out no one has emphasized to them these things.
The next caller asked about recruiting Junior College players to help the team as they begin their transition to FBS with a much tougher schedule next season. Coach Jones said they are probably looking at four to five JuCo players to add to the team. Mainly in the secondary the offensive line. They also want to find a rush type defensive end to rush off the edge and get after the quarterback.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-10-25
Teams huddle as they go to overtime in the Georgia Dome
Coach Joey Jones and Lee Shirvanian were joined by tight ends coach Bryant Vincent at Baumhower’s Restaurant on Airport Boulevard in Mobile Alabama.
They began by recapping some of the Georgia State game. Lee mentioned B.J. Scott’s big return to open the game. But the Jags were stopped inside the five yard line and couldn’t put it in the end zone. Answering Lee’s question concerning the impact that caused when they couldn’t score, Coach Jones said that it did have a affect on the game. Blocking was problematic on that series and the Jaguars have been pretty good in the red zone this season, but that stand gave the Panthers confidence that they could stop the Jags.
Lee asked if there is an advantage in scoring first in a game. Coach Jones answered by saying that he does not believe that it’s that much of an advantage. As a team you have to be able to withstand that. It’s nice to score first, but he thinks opening the second half with a score is bigger than opening a game with a score, especially if it’s a close game.
In the Fuego’s ‘Who’s Hot’ segment, Coach Jones called out Paul Bennett and Kevin Helms for their outstanding work both blocking and catching. Defensively he name Romelle Jones as one that is playing well.
For the Orthopedic Group’s injury report, Coach Jones mentioned B.J. Scott injured his knee by hitting it on the turf late in the game last Saturday. They are doing MRI’s and watching it. Right now it doesn’t look promising for him to play against Henderson State. Scott added some charge to the kickoff game with about 180 return yards for the game. Lee mentioned that the asked if they might get him involved in the offense.
Lee then turned to Coach Vincent and mentioned that the Jags routinely use multiple tight ends and that if you are a tight end, South Alabama is a place for you. As for throwing more to the tight ends, Coach Vincent says that they are taking what the defense gives them. Bennett and Helms both can block really well but they can also catch really well too.
Lee mentioned that you rarely say that there is a good penalty, but at the end of the fourth quarter, that was a good penalty. Bennett rushed and threw and interception, but due to a dead ball foul because they were missing a guy on the field. Lee mentioned that the thought the game was over because the flag was on the Jags. But since it was a dead ball foul and the clock had been stopped on the previous lay, they got another shot and made it count.
Coach Jones, when asked about his thoughts on overtime, said that they played an overtime game in San Antonio and felt good about it. Neither team scored in the first overtime, but going into the second, Coach Jones felt good about it. They felt good but couldn’t get the ball in the end zone.
Coach Vincent was asked about how he and Coach Jones got to know one another before he was hired for the staff. Coach Vincent said that they coached against each other in Birmingham when he was at Spain Park and Jones was at Mountain Brook. Hopefully their success in the college ranks will open the door for all of the good high school coaches to move up into college. Vincent is asked how he got to coach tight ends when he didn’t even have any tight ends at Spanish Fort last year. Coach Vincent said that when Coach Rodrique left, that was the position that was open.
Lee asked an email question about the final play of the game when Bennett’s pass was intercepted to end the game in the second overtime. He asked if that was a designed play and why not just run it on 2nd down from the two. Coach Jones said he expected that question and indicated that it was a called play to throw out of play-action if someone was open or throw it away. But protection was an issue and two guys came in unblocked, they hit his arm and the ball fluttered and was intercepted unfortunately. They had open players, one guy was covering two receivers.
Another email asked if we will see Myles in the game due to C.J.’s interceptions. Coach Jones said that, looking at Bennett’s stats, he doesn’t look good. But he only threw one interception actually, the others were tipped passes or his arm being hit. But he did say that Myles has been working hard in practice and will see some playing time this week but not because Bennett is playing bad.
Lee mentioned that most of the time Myles has been in the game it was for a run and asked if they had a wildcat play with one of their fast receivers like Jereme Jones or someone else. Coach Jones said that they probably should have one of those plays, but that they don’t have anything in their package yet. It’s something they would like to try though. He said that either Jones or Ameriol Finley would be ones that could do that.
Continuing talking about Finley, Lee asked about his transition from quarterback to defensive back and how it was going. Coach Vincent said that he hasn’t played on defense in two years, but he is doing well transitioning. He has plenty to learn but is progressing well. He is making contributions right now in special teams.
Coach Vincent continued talking about tight ends and throwing to them more lately. He said that Paul Bennett and Kevin Helms are primarily blockers, but that Coach Gregory is doing a good job of using what they do and getting those guys out in the flat to throw to. Helms is doing very well catching the ball and gaining yards.
Lee then asked about what the coaches do during halftime, how they meet with the players. Coach Jones answered that they split the offense to one side and defense to the other side in the locker room. Coaches meet and decide what they are going to do, then they meet with the whole offense and defense as a unit before breaking down into individual groups.
Coach Jones later said that he is worried that the team may be tending to play to the level of their opponents. They are playing their hearts out, but that they may be playing emotionally to the level of the team they are playing. That’s something they have to be aware of. As a coach, they have to know when to get the players up for a game and when they need calming down too.
A caller asked for Coach Jones to talk about recruiting, particularly in the Mobile and Baldwin County area. Coach Jones said that they have good relationships with coaches in the area. They start in Mobile and work their way out looking for players. It’s great for South Alabama to have so many good players right here in the Mobile area.
Lee asked about the two big touchdown passes from Hill to Wilson for Georgia State. Coach Jones said that those two big plays were huge. If either of those two plays or two tipped passes for interceptions go our way, he feels that USA would have won the game. They just have to stay away from the turnovers and stop the big plays.
One caller asked Coach Jones if he would have gone for a two point conversion or would have just kicked the extra point if they had scored a touchdown in the second overtime. Coach Jones answered by saying he would go for the extra point. He said he was confident that they would win the game. Usually teams that don’t think they can outright win may go for two to end it early if they have the chance.
Coach Jones acknowledged that the offense has been sputtering this season. He said that losing T.J. Glover and Courtney Smith will do that, they lost some big play makers. T.J. could catch a short pass and then outrun players for a big gain and Courtney made many big catches. Going five yards at a time is tough to do consistently, but if you can make some big plays it really helps and that is what they are lacking right now.
Greg Hollinger is getting more involved in the offense, he is behind due to preseason injuries. He is getting more involved each game.
Back to recruiting, Coach Vincent said that it helps recruiting by previously being a high school coach. Coach Jones agreed and added that being a head coach in the high school ranks, you know how you want to be treated, so as a recruiter they have built relationships with coach and not just strolled in and asked who their best players were.
Finally they look ahead to Henderson State. Lee indicated that their quarterback is out or will be questionable for the game. Coach Jones said they have to prepare for both, but they are very similar so unlike GSU they will not have to prepare for quarterbacks with totally different styles.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-10-18
The Jaguar Defense lines up against UT-Martin.
Along with Lee Shirvanian and Coach Joey Jones are joined by secondary coach Duwan Walker at Baumhower’s Restaurant on Airport Boulevard in Mobile Alabama.
Coach Jones, talking about Coach Walker, mentioned that Coach Walker has had to deal with quite a bit of turnover in the secondary in the two and a half years he has been at South Alabama. But has done a great job with it and is well liked and respected on the team.
Coach Walker mentioned that the defense did a good job keeping to their game plan. They kept the offense off balance early, did not allow many “home run balls” execept for one big play early. They also mentioned that Gabe Loper is coming along at an good rate in place of Damond Smith. Coach Walker said they had a really good problem in that they were trying to get him on the field, but it’s unfortunate that the Smith situation happened to get him on the field though. This is the classic case for the backup where you always have to be ready to play.
In the Fuego who’s hot segment coach Jones mentioned Gabe Loper defensively for stepped up in a situation where they weren’t sure how he would react, but thought he would play well, and he exceeded their expectation and had a great game. Offensively Paul Bennett and Kevin Helms were mentioned. Coach Jones said that their blocking has been outstanding lately. They are very physical like the rest of the team, but these two are on an extra level.
