Jacksonville State Expected To Have Several USA Ties On Staff
Former South Alabama defensive Coordinator Bill Clark was named head coach at Jacksonville State on Tuesday, December 18 | jsugamecocksports.com
According to AL.com, former South Alabama defensive coordinator Bill Clark who accepted the head coaching position at Jacksonville State University in December is expected to announce members of his new staff on Wednesday.
There has been long speculation that South Alabama defensive backs coach Duwan Walker, who served as Clark’s defensive coordinator at Prattville High School, will accept the same position under Clark at Jacksonville State.
But the South Alabama ties reportedly does not end there.
According to the AL.com report, defensive graduate assistant Blake Sharder will join Clark’s staff in some capacity. Additionally Trey Clark, the only Jaguar to start all 40 games thus far in South Alabama’s history, is expected to accept a graduate assistant position with Clark’s staff. Clark played for Bill at Prattville, then joined him as a Jaguar. Additionally the two men are cousins.
This news is not unexpected. Clark has deep ties with those on his defensive staff and trusts them. Plus any new defensive coordinator may want to bring some of his own staff.
Also a former South Alabama assistant coach Chuck Dunn should join Clark’s staff. Dunn was on the Jaguars staff for their first two seasons before the staff numbers had to be trimmed down to nine assistant coaches. He had been serving as defensive coordinator in the high school ranks.
As for possible replacements at defensive coordinator, reports are that Southeastern Louisiana head coach Ron Roberts, who interviewed for the position last week, was offered the position over the weekend. It is unknown if these reports are true and if he has accepted the position.
As a head coach Roberts guided Delta State University to four Gulf South Conference championships and four appearances in the NCAA Division II playoffs. During that time he had a record of 47-16 with four 10-win seasons and two NCAA Super Region II titles and an appearance in the 2010 NCAA Division II national championship game. He is a native of Visalia, California.
We should know more about it this week.
USA Head Coach Joey Jones Narrowing List Of Possible DC Candidates
Head Coach Joey Jones speaks to his team after the conclusion of the Jaguars first practice of preseason camp.
Reports are that South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones has narrowed down the list of applicants to six or seven to fill the defensive coordinator position. Interviews will be conducted over the next day or two for the list of candidates. The position became available when Coach Bill Clark accepted the head coaching position Jacksonville State University.
None of the names have been released but two names have cropped up as possibilities for the position. There has not been any confirmation that these two names are on the list to be interviewed or extend beyond internet rumor. But former Alabama head football coach Mike Dubose’s name has been tossed around and former Alabama player and former Mississippi State head football coach Sylvester Croom has been mentioned.
South Alabama secondary coach Duwan Walker will likely accept the defensive coordinator position on his friend Bill Clark’s staff. It is unknown if any other defensive staff have been or will be approached by Clark or Walker, if he is indeed hired, to fill positions on the staff.
According to AL.com, Coach Jones received more than 150 applicants for the position and was not surprised by the number of applicants. “This is a good, Division I coordinator’s job,” Jones said in their interview. “It pays well and it’s a good situation here. I expected to get a lot of people applying for the job.”
It’s likely that Coach Jones will fill the position by January 11 when coaches can continue recruiting for the February 6, when high school seniors can beging signing their National Letter-Of-Intent’s for the school of their choice. Although, that is not a hard deadline.
USA Football Signs Six JuCo Transfers
Head Coach Joey Jones talking with wide receiver Carr Tigner during preseason practice.
The University of South Alabama football team received National Letter-of-Intent’s from six junior-college transfers on Wednesday.
Jay Jones, Cristobal Dinham, Montell Garner, Desmond LaVelle and twins Steven and Steffon Fuller all signed with the Jaguars on Wednesday. They will enroll at USA in January and will be eligible to participate in spring drills.
