Jags Announcing Hiring of Tracy Buckhannon to Football Staff
Tracy Buckhannon joins the South Alabama staff from Colquitt County (GA) High School where he served as defensive coordinator for the last two seasons. | Photo: moultrieobserver.com
On Sunday the University of South Alabama officially announced the hiring of Tracy Buckhannon as an assistant coach to fill the position left when Freddie Roach left for a position at Alabama. Buckhannon will coach the inside linebackers.
Buckhannon has 15 years experience coaching at the high-school level. He has worked with Jaguar defensive coordinator Travis Pearson previously on the high school level and understands his system.
For the last three seasons Buckhannon has been an assistant coach at Colquitt County (GA.) High school and has served as defensive coordinator the last two seasons. Last fall he helped the team win the 6A state championship with a 14-0 record. In his first season as defensive coordinator the team advanced to the semifinals of the state playoffs before falling to the eventual champion. He began his stint at Colquitt in 2012 by coaching the safeties.
Previous to Colquitt County, he was a defensive coordinator at Elmore County (AL) High School for the previous seven years. He helped the Panthers get to the state 4A playoffs five times during that stretch including advancing to the quarterfinals in 2006, which began a three-year stretch where the team went 28-9 which was capped off with a 7-0 run to the regional title in 2008.
In the 2007 season the defense allowed less than 14 points per game and the following fall Buckhannon was selected the Alabama Football Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year.
Buckhannon was a member of the ECHS staff from 1995-1996 as a volunteer assistant in charge of both the offensive and defensive scout teams. He was a full time assistant at the school from 2001-2003 working with the linebackers as well as with Coach Pearson.
He was a 5-year letterwinner at Elmore County from 1987-1991 where he was part of the a team that won the state 4A championship in his first year with the varsity team. He earned all-county honors as a junior and would earn his bachelor’s degree from Auburn.
With the hiring of Buckhannon, coach Mike Adams’ responsibilities will shift to working with the defensive ends and outside linebackers.
South Alabama 2015 Football schedule and Spring Game Dates Released
South Alabama, in conjunction with the Sun Belt Conference office, released the full 2015 football schedule late last week. Previously the dates had only been set for the Jaguars non-conference schedule and the Jaguars knew who in the conference they would be facing, but not the dates.
The 2015 schedule will be a good one. USA has two nationally-televised home games on the ESPN family of networks this fall. The first will be on Tuesday, October 13 at 8pm against Arkansas State on ESPN2. The second will be against Louisiana-Lafayette on Thursday, November 12 on ESPNU.
Here is the complete football schedule:
- September 5 vs Garner-Webb Time:TBA
- September 12 @ Nebraska Time:TBA
- September 19 @ San Diego State Time:TBA
- September 26 vs North Carolina State Time:TBA
- October 3 @ Troy Time:TBA
- October 13 vs Arkansas State Time: 8PM
- October 24 @ Texas State Time:TBA
- November 7 vs Idaho Time:TBA
- November 12 vs Louisiana-Lafayette Time:TBA
- November 21 @ Georgia State Time:TBA
- November 28 @ Georgia Southern Time:TBA
- December 5 vs Appalachian State Time:TBA
Five of the 12 teams they face this season participated in bowl games last year including five Sun Belt teams that finished tied or ahead of the Jags in the final conference standings. Eight of the 12 posted winning records last season with three, Georgia Southern, Louisiana-lafayette and Nebraska, all earning nine wins last season.
Kickoff times for the games are yet to be determined.
This week the Jaguars announced when spring practices would start and announced the date of the annual Red-Blue Spring Game.
The Jags will hit the practice fields in less than two weeks as they start their spring schedule on Monday, March 16 for the first of 15 workouts over the span of four weeks. The full spring practice schedule will be released before spring drills begin.
The annual Red-Blue game is scheduled for noon on Saturday, April 11 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium and will be part of a big weekend of South Alabama sports. The Red-Blue game starts at noon, the nationally ranked Jaguar softball team will host Georgia Southern starting at 1pm at Jaguar Field and the baseball team will host Appalachian State at Eddie Stanky Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:30pm.