The Orthopedic Group injury update segment only had one questionable player. Melvin Meggs has a rolled ankle and will be evaluated the rest of the week to see how he is leading up to game time.
They mentioned that Jereme Jones is a fearless punt returner and it’s not from the coaches, he has the choice to fair catch they said. Coach Jones said that the rule of thumb on a punt is to put your heels on the 10 yard line and if you have to backpedal, let it go. Also, if there is any doubt let it go.
FIU and Arkansas State play tonight on tv. May not be much interest right now, but Coach Jones said that he watches whenever he has a chance to see how the Jags match up with future opponents.
A caller asked about Ameriol Finley and how he is coming along. They said he is a true freshmen with a great attitude and that he is a great athlete. He can play multiple positions and has played cornerback in a game recently for the Jags. Right now he is getting work at multiple positions and is a bit of a utility player for them right now.
BJ Scott brings alot to the table for the Jags. Mentally, he brings a sense of urgency to the team. He teaches kids how to prepare and how to watch film. The are little things that make such a big difference at this level.
Coach Jones said he has noticed that Scott has become a vocal leader on the team recently which has made a difference. Lee asked if they have considered using him on offense like he was used at Vigor. Coach Jones said he has thought about it often but jokingly he said the defensive coaches frown when he brings that up.
Turning towards Georgia State, they said that they are averaging around 16,000 for their home games, but the Georgia Dome seats somewhere over 70,000. The team isn’t doing so well are are currently 1-5 so far. Lee asked what Coach Jones sees in game film that is going on with their team. Coach Jones said that looking at the tape you can’t really tell what’s going on, they have some really good players and some really good coaches. Sometimes there are internal problems that can cause strife, but Coach Jones does not know if this is what is going on or not. He said that they are like a wounded dog, you never know when they are going to jump up and bite you, so you have to be prepared and not dismiss them because of their 1-5 record.
Lee asked if we recruit against Georgia State. Coach Jones said that we do, we recruit against them and we recruit pretty much the entire state of Georgia. Lots of recruits or potential recruits will be at the game to see who wins. It will be a measuring stick game for sure since both programs are pretty close in age. The state of Georgia has plenty of good players.
After a story by Coach Jones about the worst weather game he has ever played or coached in, Lee asked about conserving timeouts and his strategy with them. Coach Jones said that ideally you want to save them towards the end of a half, but he said that you just don’t want to “lose anything on a drive” which I believe he was indicating momentum. If it’s 3rd and 1 and you have an issue, you don’t want to make it 3rd and 6 if you have too many people or something, so in that case you may want to use a time out to keep the drive going and get that first down.
Asking about communication problems that the Jags had against UT-San Antonio in a dome, Lee asked how they can overcome that. Coach Jones answered that you overcome it by staying calm and poised. You can’t hear the snap count, so you have to go on ball movement and that the calm and composure is especially needed on the offense and offensive line to look at the ball and not to move until the ball is snapped.
Other than that, potential problems for players playing in a dome is the ceiling and lights. If you are not used to it, you can lose sight of the ball. What they did for the walk through before the UTSA game was to take some time and kick some punts so the returners can see what it’s like and get comfortable with it. They also had the quarterbacks throw some high, deep passes so the receivers and defensive backs could get comfortable looking for the ball as well. Coach Jones said that J.J. Keels had an instance where he lost the ball on a wheel route against UTSA.
Lee mentioned that they have three quarterbacks that they play. Coach Walker said that one of their quarterbacks, Little, gave us problems last year because he’s throws the ball very well but has a sternum problem. They have another one that runs the ball very well and can pose problems running. The third quarterback is a bit of a mixture of the other two so he can throw pretty well and also tuck it and run.
The final question was from a caller about the number of players that they will have next year. Coach Jones said they will have 85 scholarship players and will have a total of 130 players on the team.
USA Sports Marketing’s Lloyd came on to talk about the next home game on October 29th, which is just before halloween. This will be the third year of “trunk or treat” for the kids. He urged the fan to decorate for this and bring candy for the kids. They are doing a first, second and third again this year for the best decorated tailgating spot. But the biggest announcement is that the Jags are going to wear their all blue uniforms for the first time versus Henderson State for a “blue out.”
Coach Jones commended the fans for the environment for the homecoming game. They had the second largest crowd at Ladd-Peebles Stadium for a game in the programs history. Coach Jones also mentioned that the Jaguar Prowl was great.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-10-11
Bo Bishop from Baumhower’s Restaurant, the host and sponsor of the radio show, said that they will be carrying the Jags game on the TV’s for those who can’t make it out to Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday.
After some technical difficulties, Coach Jones, Coach Antoine and Lee Shirvanian came back on the air, but unbeknown to Mr. Shirvanian we had missed all of his previous conversation with Coach Jones until the “return to air” moment.
Lee picked up with officiating in the game with UTSA. Lee mentioned the intentional grounding call when C.J. Bennett was out of the pocket, being hit and threw the ball to a place where a receiver was in the vicinity. Coach Jones said that that was a bad call and that he thought the referee admitted it afterwards.
The Fuego Mexican Restaurant, Whos Hot segement saw Coach Jones mention Demetre Baker having a break-out game with a big gain during regulation and the game-winning 25 yard run to cap it all off. Defensively Coach Jones recognized Jake Johnson again for another great game and is playing at a very high level for the team. When asked, Coach Jones said that the thought Johnson has NFL potential.
Coach Jones reported during the Orthopedic Group injury report that the Jags came out very well from San Antonio. Brian Krauskopf turned an ankle and is day-to-day right now, but is expected to be ready to play on Saturday. Tremain Smith will fill in for him if he is not ready to go. Probably the best thing was that Coach Jones feels that the young offensive line guys are coming along and that they are developing some depth there.
Coach Jones declined to say anything about Damond Smith’s suspention from the team. He did think it impacted the defense. Gabe Loper was their nickle player and mainly played safety, so a bit last minute they moved him to cornerback to fill in.
Lee asked an email question that stated that Jereme Jones seems to be the most sure-handed receiver on the team and asked why he is not more involved in the offense. Coach Jones said that their offense spreads the ball around alot and tries to get as many players involved as possible. He finished the answer by saying that they take what the defense gives them and don’t try to get any one person the ball.
Lee asked about the receiver rotation. Coach Antoine said that they want to be full speed on every route, so they are going to rotate players fairly often. They start with Lavender and Gardner on the outside with Jones and Walden as their inside guys. He also mentioned that freshman Jake Howton was very good for them and ran routes well.
When asked about how quarterbacks sometimes have go-to receivers, Coach Jones said he does not feel that Bennett has a specific go-to receiver, but does a good job of going through his progression and finding the right guy for the situation.
Another email question asked about getting some freshmen time in the game with Howton and Keels named specificly. They asked if the coaches wanted get them some experience playing or did they see a matchup that they wanted to exploit. Coach Jones said that they are slowly involving J.J. Keels by trying to fit him into certain situations. Ellis Hill fit in well and scored a touchdown. Howton was mentioned before and Hollinger is getting involved more as well.
Another email asked about the number of assistant coaches, previously the team had 10 but now they only have nine. Coach Jones said he will not be adding another coach because NCAA rules for FBS only allows 9 assistant coaches. Coach Jones indicated that they intend to redshirt the JuCo transfer Ceasare Johnson this year. They intend to move him from defensive end to an inside position and that he should be up around 300 lbs by then.
Coach Jones said he felt that the offensive line was the way to go late in the game because he could see the defense with their hands on their hips indicating that they were getting tired. He felt like they were controlling the line of scrimmage and he also felt very good going into overtime because of that. He also said that they had a secret two-point conversion play they could have fell back on that he felt would have caught them by surprise if he felt like they needed to use it.
When asked by Lee if he anticipated the fake punt, Coach Jones said yes, they warned about it in the huddle but on 4th and 1 they were still able to get the yard they needed for the first down.