Jones is a 5’9″, 180-pound running back from Horn Lake, Mississippi adn transferring from Northwest Mississippi Community College. Jones rushed for 504 yards and three touchdowns to rank in the top 50 in the nation rushing. He also added 11 pass receptions for 150 yards and a touchdown. He began the season with an 83-yard, one touchdown rushing performance with another 23 yards on three catches against Copiah-Lincoln CC. He followed that up with a season-high of 157 yards rushing on 29 carries in a win at Jones County CC. He then followed that performance with a 126 yard rushing performance with a touchdown against Holmes CC. He also had a 51 yard reception during the season.
Dinham is 5’10”, 210-pound running back from Lithonia, Georgia and transfers from Independence Community College in Kansas. He ranked fifth in the NCJAA by averaging 126.5 yards per game and finished the season with 1,012 yards and 10 touchdowns. He rushed for 100+ yards in five of his eight games. He rushed 30 times for 276 yards in the season finale in a win over Highland Community College. He tied a school record by scoring four times in a game against Dodge City Communtity College while rushing for 176 yards in the game. He also rushed for 157 and 110 yards in back-to-back wins for the school.
Garner is a 6’1″ 185-pound cornerback originally from Colleyville, Texas and transferring from Navarro Junior College. He tallied eight pass break-ups in the season which tied him for fifth in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference. He also added 23 tackles and an interception. The Bulldogs finished ranked fourth in the NJCAA poll with a 10-2 record. Against nationally ranked Kilgore Junior College, Garner tallied 10 tackles in the 42-14 win. Then against Blinn JC he tallied seven tackles, three passes defended and an interception in the win.
LaVelle is a 5’11” 230-pound linebacker from Decatur, Alabama who transfers to USA from Northwest Mississippi CC. He tied for fourth on the team with 53 tackles, with 4.5 of them for a loss, two fumble recoveries an interception and a pass defended while earning first-team All-Conference honors. His team finished 8-2 on the season ranked ninth in the final NJCAA rankings and a defense ranked 14th in the nation with 316.6 yards per game. As a freshman in 2011, LaVelle collected 25 tackles, two of them for loss, an interception and a fumble recovery.
The Fuller brothers are from Scooba, Mississippi and attended Kemper County High School. They both attended East Central Mississippi CC. Steffon is a 6’4″ 205-pound safety who recorded 54 tackles and four pass break-ups last season to be named first-team Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College’s First-Team All-State. He recorded eight tackles in three of the Warriors’ nine games including against nationally-ranked East Mississippi CC.
Steven Fuller is also 6’4″ weighing in at 200-pounds. He played in the secondary, at wide receiver and on special teams until last year. Defensively he had 20 tackles, three of them for loss, two pass defenses and a blocked kick. Offensively he caught seven passes for 95 yards while collecting 13 pancake blocks on run plays.
“Any time you sign junior college kids, you want to upgrade your starting lineup. Not that these young men will be given a starting job, but when you sign a junior college student-athlete you anticipate that they can come in and start,” Jones stated. “We’ve got a couple of safeties that we feel really good about — they are real good athletes who had a ton of offers — who will help us fill the void losing B.J. Scott, and a tall cornerback. We also signed two running backs because we had a lot of depth issues with injuries there in the fall. You can’t have enough good running backs. And with Desmond LaVelle returning, we signed four on defense and two on offense.”
“I think we have upgraded our team for sure.”
Wednesday was the first day Junior College transfers could sign their National LOI’s. They have through January 15th to sign with schools.
JSU Announces Hire Of Bill Clark
Former South Alabama defensive Coordinator Bill Clark was named head coach at Jacksonville State on Tuesday, December 18 | jsugamecocksports.com
Jacksonville State University had a good list of potential head coaches to choose from to replace Jack Crow who was let go recently. They received several applications for the job, some with name recognition that made the school officials take notice immediately.
They could have picked someone from a BCS school or someone with prior collegiate head coaching experience but in the end they chose former South Alabama defensive coordinator Bill Clark. Clark will formally be announced at a press conference on Wednesday.