Freddie Roach leaving USA reportedly for off-field position at Alabama
South Alabama assistant coach Freddie Roach has left the Jaguar program, reportedly for a position at the University of Alabama. | Photo: usajaguars.com
Assistant coach Freddie Roach has accepted an unspecified position at the University of Alabama per reports by FootballScoop.com and AL.com. For the past two seasons he coached outside linebackers and defensive ends for the Jaguars.
Alabama currently does not have an on-field coaching position open, so it is likely that he is taking an off-field position.
Roach played linebacker at Alabama from 2002-2005 and returned as an assistant strength and conditioning coach from 2008-2010. He then spent a year at East Mississippi Community College in 2011 serving as the defensive line coach and strength and conditioning assistant at Murray State in 2012. He then came to South Alabama.
South Alabama Assistant Director of Media Relations Brian Fremund confirmed to AL.com that Roach has left the Jaguar staff.
Roach is the only defensive assistant to leave the program this off season. After the conclusion of the regular season, Robert Matthews was dismissed and replaced by former UAB offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent.
After the Jaguars first bowl game, head coach Joey Jones dismissed tight ends coach John Turner and running backs coach Robby Brown. Jones and Vincent brought in former UAB assistant Richard Owens to coach tight ends and former Alabama recruiting coordinator Tyler Siskey to coach the receivers, which shifted Tim Bowen from receivers to running backs coach.
Jaguars Recruiting Effort Pays Off With Strong Signing Class
The 2015 South Alabama Jaguar Football Recruiting Class is a very good one. This could easily be the most talented recruiting class that Coach Jones and his staff has landed in the programs six years of existence.
The Jaguars class was ranked 3rd in the conference after a late addition bumped them up a spot. But that rating only includes the JUCO and High School student-athletes in the class, it does not include the UAB transfers. Head coach Joey Jones said at his signing day social that he has no doubt in his mind that USA has the best signing class in the conference overall.
Two things you will notice about this signing class: 1) the secondary players are tall with three of the five who signed are over six feet tall, and 2) great size.
Roy Albritton, 6’2″ 310-pound defensive lineman from Pensacola HS. He played in both the Max Emfinger All-American Bowl and the Pensacola Subway All-Star Game.
Dami Ayoola, 5’10” 200-pound running back from Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. via Arizona Western CC. He helped his team go 11-1 and finish 5th in the NJCAA poll.
De’Themeus “Bull” Barge, 5’9″ 220-pound linebacker from Colquitt County HS in Georgia. He was rated a three-star athlete from 247Sports.com. He helped his team go 15-0 en route to the state 6A championship.
Cameron Blankenship, 6’5″ 285-pound offensive lineman from Alexander City, AL via UAB. He was a three-year letterwinner for the Blazers and started all 11 games he appeared in as a sophomore at Dodge City CC in Kansas.
James Bynes, a 6’3″ 230-pound tight end from Miami, FL., by way of Dodge City CC. He caught 30 passes for 269 yards in all 11 games as a sophomore at Dodge City C.
Austin Chipoletti, 5’11” 190-pound quarterback from Jacksonville, FL. by way of UAB. Chipoletti completed 172-of-302 attempts for 1,650 yards and eight touchdowns with 142 yards and two touchdowns on the ground in 2013 for Weber State.
Cody Clements, 6’2″ 200-pound quarterback from Whittier, CA. via UAB. In his first and only season with the Blazers, Clements finished 4th in Conference USA in pass efficiency rating (145.6) as he wetn 183-of-275 for 2,227 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Tavon Cox, 6’3 195-pound linebacker from Kissimme, FL., Haines City HS. Cox was rated a three-star prospect by Scout.com, ESPN.com and 247Sports.com. He had 71 tackles and four sacks his senior season.