Another person emailed about how the offense seems to come out and score on their opening possession but then goes a bit flat. Coach Jones said that they only had four possessions in the first half and they scored on two of them for 10 points. They could have scored on another one but an interception at the goal line ended that one. Another part of the question asked if they may be underestimating their opponents to which Coach Jones replied that they are “definitely not underestimating their opponents.”
Yet another email asked about the difference in Bennett’s touchdown to interception ratio and how this season it has almost flipped toward the opposite of last years good run. Coach Jones reiterated what he said a couple weeks ago. He said C.J. has matured and has expanded to the point where he really knows the offense, but he thinks in doing so he has opened to progressing to his third and fourth receivers but to a point tries to make a perfect throw every time to get the ball to the right person which has lead to some turnovers. He has made some great throws, but this is also part of the growing process for his position.
Another caller asked for a Brandon Ross update and if he might make it back this season or if they will try to get him a redshirt. Coach Jones said he has been out on the field some and is looking good and may be as much as 85-90% back. However, they will not play him unless they are sure he is 100% ready. They think if they really push him, that he might be back for the last couple games. But they don’t know if that is in the best interest for him. However they do know he will be back next year.
As for a redshirt, they will have to wait until after the season to petition the NCAA for a sixth year.
The last caller asked about the blocked kick versus UTSA, if that was something they work on every week or if they saw something they could exploit against them. Coach Jones said that they they work on it from time to time, but that they also put in either a punt block or a field goal block or sometimes both when preparing for an opponent.
Previewing UT-Martin coach Jones said that they will be the best team to come into Ladd-Peebles Stadium so far against the Jags. They score lots of points and are very good. They play Division I-AA (FCS) teams every week and do well. They had #9 Jacksonville State beat 23-10 but gave up the lead in the fourth quarter to lose the game. They had Tennessee Tech beat by a couple touchdowns but let them come back late to beat them as well.
Coach Antoine said that they will use lots of different coverages against the Jags. They will have man-to-man, cover 0, cover 1 and more. Some teams will settle into just a couple coverages, but it looks like UT-Martin will use several.
Coach Jones ended the show by asking for a big, loud crowd to come out to Ladd for the game. They want it to be a big advantage playing them in Mobile. So bring people out and get loud.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-09-27
Running backs and special teams coach Tommy Perry joined Lee Shirvanian and Coach Joey Jones at Baumhowers Restaurant on Airport Boulevard for the radio show. They covered the Kent State game and what they are going to do during this off week.
Lee jumps straight to the question that many people want to know after the last two game. Is this program ready week-to-week FBS competition? Coach Jones answered that he thinks the program is ready for that level of competition. Talking realistically, he said that when people looked at this years schedule and saw NC State and Kent State, they just hoping that those games would not get embarrassing.
But Coach Jones pointed out that the team played NC State close, even though the final score did not reflect that but if they had made three or four plays then the game would have been much closer. Then he said that the team came out and played “pitiful” in the first half against Kent State. He said that he takes the blame for not being as focused as they normally are for games. He said they played hard, but made some very critical mistakes and didn’t play smart. But they played good in the second half by gaining 330 yards of offense and holding Kent to around 80 yards but they had a chance to score the tying points late in the game.
But he said that they are a growing team, but that they are ready for the FBS level. They are only about 2 1/2 years into this program but they are certainly ready to play at that level.
Stepping back and taking an overall look, they played NC State very well and they played Kent State pretty well. They were in the games and could have made some plays to change the outcome of those games; could have beat Kent State and probably should have beat Kent State. While they may not be ready for Alabama or Auburn, they are surely ready for the lower level FBS teams.
Lee asked if Coach Jones could explain the difference from the first half and the second half. Coach Jones reiterated that he did not think that the team’s focus was there before the game. The looks in their eyes was not something that he had seen before, but that it wasn’t bad like they were completely unfocused but they didn’t have the concentration that they normally have. The second point he made was that this was the first time someone jumped on them. It was the first time that they made mistakes and before they knew it they were down 16-0. They had never been down like that before, they had been down 7-0 and came back against a lesser opponent, but they had not been down that much before so quickly it seemed.
Basically, the team was stunned a bit until someone made a big play in the third quarter to wake them up, loosen them up and get them going again.
Lee then turned his focus towards Coach Perry. He stated that normally the Jags have much better numbers from the running backs than what we had at Kent State. He asked him to talk a bit about that. Coach Perry credited Kent State’s front seven for being very good. He said they were very aggressive, did some movement that confused and slowed the Jags down up front.
Coach Perry went further on what Coach Jones had previously said about the team being stunned and said that the team needs to learn that they don’t need a big play to get going. That they need to keep working, ignore the scoreboard and manufacture good things out of nothing to be competitive. The Jags have talented, competitive players in the backfield but they made some critical errors in the game with lining up and who they picked up.
Perry continued talking about how tough and how physical those running backs were during the game. This is a good learning opportunity for them to look at how their work had a direct impact on the outcome of the game.
Coach Jones then jumped in and said that Kent State was the #1 rush defense in the nation the previous season for a good reason. He also said that they were, by far, the best defense that South Alabama has played thus far. The Jags had a problem running the football for a reason. Kent State has some good linebackers that are well coached. In the second half they were able to find a few things they could do and hit on all cylinders.
Lee then asked a question that many Jaguar fans had been wondering about during and after the game. Was Kendall Houston hurt? Coach Jones said that, before the game, his lower back was tight and the coaches could tell in warmups that he wasn’t the same.
Coach Perry jumped in to say that Kendall is a football player and that he took some hits the previous week at NC State that he was amazed that he was able to stay up.
Lee followed that up with a question about the running game being a staple of the Jaguar offense. He asked when do the coaches on the sidelines start to try to find something different? Coach Jones said that they worked on schemes all week in order to find a way to run the football. He admitted that they may have overdid that leading up to the game. When you go against a rush defense that good, no matter what kind of scheme you come up with, it’s going to be difficult to run the football. You just try to run, as a team, for about 120 to 130 yards and hope you can throw for over 200 yards.
A fan called in and spoke very positively of the coaches and the players. He said that many teams that go down by that much at halftime will come out and hang their heads but this team did not do that. They came out and played with heart and all of their might to try to get back into the game. He said that the fans were very proud of them and that the future is bright for the team.
Coach Jones said that they are not satisfied with losing and are not satisfied with making mistakes. They are going to keep working on those things. Yes they have accomplished some good things, but they want to get better and win.
Travis Toth joined after the first break to promote the Jags upcoming games. Particularly the homecoming game against Tennessee-Martin which will kickoff at 2:30pm and will be televised on UTV44 and ESPN3. Thursday October 13th will be a pep rally at the Bell Tower at 7pm. Starting at 6pm on Friday, they will have their homecoming parade which will be followed by moonlight madness. Moonlight Madness is South’s version of Midnight Madness where the Jags basketball teams can start practice, which will start at 7pm.
Travis also mentioned that they are getting calls for away game tickets. He said that they had to return the remainder of their allotment for the UT-San Antonio game but they still have tickets available for the game versus Georgia State in the Georgia Dome. They will be available up to October 7th before they have to return the remainder.
Lee then turned to Coach Perry again talking about kick returners and how Jereme Jones has done well, particularly in the punt returns. Coach Perry agreed that he has grown up quite a bit and is fitting in nicely. Lee also mentioned a couple of occasions where, if he had called for a fair catch, it would have been down between the 15 and 20 yard lines. But he returned the kick for up to around the 30 yard line. While it’s not the longest run, both coaches agreed that that is a huge difference in field position. Coach Perry ended the conversation by saying that it’s a hard position to coach because you want them to be aggressive but they have to be smart about it.
Coach Jones reporting during The Orthopedic Group injury report that they had a few small things. Corey Waldon has a sprained knee and they think he will be back soon and no later than by Monday. Corey Besteda underwent a minor surgery to remove a small “loose body” from his knee. It was reported that Besteda’s procedure went very well and should be back by the middle part of next week.
The Jags had actually scheduled to play UC-Davis this week, however they bought out their trip to Mobile. Coach Jones said he would have loved to face UC-Davis again, but the off week was needed and well timed after all.