Clark is a 44 year old Anniston native and 1990 graduate from Jacksonville State. He may not have head coaching experience on the collegiate level, but he led Prattville High School to two state 6A championships. His last two teams won 30 consecutive games and the 2007 team was ranked #2 in the nation by the USA Today national high school poll. His winning percentage was over 90% for his tenure at Prattville.
After his final season at Prattville, he was named the Alabama High School Athletic Association Coach of the Year and the Schutt Southeast Regional Coach of the Year.
He was among the first coaches hired by South Alabama head coach Joey Jones when he was putting together his staff. He also named Clark the assistant head coach as well as defensive coordinator.
He was key in developing the South Alabama program into what it is today. In only the Jaguars fourth season of play and their first in the Sun Belt, the defense finished #2 in defense in the conference.
“I’m very happy for Bill and his family,” Jaguar head coach Joey Jones said to AL.com on Tuesday. “I appreciate what he’s done to help build this program at South Alabama. You’re always happy for someone in this profession to move up and get a job they want, so I’m very happy for him and his family. He meant a lot to me. We’re great friends and will continue to be. I think we’ll always have that in the back of our minds, of starting this program at South Alabama and how gratifying it has been to build this thing and that’s something he was a part of. I appreciate everything he’s done.”
“It means a lot,” Clark said to AL.com. “When you set some goals in life and to achieve one of those goals you set at an early age, it’s gratifying. It’s real gratifying.”
“It’s big (to have the opportunity come at JSU). I think to go back to where there are people you know and in the surrounding areas, you feel like you’re going to be representing more than yourself. You’re going to be representing people you went to school with and people you played ball with and family. That’s what it’s all about.”
“There’s so many thing that you want to bring to the table, but when you’re talking about student-athletes, you want to bring them in there and get them a degree and put a great product on the field,” he continued. “The thing we want to bring is excitement. When you start talking about what gets you coming to football games, it’s excitement.”
“Watching guys running and passing and representing their school and their town and their families, all the reasons that we got into this game and that make it so great. That’s what we want to put out there. The big thing about football is it’s the face of a school. So obviously we want to put a great image out there and a great message and hopefully you’ll see that when you see us play.”
Clark also said that his time at South Alabama has been rewarding and important to him.
“To get to come here and be the start of building a program and to see it done the right way, that’s a plus,” Clark said. “We were so supported here. Joey and I were friends before we started this and that will remain the same. To get to be with a friend to do this was special.”
“I can’t say enough of about it. That’s what I want to see where I’m going. You want to see that support. Obviously, a coaches’ job is to bring people together and bring the community together, so that’s the thing I’m looking forward to at Jacksonville.”
“We’ll head up (Tuesday). They have some things planned (Wednesday). We’ve got to get into all the talks of staffing established. It’s all going to be a whirlwind now. You know how coaches are, in the first five minutes you’ve turned the switch and you’re worried about players and recruiting and what have they been doing in the weightroom and getting my staff on board. It’s kind of like a win, that joy is real short-lived and then you’ve got to go to work. It’s real satisfying and it’s real exciting, but it’s time to go to work.”
The next thing for South Alabama and Jaguar head coach Joey Jones is to find someone to fill the defensive coordinator position on the staff and other staff position who may follow him to Jacksonville State.
It is unknown how this will affect South Alabama’s junior college commits, who are able to sign with schools beginning today. But Coach Jones has time to fill the position before National Signing Day for high school recruits in early February.
Bill Clark To Be Named Head Coach At Jacksonville State
Reports are surfacing that South Alabama defensive coordinator Bill Clark will be named head coach at Jacksonville State today with a formal announcement on Wednesday.
This past season the South Alabama defense finished second in the Sun Belt in it’s first season of play in the conference. He has been with South Alabama all four season of play. He came to Mobile from Prattville, AL where he was the head coach of Prattville High School. He would replace Jack Crow who was fired after the 2012 season.
No word on potential candidates to fill his position with the Jaguars at this time.
Recent JuCo Commits
South Alabama received two verbals recently from JuCo players according to Rivals.com.
