Jags Receive Verbal From Georgia Running Back
The South Alabama football team received another verbal commitment following a recruiting visit over this past weekend. Terrence Upshaw gave his verbal commitment to the Jaguars following an official visit to the university over the weekend of January 18th.
Upshaw is a 5’10”, 190-pound running back from Northview High School in Duluth, GA. He is ranked a two-star recruit by some of the recruiting sites. He rushed for 1,267 yards and 27 touchdowns last season and gained over 1,600 yards of total offense. He also added two touchdowns on pass receptions and a touchdown on a kickoff return and punt return.
In a phone interview with AL.com, Upshaw had the following to say. “I like that it is a new, upcoming program and I like what (head) coach (Joey) Jones is doing with the team. The dorms and facilities and the football facility is really nice… They run the same offense that my high school does. Coach (Robert) Matthews (offensive coordinator) said I should be able to come in and play early.”
Upshaw had a scholarship offer from Vanderbilt but when South Alabama came to recruit him, he really liked the coaches and his visit to the campus.
Upshaw’s high school coach considers Terrance “one of the most overlooked kids in our Metro Atlanta area.”
Upshaw is a two-time all-region player and broke the single-season rushing record and single-season touchdown record in two seasons at his high school. In two seasons he totalled 45 touchdowns.
National Signing Day is Wednesday, February 6th. Verbal commitments are non-binding.
B.J. Scott Added To Senior Bowl Roster
B.J. Scott will be playing in the 2013 Senior Bowl representing South Alabama on Saturday. Scott joins Courtney Smith (2011) and Jake Johnson as the only the third Jaguar in South Alabama’s four year history to be invited to play in the post-season All-Star game for NFL prospects.
Scott confirmed over twitter that he will be back in Mobile in the morning to practice with the team for Saturday’s Senior Bowl. Carson Tinker, a teammate of Scott’s during his time at the University of Alabama was one of the early people breaking the story via social media and congratulating Scott.
Scott, a 5’11″ 205-pound Prichard Alabama native, was chosen for honorable mention all-Sun Belt after collecting 84 tackles, six tackles for loss, two interceptions, three passes broken up and two forced fumbles. He notched a career high 12 unassistend tackles in Hawaii. He was credited with double-digit tackles four times in the 2012 season and seven times as a Jaguar. One of those double-digit games came against Mississippi State and in the Jags first-ever FBS and SBC win over Florida Atlantic.
In two seasons at South Alabama Scott collected 132 tackles, nine pass break ups, three forced fumbles and averaged 29 yards per kick return. He also missed the final three contests in the 2011 season with a knee injury.
Last weekend Scott participated in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, along with fellow Jaguar Jake Johnson, and was credited with two tackles and one punt return for no gain. Johnson was added to the Senior Bowl roster on Tuesday, however in his first practice on Wednesday he ruptured his Achilles tendon and will miss the game.
Good luck B.J.! Jaguar Nation will be behind you all the way!
Jake Johnson’s Senior Bowl Experience Unfortunately Ends Too Soon
South Alabama’s second invitee to participate in the Senior Bowl ended about 15 minutes into his first practice with the team. Jake Johnson ruptured his Achilles tendon very early in his first practice on the field at Ladd-Peebles Stadium and was carted off the field.
Johnson got the news yesterday that he was being invited to the Senior Bowl. So he drove down from Atlanta where he has been living and working out preparing for NFL workouts. Then just about 15 minutes into his first practice, the worst happened. A ruptured Achilles.
The Achilles tendon is the strongest and thickest tendon in the body and also the most commonly injured one as well. A rupture can occur while performing actions requiring explosive acceleration such as pushing off or jumping. The usual time for recovery is about 11 months.
Good luck Jake! Jaguar Nation will be pulling for you during your recovery!
Jake Johnson Added To Senior Bowl Squad
Senior linebacker Jake Johnson zeroes in on a NC State runner for one of his 14 tackles in Raleigh, NC.
University of South Alabama linebacker Jake Johnson has been added to the Senior Bowl according to sources and social media reports.
Johnson, a 6’1″ 240-pound Fredericksburg Virginia native, was the only Sun Belt player to average more than 10 tackles per game and was a first-team all-conference selection after finishing the season with a school record 131 tackles and 15 tackles for loss. He was the leading tackler for the Jags in seven of their 13 games and notched double-digits in tackles on five seperate occasions. He had a season-high of 15 tackles against Florida International and Middle Tennessee. He also collected 14 tackles against NC State and 10 against Mississippi State.