The next question was about recruiting and priorities of their staff recruiting. Coach Jones said they are graduating several players off of the offensive line, so they will be looking to bring in guys up there. They also want to continue to develop depth in the secondary.
Another caller talked about how well the Jags did against a very good defense. Coach Jones agreed and said he was pleased because there was a defensive linemen that they blocked well that made Alabama look silly at times.
Lee read an email asking about what the quarterbacks coach is doing to improve C.J. Bennett and the other Jaguar quarterbacks performance. Coach Jones said that the biggest thing for them is to have their quarterbacks get their progression down and stick with it. They don’t want them to continually anticipate things. Coach Jones said that is the biggest thing for C.J. and that it’s not anything technical throwing the ball.
Lee asked to look back at the first half of the Kent State game and tell us if he got his progressions right. Lee also mentioned that we have to keep it in prospective because C.J. has only started seven games and he is only a redshirt freshman.
Coach Jones reiterated what he and Coach Gregory have said several times; C.J. is a great quarterback. The problem, he thinks, is that C.J. has learned the offense so well that he knows the coverages and where to go with the ball but that he thinks he can make every throw. It’s that he is too aggressive. But he does have an uncanny ability to go to the right guy. But in certain situations it’s the best thing to throw the ball away.
Coach Jones continued by saying that C.J. is a good quarterback and he is going to be a great quarterback. He has already made several big plays for the team and he will make more. Basically, they want a good game manager but they don’t want the quarterback to be scared.
Lee mentioned to Coach Jones a quote that was published from him that said, “losses will make us better.” Lee asked wouldn’t it be better if wins make us better? Coach Jones clarified that it’s not the losses that make you better but the reaction to the losses that make you better. Complacency in human nature is a tough thing to fight. All they have had is good things, they had a 19 game winning streak and all kinds of good things happening to the program. How they react to these two losses will determine what type of team they are and will make them better.
Coach Jones said that the players will have three days off at the end of this week while coaches are on the road recruiting. They will come back in on Sunday and begin their game week preparation for their trip to San Antonio.
Lee asked if they saw that the team was more banged up coming off of back to back FBS games than they did playing teams like West Alabama. Coach Jones, at first, indicated no but upon reconsideration he said yes but only a little bit. Because the FBS teams are bigger, they probably did have more bangs and bruises, but they fared very well through those two game.
Next season it’s going to be very tough he said, with back to back games against Mississippi State and NC State as well as games against Troy and Middle Tennessee.
At the end of the show, Lee asked coach Perry how his wife was doing. It was last year that they announced that she was diagnosed with cancer. But she has recovered well and is a big inspiration for Coach Perry and many others as well.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-09-20
Head Coach Joey Jones oversees the Jaguars pre-game warm-ups at N.C. State.
Coach Joey Jones and Lee Shirvanian were joined by defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Coach Brian Turner at Baumhower’s Restaurant on Airport Boulevard in Mobile.
They immediately started reflecting on the NC State game with an overview of how the team played. Coach Jones said that he thought the team played an very, very good game. He pointed to some basic tenets that coaches look to in order to get their team into a position to win the game. Things such as stopping the run, be able to run the ball yourself and possess the ball more than your opponent, all of which the Jags did in the game. However another area that you need to do well in is turnovers. While the Jags did recover a few turnovers, they also turned the ball over a few times themselves.
But he pointed out Kendall Houston’s performance on the ground as he rushed 18 times for 117 yards against the NC State defense. His was a large majority of the teams 139 yards rushing (minus sack yardage). Defensively the Jags were worried about stopping the NC State run because they were so big, however they were able to stop their running game. They knew their quarterback was good and he had a great night going 17-of-20 for 297 yards, but the two deep post routes were what really hurt the team.
Overall, Coach Jones said that the Jags were very physically tough and played extremely well. They got after them on every play and were not intimidated nor did they back down. He said that lots of great things happened, but that it was one of those games that you have three or four plays in the game you have to make but the Jags didn’t make them. Coach Jones said he has been on both sides of the field in these types of games and they just didn’t get those plays to go their way.
Lee said he had picked out three plays that were key. First was the on-sides kick fumble. Second was the open receiver around the 30 yard line but the ball wasn’t thrown well to him which would have easily been a touchdown. The third play was when Jake Johnson forced the fumbled at the 5 yard line when the Wolfpack was driving which Graphenreed recovered but fumbled back to them. Lee said you could also point to the play deep in the Wolfpack territory when Bennett lobbed a pass to an open Kevin Helms but was picked off at the 5 yard line.
Coach Jones pointed out another one where the Jags scored but the play was called back on a procedure penalty which he also pointed out was not there on film. Coach Jones was quick to follow that up by saying things like that happen and that the bottom line is you have to make plays. He ended that by saying that the core of the game, he thought the team played very well and put themselves in a position to win the game.
They had themselves in a position to win the game if they made some or all of those key plays against a team that beat Florida State the previous year. And this was only the 20th game in the schools history. Coach Jones said he does not like losing but he still considers the game a success for the program. None of them enjoy losing so he talked to the team that they can continue to look back at this game and play the what-if game or they can turn around and concentrate on making themselves better this week. They can correct those things that they did wrong and get ready to play the next game and then they can say that they beat someone.
He’s proud of where the team is but they have to do better.
The first caller said that South Alabama’s “ones” seemed to matched up well with the NC State “ones”, but he asked Coach Jones how different the Jags “two’s” were from the NC State “two’s”. Coach Jones said that there were probably some difference there, but he said he didn’t notice it much. He continued by saying that the Jags are fairly deep at some positions like defensive line, linebackers, receivers and running backs. But they lost Ken Barefield which hurt their secondary depth some. But Coach Jones did not think that personnel was as much of a factor in the game as missed opportunities were in the game.
Lee then turned to Coach Brian Turner and asked him how he felt the Jaguar defensive line did against NC State. He started off saying that it’s never as good as it seems and it’s never as bad as it seems either. He thought that they played well up front and did not get pushed off of the ball as much as they feared they would earlier in the week due to their size. The defensive line did a great job holding their gaps and doing their job.
Lee asked if the Jags had a good pass rush on Glennon even though he completed 17-of-20 passes. Coach Turner said that their gameplan was to blitz them alot but play coverage, however when you do that you tend to only rush three or four guys and when the opponent has five or six guys protecting the quarterback, your rushers are getting double-teamed often. They didn’t get alot of pressure on Glennon, but they did get to him. Romelle Jones came away with two of the Jags four sacks on Glennon. He also said that they should have gotten to him more often.
Lee then introduced the Fuego “Who’s hot” segment. Offensively, Coach Jones said that Kendall Houston was the hot guy for them this week but he also pointed out the offensive line for their work blocking against NC State. Defensively he pointed out Romelle Jones for having probably his best game of his career, he is quick and is also learning the game very well. Also Coach Jones pointed out B.J. Scott and Charles Harris for playing a very good game defensively at the safety positions.
Lee then introduced the Orthopedic Group’s Injury Update. Coach Jones said that the Jags came out of this with some bruises. Ken Barefield got hurt and missed the end of the game but will be able to play against Kent State this weekend. Rush Kendricks has an injured ankle and will not be able to play this weekend. He said that it looks like everyone else will be back, he mentioned Jake Johnson has a small injury with his quad but will be okay.
Lee asked how Johnson played in the game. Coach Jones said he played very well, like the whole defense did. He said for the “who’s Hot” segment it’s hard not to just list out all of the defensive players because of how well they played.
Lee asked Coach Turner about one of the concerns going into the game about intimidation as they went in to play against an ACC team. He asked if he caught any of the intimidation factor early on from the team. Coach Turner said that he did not see any intimidation in their eyes before the game, they were focused and ready to play the game.
They next caller to the show expressed how proud of the program the fans are for how hard they played and how composed they were. Lee asked a few email questions to both coaches. The first asked if NC State showed anything that was unexpected and if they thought the Jag players were in better shape than them. Coach Jones said that they did not show anything that was unexpected and he also said that he thought both teams were conditioned pretty well. Coach Jones didn’t notice anyone out of shape on either team. Coach Turner agreed to both statements by Coach Jones. Nothing surprising and he didn’t notice anyone out of shape either.