Lee Dufour, 6’4″ 285-pound offensive lineman from Saraland, AL. by way of UAB. Defour was going to redshirt his freshman season but played in the last three games of the season to help the Blazers earn bowl eligibility for the first time in 10 years.
Gerald Everett, 6’4″ 215-pound tight end from Decatur, GA. by way of UAB. He cause 17 passes for 292 yards in his only season with the Blazers. He started one game but saw action in all 12 games.
Sean Grayer, 6’2″ 240-pound defensive end/outside linebacker from Glay HS in Green Cove Springs, FL. He recorded 81 stops and fourced five fumbles in his senior season as he was selected to the first-team All-District and second-team All-State teams.
Kalen Jackson, 6’1″ 200-pound linebacker from Magee, MS. by way of UAB. Jackson started the first two games for the Blazers but suffered a season-ending injury. Against Troy he had five tackles and a fumble recovery.
Quinton Lane, 6’1″ 185-pound cornerback from Ackerman, MS. by way of Itawamba CC. He recorded 25 total tackles, 20 solo, with a team-high eight passes broken up as a sophomore.
Nigel Lawrence, 5’11” 175-pound defensive back from Smiths Stateion HS in Alabama. He was rated a three-star athlete by 247Sports.com and among the top 35 players in the state. He had 91 stops his senior year of school.
JarMarkus Sims, 6’1″ 210-pound safety from Dothan HS in Alabama. He was rated a three-star athlete by 247Sports and was rated as the second-best safety in the state of Alabama by ESPN.com. He was also selected First-Team All-State.
Troy Thingstad, 6’5″ 275-pound offensive lineman from St. Paul’s Episcopal School in Mobile. He was rated a three-star athlete by Scout.com, ESPN.com and 247Sports.com. He was also named to the first-team All-State team as a senior after helping his team with the 5A state championship.
Jalen Thompson, a 6′ 170-pound cornerback from St. Paul’s Eposcopal School in Mobile. He was rated a three-star althlete by Rivals.com, Scout.com, ESPN.com and 247Sports.com. He was also rated the second-best cornerback in the state of Alabama by Scout and ESPN.
Tyree Turner, 6′ 265-pound defensive lineman from StockBridge GA. HS. He was selected to the All-Region team twice, including last season after helping his team to the semifinals of the 5A state playoffs and to an 11-3 record overall.
D.J. Vinson, 5’10” 180-pound running back from Pinson, AL. by way of UAB. He finished second on the team with 670 yards and nine touchdowns on 166 attempts last season. He also added 65 yards on 15 catches and a touchdown as well.
Rashaan Watson, 5’10” 180-pound cornerback from Pinellas Park HS in Largo, FL. He was a first-team All-District, All-County and All-Conference selection in 2014 after helping his team go 8-3 and qualifying for the 7A state playoffs.
Jeffrey Whatley, 6’1″ 265-pound defensive end from Dale County HS in Midland City AL. He was selected to the first-team All-State team his final two seasons and helped his team to the 3A state championship game as a senior with 105 total stops along the way.
Curtis Williams, 6’4″ 285-pound offensive lineman from Miami, FL. by way of ASA CC in New York. He was a second-team All-Northeast Football Conference selection in 2013 as he helped his team to a 7th place finish in the final NJCAA rankings.
Tyrone Williams, 6’2″ 200-pound wide receiver from Kiln, MS via Mississippi Gulf Coast CC. He was a first-team All-MACJC selection as a sophomore after leading his team with 46 catches for 812 yards and 12 touchdowns.
De’Arius Young, 6’7″ 310-pound offensive lineman from Cincinnati, OH by way of San Bernadino Valley, CA. CC. He was named to the first-team All-Region and All-Mountain Conference as a sophomore as his team averaged 413 yards and 36.2 points per game.
Alex “Speedy” Byers, 6’2″ 175-pound wide receiver from Antelope Valley College in California. He had 23 catches for 398 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games. He also returned 14 kicks for 496 yards and three touchdowns. He has three years to play two at USA.