Johnson collected 245 total tackles and 25.5 stops for loss and nine sacks with two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two pass break-ups during his three seasons with South Alabama.
He participated in the NFLPA Collegiate bowl on Saturday where he recorded two solo tackles and two assists.
Jake Johnson becomes the second Jaguar in the schools short history of football to be invited to participate in the Senior Bowl hosted in Mobile, Alabama.
From the SeniorBowl website:
The Senior Bowl is home to a one-of-a-kind NFL Convention. In addition to the two NFL coaching staffs who coach the two Senior Bowl teams each year, over 800 NFL general managers, head coaches, assistant coaches, personnel directors, scouts and other front office personnel from the 32 NFL teams annually attend Senior Bowl Week in Mobile.
Coaching staffs for the game each year are selected by the NFL office. In addition to the coaches, each NFL team chosen by the league to coach the Senior Bowl teams also brings its training, video and equipment staffs to the contest to work with the Senior Bowl players and maximize the many benefits that the players will receive by playing in the contest.
The Senior Bowl has been played in Mobile every year since 1951. It’s first year in 1950, it was played in Jacksonville, Florida.
Congratulations Jake!
Jags Football To Be Without Hollinger This Season
Game Captains for South Alabama Romelle Jones, B.J. Scott, Greg Hollinger and Alex Page meet the Troy captains at mid-field for the coin toss in the two teams first meeting and the Jaguars first Sun Belt Conference game.
While head coach Joey Jones and his staff are in the midst of recruiting for the 2013 class and trying to hire coaches to fill two positions on his staff, he will have a spot at tight end to fill.
The Jags will be without Greg Hollinger next season as he is not enrolled and will not return to South Alabama according to AL.com. Hollinger, a 6’4″ 230-pound former Jaguar would have been a senior during the 2013 season. He had to sit out his freshman year due to academic reasons.
Last season Hollinger caught 22 passes for 321 yards, averaging 14.6 yards per reception, and two touchdowns. In 2011 he caught four passes for 76 yards as a wide receiver.
Those numbers put him 6th on the team in receptions last season, 5th in yardage and tied for second on the team in touchdown receptions.
The Jags will return Wes Saxton who caught 26 passes for 336 yards last season and Jared Palmer who caught two passes for two yards last season. Also Rush Hendricks, Ryan Onkka and Kyle Sappington were all on the roster last season for the Jags.
Twin defensive backs Steffon and Steven Fuller, who were exected to enroll at South Alabama this semester, have not enrolled as of Friday. Instead, they are expected to enroll for the summer semester in May, however they will miss spring practice. They are expected to contend for starting spots this fall.
As for recruiting, Coach Jones and his staff have been vigorously recruiting. They are keeping in touch with prospects who have already given their verbal committments as well as talking with other prospects they hope to sign to the school.
This weekend a small group of prospects will be visiting. Xavier Johnson, is a 5’10” 167-pound running back from Tampa, FL., who verbally committed to South Alabama prior to the start of this past season but backed off his committment just before football season began. He rushed for 1,736 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior. While his numbers were down for his senior season, he still scored 10 touchdowns. Since then he has solidly reaffirmed his committment to the Jags.
Kevin Gary, a 6′ 180-pound wide receiver from Georgia Military where he caught 21 passes for 429 yards and 7 touchdowns his past season. Terrence Upshaw, a 5’9″ 180-pound running back from Duluth Georgia, who is ranked as a 3-star recuit by Rivals.com.
De’Shawn Beck, a 5’9″ 180-pound wide receiver from Los Angeles Harbor College. During the 2012 season he caught 37 passes for 647 yards and five touchdowns. Beck’s teammate Jarrell Wright, a 6’3″ 300-pound defensive lineman, who tallied 41 tackles, 9.5 tackles-for-loss and six sacks.
Earlier this week Jones said that the main needs of this season’s recruiting class are defensive linemen and offensive playmakers. Based on these recuits, that is what they are looking at.
However, the biggest on-campus recruiting weekend for the Jags will be next weekend. At this time they expect to have as many as 20 prospects on campus for a whirl-wind recruiting effort.
South Alabama will be able to sign a full class of 25 players.
South Alabama Looking To Finish Strong In 2013 Recruiting Season
Head Coach Joey Jones speaks to his team after the conclusion of the Jaguars first practice of preseason camp.