Lee then asked about Coach Crain and how he is doing. Coach Jones said that he is doing better, he’s been in the hospital since Friday. They finally found out that he had a staph infection and have him on antibiotics to help that. He has actually been dealing with that for the last month or so Coach Jones said.
The next email quested asked how coach Jones thought about how well Jag Nation traveled to NC State for the game. He said it was incredible. He said that after the Jags would get a big play he would sneak a look up at the Jaguar section going crazy. He said it was probably between 700 and 800 people strong in that section. After the game, the players went over to the Jag section and held up their helmets and thanked the fans for coming to the game to support them.
The next email question asked Coach Jones what the thought about the officiating and if there were any bad calls in the game by the ACC officials. Coach Jones said that there are rules where Coaches will get fined for speaking badly of officiating. Lee then chimed in saying that sometimes a no answer speaks more loudly than an actual answer which Coach Jones agreed with. He also told Lee that things happen and you have to deal with it and move on.
Lee followed up by asking if Coach Jones called the officials over anytime during the game. Coach Jones laughed and said “calling them over” is a good way to put it. Coach Jones then said that he will send in game film and call someone at the conference office to help educate the referees because, as Coach Jones said, everyone makes mistakes (except coaches with a laugh). So they send that film in so help the refs educate themselves and continue to get better.
The next email question asked if there were mismatches or communication problems in the secondary allowing for some big pass plays by NC State. On one big pass play for a touchdown, corner back Damond Smith fell down and the other one was some miscommunication in the secondary. He praised how well the secondary played the whole game, especially against #6 T.J. Graham who was really quick.
Lee followed that up by asking if there was an effort to keep the punts and kickoffs away from Graham. To which Coach Jones said yes, because NC State actually leads the nation in kickoff returns. So they tried to kick some sky kicks. The first kickoff return they got out to around the 42 yard line which was their only long kickoff return of the game.
Lee then asked who was covering T. J. Graham. Coach Turner answered that it depended on where he lined up as to who was covering him. They didn’t assign a specific person to cover him.
Another email question asked about conference realignment and if South Alabama could benefit from it. Coach Jones said that as a fan he doesn’t like it so much but for the school it could be good. While they like the Sun Belt, it could be an opportunity for something good to happen. He said it’s going to happen sometime in the future, you can see it and there will be some big shake-ups on the horizon in the next couple years.
Loyd Meyers joined the show to talk about the homecoming game against Tennessee-Martin on October 15th. On Thursday night October 13th there will be a pep rally at the Bell Tower followed by a volleyball game vs Troy. Friday night there will be a homecoming parade and luck worked out for a moonlight madness where the Jags basketball team can begin practicing for their upcoming season. The soccer team will be playing at The Cage as well.
Lee brought up that they have not talked about C.J. Bennett’s play against NC State yet during the show. Coach Jones said that if you look at the whole game, he played a very good game and made some unbelievable throws. It was great to see that out of a redshirt freshman to go into that type of environment and play that well. He is doing a great job understanding secondary coverages and going to the right place with the ball. He also mentioned that he got the team out of third down many times. Coach Jones did mention that he did have a high throw across the middle that was intercepted. He also mentioned about the throw the Kevin Helms where he floated it behind the safety but he didn’t see the backside corner. Coach Jones also mentioned that they did not show him that coverage in practice so there were some things they could have done to prepare him for that situation a little better.
Lee then turned to ask Coach Turner about their defensive line rotation during a game. Coach Turner said that they rotate defensive linemen every three plays no matter what. They want two fresh guys every play pretty much, so they are rotating their interior linemen, their inside linebackers and outside linebackers.
Lee asked about the play of Romelle Jones and if he has been playing better lately. Coach Turner said that the last two games he has been really playing well. He has been the defensive lineman of the week the last two weeks for his play against Lamar and against NC State. Lee asked to clarify if it is the same rotation all the time. Coach Turner answered that it is the same rotation all the time, they are not rotating based on match-ups but every three plays they are getting fresh guys on the field.
Lee then asked about recruiting and stated that he knows that they cannot comment about specific recruits, but asked if they are getting top notch athletes now. Coach Turner said they are definitely getting very good talent. He also said that they currently have 11 verbal commitments on their recruiting board right now. He also said that they are recruiting against schools from the Big East, Conference USA and the Sun Belt. They may be losing some, but they are also winning some battles against those schools. He praised the coaches for their hard work recruiting and staying on the best players for the South Alabama program.
Lee asked that, aside from the verbals, what positions are being recruited this year. Coach Jones said that he says this every year, but it’s true, they are recruiting offensive linemen. They are probably going to lose four seniors on the offensive line so they have quite a bit to fill. Two tight ends with Paul Bennett and Kevin Helms being seniors will need replacing. Offensively they are pretty good, they will always look out to pick up a player here or there for a backup role if they are a really good player.
Coach Jones said defensively they need a defensive end, that they kind of refer to as their outside linebacker who is very athletic to rush the quarterback. Also they need to continue to shore up the secondary. They have some good players back there, but they don’t have depth.
Lee asked about C.J. Bennett being a redshirt freshman and if that would be detrimental to trying to bring in other quarterbacks to the program the next four years. Coach Jones said that they do not want a player who does not think they cannot come in and beat out C.J.
Lee then asked about popular spots for South Alabama to recruit. Coach Turner said that when the program started, they were not recruiting the entire state of Georgia. They are now. He indicated that obviously Alabama is their home state, but they are also recruiting Florida all the way down to Miami, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Coach Turner also mentioned that Myles Gibbon is from Canada so they are willing to go anywhere to get good players to find players that fit into the program and fills their needs.
Lee then transitioned to previewing the Kent State game. Lee said that this is a little different than the schools other 2-for-1 series. We travel to Kent State, then they travel here before we visit them again. Coach Jones said that they are a very good defensive team but they have struggled on offense but they have played Alabama so it’s hard to tell how good they really are because how strong the Alabama defense is this season.
Lee flashed back to the NC State game again by asking about Scott Garber and the special teams play. Coach Jones said that the special teams play was very good. He thought the kicking game was much improved against NC State. He said Jordan went 2-of-3 hitting a 46 yard attempt and missing a 44 yarder. He also thought that Scott’s punted was very good too. They changed and went to a rugby punt style.
Following up on that, Lee asked who and why they decided to go with the rugby style punt. Coach Jones said it’s hard to return a rugby style punt because it’s a low punt but it takes time for the punter to move out and kick it that it gives the coverage team time to get down and cover the returner. So you can get 40 and 50 yard punts pretty easy without a return because of that.
Lee asked about Garber being run into during one of his punts, he said that he thought that it was an automatic 15 yard penalty and a first down. Coach Jones said that it’s a judgement call, that they have bumping the kicker and hitting the kicker with two different penalties and that it’s a judgement call. He indicated that Coach Perry read the rules once they returned back to Mobile and that is how it is written, it’s a judgement call.
Lee said that they talked last week about trick plays. Wake Forest burned NC State with a couple of them and he asked if the Jags ran any. Coach Jones said that they tried a reverse but the defense caught it for a loss. The play-action pass on 3rd and one to Kevin Helms he thought was a good call at the time. Then there was a play at the five yard line where the tight end was wide open at the corner of the end zone but Bennett didn’t see him and went down for a sack. They weren’t trick plays he said, but they were different plays to call at those times and they didn’t execute them very well.
Coach Turner previewed what the defense sees in Kent State coming up this weekend. He said that they started the season throwing the ball much more, but now they have settled in running with a 260 lb running back. He said that it was going to be a good match-up between the two teams.They have a very good defensive lineman who game Alabama some problems blocking and Alabama has some very good offensive linemen. They round out the program saying that the team definitely has a different attitude going up to Kent State and that it should be a very good and competitive game.