Welcome to #JagNation!
2015 National Signing Day is here
Today is National Signing Day. This is the first day that football recruits can finally officially sign their National Letter-Of-Intent to join football programs around the nation.
Recruiting a never-ending job. Most of the recruits were probably evaluated as many as two years ago or more. Through all that time coaches have kept tabs on them, offered them, talked to them, visited them and re-evaluated them time and time again to ensure they have targeted players to fill the needs of the team.
Similarly, recruits are looking at schools who have offered them to see if they feel like its a good fit for them. They have coaches, family and friends in their ear almost every day telling them where they should go or where they shouldn’t go. Which leads to some interesting National Signing Day’s.
Each year fans and coaches eagerly wait for signatures to come in from the recruits because, until that signature is in, who knows where recruits will actually sign.
There are writers and analysts who make their living just by analyzing recruiting. Whole websites have started based on recruiting. It’s become big business and cause for speculation. Diehard fans read recruiting analysis daily. Some send tweets to recruits endlessly congratulating them for choosing their school or villifying them for shunning their school for another school or a rival institution.
It can get quite sickening to see supposed grown-ups tweeting such things to teenagers to be honest.
While this list is not a guarantee as to who will sign with South Alabama, these are prospects who have verbally committed to the Jaguars. It’s always likely that some of them will suddenly choose to sign with someone else and be replaced with names not on this list who have done the same thing to another school.
Current players who have already signed LOI’s with the Jaguars:
- Dami Ayoola RB Arizona Western College
- James Bynes TE Dodge City CC
- Quinton Lane CB Itawamba CC
- Tyrone Williams WR Mississippi Gulf Coast CC.
This list of commits have given their verbals to South Alabama and seem to be fairly solid at some point.
- Jalen Thompson CB St. Paul’s Episcopal (Mobile, AL)
- Roy Albritton DT Pensacola FL.
- Ryan Alexander TE Holy Trinity (Hicksville, NY)
- Bull Barge OLB Colquitt Count GA.
- Zach Davis OT Lauderdale County AL.
- DeSean Grayer OLB Clay (Green Cove Springs, FL.)
- Nigel Lawrence S Smiths Station AL.
- Uvakeious McGhee WDE Jefferson Davis (Montgomery, AL.)
- Gavin Patterson K Bradley-Bourbannais (Bradley, IL.)
- Jervohnte Riles WR Jones County JC (Ellsville, MS.)
- JaMarkus Sims OLB Dothan AL.
- Nelson Santiago OT Oakleaf (Orange Park, FL.)
- Troy Thingstad OT St. Paul’s Episcopal (Mobile, AL.)
- Tyree Turner DT Stockbridge GA.
- Rashaan Watson CB Pinellas Park (Largo, FL.)
- Jerrery Whatley WDE Dale County Christian (Ozark, AL.)
- Curtis Williams OT ASA College (Brooklyn, NY)
Check back this evening for a recap of who signed with South Alabama and a review of the 2015 signing class.
South Alabama announces home-and-home series with SDSU
South Alabama has filled two open spots in their 2015 and 2016 schedules by adding a home-and-home series with San Diego State University. The open spots were created after the sudden announcement that UAB would cease sponsoring football.
The Jags will travel to San Diego State on September 19 this year and SDSU will visit Mobile on October 1, 2016 for the return.
USA Director of Atheltics Dr. Joel Erdmann said that during the fall of 2013 they were beginning to work on a home-and-home series with SDSU but the opportunity to schedule UAB came up and in the interest of local interest, short bus ride and reasonable cost for a road game, it was “more logical choice to play UAB.”
However, when UAB shut down football the Jags were left with two open dates on their schedule. It was very fortunate that San Diego State had yet to find a FBS opponent that fit perfectly into their schedule for 2015 and ’16.
While the 2015 Sun Belt Conference schedule for 2015 will be announced in March, it will feature road games at Troy, Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Texas State with home games against Idaho, Appalachian State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas State.