With about two weeks left until National Signing Day, the Jags continue to look to get verbal commitments from recruits as well as holding onto the ones already verbally committed to the program. Verbal commitments are non-binding. But the 2013 class may be the best yet for the Jaguars.
This season South Alabama will have a full compliment of 85 scholarships as all other FBS schools have. They can assure recruits that they can compete for the Sun Belt Conference Championship and can be eligible to play in a bowl game as they have finished their two-year transition period into the FBS ranks.
The Jaguar program have received more verbal commitments this recruiting season than they any previous recruiting season. If they can attract just a few more players they are actively recruiting, then Coach Jones will be quite pleased with this recruiting class they have worked hard to obtain.
In previous recruiting classes, Jones and his staff focused on recruiting players for the secondary and offensive line. Those positions were considered areas of need. They needed players who could contribute immediately. Those positions are now strengths on the team, so the coaching staff is now targeting needs at defensive line and the skill positions on offense. But they will be signing players at other positions as well, especially if a talented player becomes available regardless of the position.
“On the offensive side of the ball, we’re looking for playmakers, and that means running backs and receivers,” Jones said in an interview with AL.com. “Defensively, we’ll try to find more defensive linemen because we have a lot of senior d-linemen this year and we’re obviously trying to recruit some depth there.”
Romelle Jones, Pat Moore, Ridge James, Alex Page, Montavious Williams, Randon Carnathan and Byron Sneed will all be seniors on the defensive line for the 2013 season. Some of those names are well known by Jaguar fans and have contributed to South Alabama’s defensive strength since the program began, including their second place ranking last season in the Sun Belt Conference.
Six junior college players signed in December and have enrolled or are expected to enroll in classes this week. If so, they will be available to participate in spring practice, which may start near the end of February. There may be some in that group that may not be able to enroll until May though.
As previously reported here back in December, junior college signees running back Cristobal Dinham, twin defensive backs Steffon and Steven Fuller, linebacker Desmond LaVelle, running back Jay Jones and cornerback Montell Garner have enrolled or are expected to enroll this week.
South Alabama had some recruits visit campus over the weekend but their biggest recruiting weekend is coming up in two weeks. They will be in town when the Senior Bowl and Mardi Gras are both taking place for a whirlwind recruiting weekend.
“The guys we signed from junior college, we feel good about them and the guys we have,” Jones said to AL.com in reference to the defensive backs in particular but also the junior college group as a whole. “We feel good there. I feel like our needs have been met there.”
“We do feel good about where we are, but we’ve got to finish,” he continued. “That’s one thing we’ve got to do. It’s just like every year, we’ve got to finish strong. There are a lot of times when it comes down to three or four players at the end. If you land those guys you’re in really good shape and you can have a great year.”
Just like Jones and his staff preaches to the players during practice, Jones also says it to himself and his staff. “We’ve got to finish strong.” The Jags have verbals from some great players and in about two weeks we will see how well they finish and how well they build on their progress this past season.
Go Jags.
Coach Tommy Perry Leaving USA for North Texas
Coach Tommy Perry coaching the running backs during halftime of the Red & Blue Spring Football Game on March 24, 2012.
South Alabama’s running backs coach and special teams coordinator Tommy Perry is leaving the staff to accept a position on the North Texas Mean Green coaching staff. The official announcement is expected on Monday.
With the news of Perry leaving the program, head coach Joey Jones will need to hire two assistant coaches to fill vacancies on the staff. Late last week Jones hired Kevin Sherrer to fill the vacancy left when Bill Clark left for the head coaching position at Jacksonville State University. Defensive backs coach Duwan Walker joined Clark’s staff as defensive coordinator. Walker and Clark arrived together from Prattville High School where he served as Clark’s defensive coordinator there.
This move by Perry will put him back in Texas where he played at Tyler Texas Junior College and Texas A&M. He was the strength and conditioning coach at Texas, a graduate assistant at Texas A&M-Commerce, an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Amsterdam Admirals of the NFL Europe league. Before coming to South Alabama, he was a graduate assistant/intern at Alabama.
Tommy and his wife have lots of ties and family in Texas.
North Texas will leave the Sun Belt Conference at the end of the academic year to joing Conference USA so it is unlikely that the two teams will meet each other on the sidelines in the near future.
Thanks for everything you have done for us Coach Perry and good luck in your future endevours!