Additionally it was announced during the WNSP morning show and reiterated again during the radio show that South Alabama picked up another verbal commitment from Georgia. Lamar Counties Fredrick Walker is a six foot two inch, 320 pound nose tackle. He wasn’t interested in any big programs so he turned down Central Florida and South Florida. He chose South Alabama over Georgia Southern to make the 12th verbal for the Jags 2012 recruiting class.
South Alabama and Kent State kick off on Saturday October 24th at 2:30pm. The game will not be televised, however Kent State will be broadcasting the game online at KentStateSports.com for free for the first time.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-09-13
Coach Joey Jones and Lee Shirvanian were joined by director of football operations Brendt Bedsole at Baumhower’s Restaurant on Airport Boulevard.
First thing was a quick look back at the Lamar game. Coach Jones said that the Jags played pretty well. Both the offense and defense were solid but special teams needs more work. One of the major miscues in special teams play was a kickoff that went out of bounds. The talk quickly turned to Saturday’s game against NC State. Coach Jones said that they are well coached, they have a good quarterback and good receivers. Their defensive front is sound as well. He also mentioned receiver “number 6″ T.J. Graham, a 6′ 180-pound senior wide receiver for the Wolfpack, as someone who scares him.
As for preparations, Coach Jones said that they will prepare for this game just like any other game. However a deviation from their normal preparations thus far will be the addition of stadium noise to their practices. NC State will have 60,000+ fans there, they will be loud and will be a factor. So they will use speakers to play music, fight songs and general crowd noise.
The first email question asked about getting second and third string players into games. Coach Jones said this is key to helping build depth by exposing them to game situations. It also helps to let those guys get repetitions that can’t get so many at practice.
The next question was about offensive linemen.
Another email question was about the Sun Belt wins against BCS teams. FIU defeated Louisville, Troy has traditionally been a strong team, Louisiana-Lafayette has been coming along. North Texas has hired a good coach that should turn them around and a new stadium. Florida Atlantic should be turning it around as well with a new stadium. But wins speak well for the conference tring to find it’s way.
Asked about scheduling Southern Miss as a regional rival and what took them so long to do that. Coach Jones said that they make a great rival because these two schools are so close together. But they had their schedules set so far out that it was difficult to schedule with them. The date that they had open sooner was already scheduled with another team for the Jags.
Back to NC State, they said that the players will not have the opportunity for a walkthrough of the stadium until around 6pm on Friday evening. Even then the weather may be suspect. The players should not be overwhelmed in their stadium. Carter-Finley stadium seats 57,583 people but Ladd is not a dinky stadium seating nearly 40,000 itself.
Coach Jones mentioned again that NC State has a good, big quarterback who stands at 6’6” with a good arm. He does a good job of making the most of what’s around him. After a loss last weekend to Wake Forest, they will bounce back and be ready for the Jags.
Logistically speaking, South Alabama will send 68 players and 65 staff and support personnel. President Moulton, the vice president and others will all be on the flight as this is a historic event for the school.
They did take some time to joke about last years flight to UC-Davis and how old the plane was. One of the jokes was that the kids knew it was old because it still had ashtrays.
Lee asked if they have challenges now that they also have replay. Coach Jones said that they do, if the challenge does not go the Jags way then they lose a time out. They have two challenges per game. This is a bit of a test this year before getting into Sun Belt games next season.
Caller said that the Jags have gotten off to a great start with the program and asked if that was a help or a hinderance in scheduling games. Coach Jones said that, when you are talking about FCS teams it may be a hinderance. Teams that are kind of like South Alabama would probably see a hinderance, but SEC teams like LSU and such aren’t worried about them. They will pay lots of money (Coach Jones said $1 Million) to play them.
Someone emailed a question about Anton Graphenreed and that it seemed that he was getting beat by the receivers. He asked how that can be corrected for a team like NC State. Coach Jones said that some of those were because of communication problems between the safety and the corner. The corner thought he had help over the top by the safety when the safety did not properly communicate that he was not helping over the top. Things like that.
Another question was asked about rotating Kendall Houton and Demetre Baker at running back and if that might hurt them by trying to establish a flow in the game. Coach Jones said no, he thinks it’s great to give those guys a rest. It will help them over the course of a season to not take as many hits, keep fresher legs and wear down defenses. It may cause problems with a quarterback, but running back he doesn’t think so.
An email question came in asking about trick plays. Coach Jones said that everyone works on some trick plays but you don’t use them often. Coach Jones isn’t a big believer in trick plays, but you always have them ready just in case you need to swing the momentum in your favor in a close game. If you are ahead, you don’t want to waste that play. You only use it when you need it.
Lee turned to Bedsole and asked him to talk about facing a team like NC State. He said that even at FCS schools, the starting 11 could probably play at some FBS schools. But South Alabama, in his estimation, has probably 35-40 guys that could play at a school like NC State at this point in their program.
Lee asks about the mental part of the game. Could NC State look past South Alabama to their next game. Could they lose focus. Coach Jones said that it can happen. As a coach, he has seen times when it was hard to get the team up for a not so good opponent. But with NC State coming off of a loss, he does not think that will happen. South Alabama’s challenge is to not over hype the game and to make sure they peak towards the end of the week just in time for the game.
Talking about travel, the Jags will travel two weeks in a row. But they did that last year with Lamar and UC-Davis. However it would be nice to have a week between NC State and Kent State.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-09-06
Coach Jones and Lee Shirvanian was accompanied by defensive coordinator Bill Clark for the Joey Jones Radio show from Baumhower’s restaurant on Airport Boulevard.
Lee asked about perspective about the UWA game. He asked if he thought that the Jags played a good game. Coach Jones started off by saying “I don’t know,” he then continued by saying that he thought the players played hard, that they got after it physically, they were there emotionally and were ready to play. But he said that they did make some mistakes and did not play what he considers ‘South Alabama Football’. He mentioned the four turnovers in the first half and the play on special teams.
He also mentioned the field position because the offense didn’t play well and the mental mistakes and the special teams play had them, on average, starting at their own 19 yard line. He did not know where the defense averaged their starting position but he thought it would be near midfield.
He then said that if your field position is that bad you are not going to play well. But, bottom line, those things are fixable and they have to turn them around quickly. If they want to be a good football team, they have to fix them quickly.
Lee then mentioned to Coach Clark that they have less to work on than Auburn’s defense. Coach Clark was quick to deflect that by telling Lee that, to them, it’s all about the next game. As they were looking back on the game, they liked the effort but they also have things they want to work on and get better at. Coach Clark also mentioned that it he likes that they have film of their opponent for the next game. For UWA all they had was what film they had from the previous year.
Lee then went about talking how Steve Spurrier benched Steven Garcia then he came off the bench to lead the team to a come-back win. He then transitioned that into talking about Kendall Houston and Demetre Baker being suspended for the first half of the game against UWA and asked if they have been in the game, would it have been different?
Coach Jones said yes it would have been different, however you don’t know for sure that it was. Jones also said that when you walk out onto the field without two guys like them and Corey Besteda, who is another big play guy at receiver, it leaves a bit of a void that the team has to overcome.
The Jags did score on their opening drive of the game, but Coach Jones said they threw the ball alot in that drive. But then the turnovers took over. He rounded out the answer by saying in the future they want those guys out on the field and that they do not want that to happen again.
Lee introduced the ‘Who’s hot’ feature sponsored by Fuego Mexican Restaurant. On offense, Jones recognized Kendall Houston for his job coming in and playing a good game and breaking lots of tackles. Defensively he recognized Enrique Williams for his performance. Williams had 11 tackles after coming back from a shoulder injury in preseason camp.
Lee and Coach Clark began talking about the defense and the secondary. Lee asked about how B.J. Scott, Damond Smith and Charles Harris in the secondary changes the defense. Coach Clark agreed with Lee’s comment that they are good cover guys so they can leave them in coverage and get a good pass rush on the quarterback.
Jones agreed with what Lee Shirvanian said about what a good job the defense did to prevent Worsham from making any big plays. While he did lead their team with five receptions for 44 yards, his longest was 13 yards.