The Jaguars 2015 non-conference schedule include a home date against FCS Gardner-Webb on September 5, a road game at Nebraska on September 12 and at San Diego State on September 19, then back home to host North Carolina State on September 26.
Head coach Joey Jones told AL.com “We look forward to playing those guys [San Diego State]. It’s a football program with a lot of tradition and we look forward to the series.”
He also mentioned that its a great addition to assure a tough schedule for the Jaguars.
USA’s 2016 non-conference schedule includes a trip to Mississippi State on September 3, home games against Nicholls State on September 24 and San Diego State on October 1, and a road trip to LSU on October 15. Sun Belt Conference opponents for 2016 have not been announced yet.
As previously mention, the school also formally announced the home-and-home series against Memphis for 2018-’19.
Jaguars hire former UAB tight ends coach Richard Owens
The University of South Alabama has filled another offensive coaching spot. Former UAB tight ends coach Richard Owens has joined the staff, presumably filling the same position.
Owens spent three seasons in Birmingham with the Blazers. He was tight ends coach in 2012 then switched to wide receivers in addition to offensive coordinator. Then under first-year head coach Bill Clark he went back to tight ends as Bryant Vincent assumed offensive coordinator duties.
Prior to UAB, Owens spent two years as a graduate assistant at the University of Arkansas where he also worked with the tight ends.
Owens played collegiately at Louisville before a five-year NFL career where he played for the St. Louis Rams, Minnesota Vikings and N.Y. Jets. He appeared in 53 NFL games between 2004-09 and started seven games.
As a redshirt freshman at Louisville he played in all 12 games with three starts adn was selected to the Conference USA All-Freshman team at tight end.
He is a native of Middleburg, FL.
Alabama Director of Player Personnel to join USA staff according to reports
Reports have surfaced that South Alabama head coach Joey Jones will be announcing the hiring of University of Alabama Director of Player Personnel Tyler Siskey to coach wide receivers.
Siskey formerly coached wide receivers at Arkansas State from 2008 to 2011. After ASU he was the Coordinator of Recruiting Development at Ole Miss. He helped the Rebels’ recruiting efforts that landed a top 10 ranked class for 2013. He joined the Alabama staff in March 2013.
Six Former Blazers Begin Classes at USA
New helmets for the 2013 season.
Six former UAB Blazers began a new chapter in their collegiate career on Monday as they began classes at the University of South Alabama.
Quarterbacks Cody Clements and Austin Chipoletti, offensive linemen Lee Dufour and Cameron Blankenship, tight end Gerald Everett and wide receiver-running back D.J. Vinson all have enrolled in classes at USA and will participate in spring practice in a few weeks.
After UAB announced they were ending their football program on December 2, the players began looking for places to continue both their academic and sporting careers. These six, and a few others, committed to South Alabama.
As of Monday, linebacker Kalen Jackson had not enrolled at USA. Quarterback Evan Orth and wide receiver Josh Magee are expected to enroll this summer. Magee is no stranger to USA as he sat out after transferring from Alabama.
Bryant Vincent, who left South Alabama to be the Blazer’s offensive coordinator, rejoined the Jaguar staff prior to USA’s first-ever bowl game. He spent the previous three seasons as the Jaguars quarterbacks coach and will give the players a sense of familiarity for the former UAB student-athletes.
The team welcomed them to their 7am team meeting Monday morning before they departed to their respective classrooms to continue their academic careers at their new home.
South Alabama and Memphis Schedule Home-and-Home Series in 2018 and ’19
According to Bryan Moss of TigerSportsReport.com, South Alabama and Memphis have scheduled a home-and-home football series.
Memphis will host South Alabama in 2018 and will travel to Mobile to face the Jaguars at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in 2019.
Georgia State announced that they too have scheduled a home-and-home series with the Tigers. They will host Memphis on November 18, 2017 in the Georgia Dome then travel to Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis to face the Tigers on September 15, 2018.