USA To Name Sherrer As New Defensive Coordinator
The University of South Alabama should announce the hiring of Kevin Sherrer to fill the defensive coordinator position this Friday. Sherrer will be filling the position of former defensive coordinator, and longtime friend, Bill Clark who accepted the head coach position at Jacksonville State University last month. Sherrer was a friend and confidant of Clark whom he often consulted with concerning defensive philosophy and gameplanning.
Sherrer comes from the University of Alabama where he has served in the position of Director of Player Development for the Crimson Tide. His duties consisted of focusing on the off-the-field activities of the schools student athletes. He helped the players to balance the demands of academics, athletics, community outreach and their personal lives as well as assisting with the strength and conditioning program and peer intervention group.
Prior to his stint at the University of Alabama, he served five seasons on the Hoover High School staff from 2005-2009. He served as a defensive assistant for two seasons, then spent three seasons as defensive coordinator. During his stint at Hoover, they won two state championships in 2005 and 2009.
Sherrer played tight end at Alabama from 1993-95 earning a letter in 1995. After graduating in 1996, he spent two seasons at Tuscaloosa County High School as an assistant coach which included a state title in 1997.
In 1998, he returned to Alabama as a graduate assistant on defense for three years. They won the Music City Bowl in 1998 and won the SEC Championship in 1999 which resulted in a trip to the Orange Bowl. He earned his masters degree in higher education from Alabama in 2000.
From Alabama, Sherrer spent four years at Spain Park High School (2001-2004) as an assistant coach on defense.
He and his wife have two childred, twin boys Kaleb and Kyle.
Additionally it is expected that a new defensive backs coach will be named early next week to fill the position vacated by Duwan Walker when he left to fill the defensive coordinator position at Jacksonville State under Clark.
Scott, Johnson To Participate In NFLPA Collegiate Bowl All-Star Game
Senior linebacker Jake Johnson zeroes in on a NC State runner for one of his 14 tackles in Raleigh, NC.
South Alabama will have two representatives in the 2013 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. On Tuesday it was announced that both Jake Johnson and B.J. Scott have accepted invitations to participate in the annual game.
The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl is an all-star game that features top draft-eligible seniors. The game will be held in Carson, California at The Home Depot Center on Saturday, January 19. It will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and will be available online via WatchESPN. The Thursday prior to the game, ESPNU will have four hours of coverage from team pratices.
The two teams will be coached by former NFL head coaches Herm Edwards and Dick Vermeil.
Jake Johnson, a 6’1″ 240-pound Fredericksburg Virginia native, was the only Sun Belt player to average more than 10 tackles per game and was a first-team all-conference selection after finishing the season with a school record 131 tackles and 15 tackles for loss. He was the leading tackler for the Jags in seven of their 13 games and notched double-digits in tackles on five seperate occasions. He had a season-high of 15 tackles against Florida International and Middle Tennessee. He also collected 14 tackles against NC State and 10 against Mississippi State.
Johnson collected 245 total tackles and 25.5 stops for loss and nine sacks with two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two pass break-ups during his three seasons with South Alabama.
Scott, a 5’11” 205-pound Prichard Alabama native, was chosen for honorable mention all-Sun Belt after collecting 84 tackles, six tackles for loss, two interceptions, three passes broken up and two forced fumbles. He notched a career high 12 unassistend tackles in Hawaii. He was credited with double-digit tackles four times in the 2012 season and seven times as a Jaguar. One of those double-digit games came against Mississippi State and in the Jags first-ever FBS and SBC win over Florida Atlantic.
In two seasons at South Alabama Scott collected 132 tackles, nine pass break ups, three forced fumbles and averaged 29 yards per kick return. He also missed the final three contests in the 2011 season with a knee injury.
Johnson and Scott will join the only other South Alabama player to participate in a postseason all-star contest Courtney Smith. Smith participated in the 2011 Senior Bowl.
Walker Officially Joines Clark at JSU
The speculation about Duwan Walker joining Bill Clark at Jacksonville State was confirmed on Thursday as Clark announced his coaching staff. Duwan Walker will be the defensive coordinator and safeties coach while Chuck Dunn, a former Jaguar assistant coach, will coach the inside linebackers.
Walker and Clark have worked together since 1999 when Clark became head coach at Prattville High School. Walker started as defensive backs coach for two years before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2001.
Along with Walker, there are two graduate assistants on the defensive side that are heading to Jacksonville State.
That opens up another coaching spot that needs to be filled on the Jaguar staff.
As for the defensive coordinator position, reports are still out there that Ron Roberts was offered the position and there was one report that he has accepted. However there has not been any official word by South Alabama or Ron Roberts.