Lee mentioned that in previous airings of this show, Coach Jones had said that special teams had improved. So he asked Coach Jones if he had a better game at that phase of the game. Coach Jones said no, but he did say that there were some positive things and negative things. But they know what they need to work on and they will get to work to correct them.
The first email question that Lee asked was if there have been any difficulty keeping the players and staff focused with NC State and Kent State games approaching. Coach Jones said he has not thought about those games and cautioned that his players better not be thinking about those games either. He cautioned that Lamar has had this game circled since last year and want to come to Mobile and win. So his players better not be caught looking ahead because Lamar could jump up and bite them.
Coach Clark answered from the prospective of the staff that it has not been hard to stay focused on Lamar and not look ahead to the two games ahead.
The next question emailed to Lee asked if that was indeed the wishbone formation that he saw near the goal line against UWA. Jones confirmed that it was the wishbone and went on to say that they use it when they get near the end zone.
Lee stepped back after a short talk about the wishbone and the single wing offense to talk about high school football. When he moved to South Alabama in the 80’s, he said that the offenses were ‘the quarterback hands off to the running back’ type of offenses. Now you see shotgun formations, trips left and trips right. The offenses have really opened up.
Coach Clark then chimed in talking about how the high school offenses have evolved. The rise of the throwing quarterback then the advent of the running quarterback. Then you put those together. Coach Clark also mentioned that Coach Jones was one of the first to use the spread and throw the ball around alot in the high school ranks in Alabama.
The next sponsored segment was the Orthopedic Group injury update. Coach Jones said that the team came out of the game looking great on the injury front. Looking back to what they were like during the summer, they are looking really good. He said it was about two pages of injuries, down to one page, down to half a page and now it’s only about three players with injuries. He announced that Greg Hollinger will be back for the Lamar game, which is a tall receiver that has shown some good play in practice.
Coach Jones said he came in last year and tore his quad muscle then this year he hurt his shoulder at the beginning of the summer. Greg is about 6’3″ and weighs about 215-lbs. Jones said that last year he was a terror against the first team defense, which Coach Clark agreed with. They are now ready to get him on the field.
Lee asked about Melvin Meggs, who he saw leave the game. Coach Jones said he had cramps and that was all with him. He also mentioned B.J. Scott having cramps late in the game as well. Other than those, he said that they don’t have any injuries.
Lee asked about Enrique Williams and his injury last year going into this year. Coach Clark said that it wasn’t a worry that he was missing practice time. He continued by saying that he has been in the system for a while so they were comfortable with his play, but he was still out there with Coach Crain and the linebackers so he would know what was going on without physically participating.
Lee asked coach Clark as to who is their field guy who makes sure they are lined up correctly and takes control on the field. Coach Clark said that they depend on the Mike Linebacker who is either Jake Johnson or Bryson James and they also depend on their safeties Scott and Charles Harris.
Lee circled back to Hollinger and asked how much playing time he would see. Coach Jones said that they rotate in receivers quite a bit and feel they are interchangeable. They are two deep so he would expect Hollinger to see action for about half the game because they feel he is that good of a receiver.
Lee made light that Lamar will be the first team that we will have faced twice. He also said that the defense played very well, shutting out Lamar at home. Coach Jones agreed, he said that it was the start of a three game series with road games against Lamar and UC-Davis before returning to Mobile to face Georgia State. They really considered it the first road game too, the Dothan game wasn’t the full road game experience to them.
The WNSP staple caller Scooter called in and asked a few questions and made a couple comments. One of his questions was to Coach Jones about his preference of field, was it grass or artificial. Coach Jones said he was a traditionalist and preferred grass, but that field turf has come a very long way and makes such financial sense now for many places. Scooter followed it up with a question about burns and scuffs on the artificial turf. Jones said that they do still get burns and scuffs, but it’s not like what it used to be on the old turf.
Lee asked about the field turf and drainage since it rained heavily on Thursday. Coach Jones said that it drains very well, within 30 minutes or so it was drained and in great condition. It’s one of the major advantages of the artificial fields.
Another caller asked that, if South Alabama defeats NC State, would he name every player on the team as captain for the rest of the season like Coach Belichick. Coach Jones said that was a great idea and he might do that if they win, but he quickly turned the conversation back to Lamar.
Lee turned the conversation from TV, that one caller was calling about, to uniforms as being a big issue after the first week of play. Coach Jones let out a very audible “Oh god” when uniforms were mentioned. Lee asked if USA would ever go to something like the Georgia uniforms. Jones was quick to say “no.” However, he did mention that his wife liked the Georgia uniforms. But Coach Jones said that the Georgia uniforms were nowhere near as bad as the uniforms that Maryland wore for their game.
Coach Jones said that he has liked some of the Nike ProCombat uniforms that they have designed in the last few years, but that the Maryland uniforms were horrible. Coach Clark agreed and said that they took away from the game itself. They like to do things that the kids like, but Maryland’s were just too over the top.
Lee mentioned Tim Brando and what he said on his show about the uniforms. Brando said part of the allure of college football is the tradition of college colors so he was against it. Coach Clark said that they (South Alabama) likes to mix it up, but as long as you stay within your colors.
Another caller asked for Coach Clark to comment on Ken Barefield’s play on Saturday. Clark acknowledged that it was a very good comment. He said that Ken is a very good player and since his move to linebacker from safety, it gives them a fifth defensive back in the game in a way. They felt that they have found him a better place to play because of his agressiveness during the game. He can be their Sam or nickle linebacker. He is very mobile, as fans saw during the game when he leapt over the offensive player attempting to block him. Plus he added an interception in the red zone.
Lee asked both Coach Jones and Coach Clark as to what Lamar brings when they come to Mobile on Saturday. Coach Clark said that they had two of their starting receivers out and their starting tight end out on offense, but from last year to this year they added three transfers to their offensive line. The guard they added was the #2 guard in America two years ago and signed with USC but didn’t get in there. The right tackle came from Arkansas, is a big guy at about 6’7″ or 6’7″ and 300+ pounds who transferred to them. Their quarterback threw for over 400 yards before playing us last year. But they brought in a transfer at quarterback that signed with West Virginia and was the #5 running quarterback in the state of Texas, while also returning their quarterback from last year. He also said that they just have good players across the entire team.
Lee asked if the Jags would see much of a change in their defense from last year. Coach Jones said that they have changed personel some, but the biggest change has been the interior of their defense. They have changed from a 4-2-5 to a 4-3 defense. Last year they had lost two linemen to injury. They will have some big guys inside and he said that probably their two best players are the two guys on the inside.
Lee said that Kendall had a break-out game against Lamar by rushing for over 160 yards against them. He asked if the Jags could do that again. Coach Jones said he hopes so, but that the offense has to be balanced and they have to be mindful of the plays that they call.
Lee said he was a little hesitant to ask, but he asked both coaches what they thought of the Kent State game. Coach Jones said that the Kent State defense scared him a little because they were getting through Alabama’s offensive line at will early in the game. They did a good job of stopping the run early. But he wasn’t really watching them all that closely, they were watching the game as a game and preparing for Lamar. They will get to Kent State when it’s time.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-08-30
The first email question asked about an update on several players, so they went straight into the Orthopedic Group injury update. Greg Hollinger will not play this week. Santuan is good to go, Enrique is good and ready go. Tremain smith is good to go, surgery on pinkie, will have to wear a cast but will be good to go. Most improved player in the classroom and has Division I size. Also he is a junior with a lot of ability.
Another question said that USA seems thin at receiver, especially with T.J. Glover not being eligible. Might we see some new personnel to get involved and also trick plays, wild Jag and such. Receiver wise, Coach Jones said he feels better this year than last year. While they lost Courtney who was a big play guy, but he feels that we have a few guys who can make the big play. But Coach Jones feels that they have more guys that can play. Losing T.J. hurt from a big play standpoint, but the 2 deep at receivers can rotate in and do well.
Coach Gregory joined in to help answer the question and said that they are a very balanced, a 60/40 run to pass ratio is pretty balanced because there are certain down and distances where you just don’t throw the ball that much. If you are successful running the ball then you should be about 60/40, but if you’re not able to run well and you start getting up there around 50/50 or 40/60 then your probably not that good of a running football team.
The Jags want to be a running team, they want to wear the opposing team down, run play action passes and still be able to drop back and throw it. Coach Gregory also mentioned that he and Coach Antoine were talking the night before that they are really excited about their wide receivers. They have worked hard and as a whole group they think they have been improving dramatically right now.
Asked about size, Coach Gregory said that Corey Besteda is 6’2 1/2″, while it’s not 6’5″ like Courtney but he is a tall guy. The others range between 5’9″ and 6′ but Jereme Jones, who may be the most powerful of them all, is only about 5’7 or 5’8″.
Coach Jones says there’s not another guy like TJ on the roster, he was comfortable as a running back and a receiver. They thought they had one that could do that in Anthony Ingram, however he was injured and will miss the season.
Coach Gregory was asked via email about C.J. Bennett’s possibility of being a 5 year starter and if that was something that has ever happened in college football before. Coach Gregory said that not to his knowledge but it’s possible someone has done that before where they started a couple games then got injured and was redshirted. Coach Gregory said that was really how they got Bennett in the first place, because of the extra year of play.
Lee Shirvanian asked if Bennett was heavily recruited out of High School. Coach Gregory said he was recruited, he had verbally committed to Wyoming, then South Florida brought him in for an official visit the week before signing day but held short of offering him a scholarship which helped USA get him.
Lee then asked about a quote coach Gregory had said that Bennett was the best quarterback in the state. Coach Gregory said that we will find out this year, but he thinks he is a very good player. One thing that is unique about C.J. is that when he comes off of the field he can tell you what happened while other guys just cannot. Coach Jones then joined in talking about his quick release and how smart he is with the ball. His negatives is his height, which holds back your SEC caliber schools.
Back to talking about the game, Coach Jones stressed that West Alabama is a talented team with lots of junior college transfers, 14 of the 22 starters will be JC transfers. Last season they went 7-4 and their largest lost was by four points. He also said that they are being coached by a new coach so the Jags have to ready for everything. They could come out with on-sides kicks, trick plays or anything else.
Coach Gregory started breaking down the Tiger defense some by saying they will probably mostly play a four man front with some three man front. UWA is very high on a new free saftey they have and think he will be able to make some plays for them. They are big inside with a guy that is about 325 pounds and looks bigger than that. Also have a 6’5″ defensive end that is fast.
Coach Gregory mentioned that these guys can be very good players. They may not have been able to qualify at the Division I-A level but could get in Divison II. Lee asked if we would see both Demetre Baker and Kendall Houston in the backfield at the same time. Coach Jones acknowledged that we could see that throughout the year because they are both very good players and they don’t want them to be on the sidelines.
Coach Gregory answered Lee’s question about the two running backs and if they were similar. He said that Houston is a very voilent runner, he hits very hard and may not be super fast but runs hard and is hard to tackle. While Baker is fast, he likened him to a locomotive. He’s going to run over you but if he gets an open field he probably has close to 4.5 40 speed. When asked who else may see some action Coach Jones said that Ellis Hill will probably see some time because he has worked hard and done well in preseason camp. He is a good inside runner at about 5’9″. Santuan is a very good running back and has made some good runs and will see some time. Also J.J. Keels got mentioned as someone who is coming around.
Some very, very good news was that Coach Perry’s wife is doing very well. Last season it was announced that his wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was undergoing treatment. Now we know that she is recovering well.
Lee asked Coach Jones about the specials teams. He answered by saying that he feels much better about special teams this season. Kickers are kicking much better than last year when they were having problems kicking kickoff’s out of bounds and such. They are more consistent on kickoffs and on field goals as well.
Jereme Jones will return punts and kickoffs this season and B.J. Scott will also be back for kickoff returns and some punt returns.
When asked why he settled on Jordan Means as being the placekicker, he said that he kicked the best. He was more confident standing over the ball and make more kicks. So they felt the best with him but said that Lawson McGlon was neck-and-neck with Means so he shouldn’t relax just yet.
In the Fuego Who’s Hot segment, Coach Gregory said that normally you would think of a skill player when you think of someone who has been hot the previous week. However Coach Gregory said that he thought it was the offensive line this past week. He added that he is very excited about those guys.
Coach Jones singled out Jake Johnson as the standout guy on the defense for his leadership, he work in the preseason, during game week preparations and in the weight room as well. Lee also mentioned that there is not many more players on the roster on the defensive side of the ball who has played more games against Division I opponents. Coach Jones agreed highlighting Jake’s time at Virginia Tech and that he started the first eight games of his freshman season including a game against Alabama.
Lee asked about the defensive secondary and how it has changed this season. Coach Gregory said that it is a major difference between last season and this season. He also said that he thinks that you are looking at bonafide Division I football players in all of the positions in the secondary. They have speed, range, coverage and they are tough.
He also said that he thinks it has been great for the receivers to face that kind of pressure. Early in preseason the receivers were getting beat up at the line but they have worked hard against them to get better.
Lee asked Coach Gregory if it was difficult for the Jaguar receivers to get separation from the defensive backs. Coach Gregory said yes, but also said that it was hard for them to get off the line.
Lee mentioned that everyone wants to talk about Alabama transfer B.J. Scott. Coach Jones agreed, saying Scott originally played corner back at Alabama and got moved around before injuring his ankle. But Coach Jones said he sees him as a safety because he is a very physical guy. With his skills he fits well in the South Alabama defense because the safeties are key in their defensive scheme because they need to be able to cover the run and the pass. Which Scott is able to do.
Damond Smith was the next player mentioned by Lee as someone who intrigues him. He is a transfer from Western Michigan and was highly recruited coming out of high school. Coach Jones agreed and added that he is a great player. He even mentioned that he saw about two or three plays of his highlight reel and said that this is a great player.
Lee asked coach Gregory about the quarterbacks and if he is going to stay with one quarterback this season. He answered that they are fortunate to have two great quarterbacks, but Bennett has won the starting position but Myles Gibbon is very talented, started lots of games and has played in the system for two years now. They would not have any problem with him going into the game, but reiterated that C.J. won the job. But he did say that there may be times when you could see both in certain situations.
They then started talking about walkon freshman Trey Fetner. Coach Gregory said that Kolt Peavy committed to USA early but Fetner had attended camp last year and was a very good prospect. However USA was not in a position to offer him a scholarship at that point.
They recruited him like a scholarship player and were fortunate to get him and was able to put him on scholarship when one became available in preseason camp. They would like to reshirt him, but they will have to wait and see how the season goes. He has a strong arm with good speed and is both physically and mentally tough.
Lee asked if there were any other players who were able to walk on, work their way into a scholarship. Coach Jones said they have over the last two years but this year Cori Barnett came in and earned a scholarship and will be starting at the Sam position. He said that each year they have one to three who earn scholarships that way.
Lee said that, looking at the depth chart, there are a few freshmen in the two-deep. Coach Jones mentioned Desmond LaVelle as being one that will be a great player and will not be redshirted this season. he continued saying that they are really good at linebacker again this season. Which is good after Higgenbothom and Dunn, both two year starting inside linebackers graduated last season.
Another freshman that could see playing time would be Maleki Harris according to Coach Jones. He is listed at both outside linebacker and safety.
On the offensive side of the ball, Coach Gregory said that J.J. Keels would be a freshman that could see plenty of time. He continued by saying that he probably has the best feet of the running back. He is able to get through very tight spots and has all of the skills that you want to have in a running back. As for being able to hold onto the ball, that is something that they develop and he said they will see how quickly he will develop that.
Lee asked Coach Jones about his thoughts on starting the season on a Thursday night. Coach Jones answered by saying that it’s his favorite way to start the season. Actually, if it was completely up to him, he would do it every year. The kids are ready to play, they have been working for about a month and they are playing when no one else is pretty much. But it also gives them an extra two days to prepare for the next opponent.
It also allows them to go through camp, then game prep, then the actual game and then let them get away for a day or two before picking it back up to continue their schedule.