Cristobal Dinham, a 5’9″ 205-pound running back from Independence Community College in Kansas, gave his commitment to the Jags ahead of Wednesday’s signing day for Junior College players. He does not have a rating on the Rivals or Scout networks. He is originally from Lithonia, Georgia.
Another running back that has committed from a JuCo is Justin Jones, a 5’6″ 180-pound running back from Northwest Mississippi Community College. He is originally from Horn Lake, Mississippi and is expected to sign with the Jags on Wednesday as well. Recruiting sites reported that he committed to South Alabama back in the summer.
These two commits are expected to help give the Jaguars depth at the running back position where injuries had left them very thin down the stretch of the 2012 season.
Rivals.com also has another recent commit on the offensive side of the ball. ShaVarez Smith, a 6’2″ 205-pound wide receiver from Dean Junior College in Franklin, Massachusetts shows to have committed on this past Saturday. He has a two-star rating from Rivals and a three-star rating from ESPN. He is listed as having a 4.5 40-yard dash time coming out of high school in McDonough, Georgia.
Smith had received an offer from Charlotte, Ohio and South Carolina. He has good size, hands and route running ability. The coaches hope he can help fill Gabe Loper’s spot as a big, clutch receiver to compliment the other receivers on the field.
Over the next day-and-a-half we will get a good idea of some of the JuCo signees as they can begin signing and sending in their Letter-of-intent’s on Wednesday and will have through January 15th. High School players have to wait until February 6th to begin signing their LOI’s and then have through April 1 to sign.
South Alabama Football Weekend Roundup
Defensive coordinator Bill Clark working with Jake Johnson and the linebackers during individual drills on Saturday morning.
Over this past weekend the Jaguars hosted their final group of recruits before the JuCo mid-year signing period begins on Wednesday, December 19.
Steffon Fuller from East Central Community College, a 6’3″ 205-pound safety, Steven Fuller, Steffon’s twin brother who plays wide receiver, safety and cornerback at the same school. Montell Garner, a cornerback from Navarro College in Texas. Michael Jolivet, a 6’4″ 240-pound defensive end also from Navarro.
No word yet on how their visit went but one cornerback cancelled his visit to go to Boise State instead.
Mesa Community College offensive tackle David Griffin had committed to South Alabama a couple of months ago, but after visiting the University of Hawaii he has switched his committment from the Jags to the Warriors.
Griffin had committed to South Alabama to be closer to his family however his time in Arizona made it easier for him to commit to Hawaii after a good recruiting visit. Since Griffin is a JuCo player, he can sign in December and will have two years of eligibility.
Another JuCo target Jerome McClain, a 6’2″ 290-pound defensive tackle from Pensacola who is playing for Northwest Mississippi Community College visited South Alabama last weekend and was close to giving his commitment at that time. He then visted Memphis over the weekend. McClain said his top three so far are South Alabama, Memphis and Florida Atlantic. He is set to visit the Owls on January 4th.
Defensive Coordinator Bill Clark interviewed at Jacksonville State on Saturday as well as West Alabama head coach Will Hall and possibly other candidates.
Clark is an Anniston native and a JSU graduate.
Hall, 32, finished his second season as the head coach at West Alabama after serving three years at their offensive coordinator. He was an All-America quarterback for North Alabama. UWA went 9-4 this past season to win the Gulf South Conference and splitting the Division II national finalist Valdosta State. His 2011 team went 8-4.
However another name has surfaced recently in Tyler Siskey. Siskey, another Anniston native, is a 1996 Donoho graduate and is interested in the job.
Siskey is currently Ole Miss’ director of recruiting development. Previously he spent four years as Arkansas State’s receivers coach and was the offensive coordinator for the Red Wolves in the GoDaddy.com bowl when Hugh Freeze left for the Ole Miss head coaching job.
Siskey commented that “It’s home, it fits and it’s a fit on both sides. We both share the same vision, and that is to win and to win big and to win now.”
Could Georgia Southern Be Added To SBC Next Week?
When could we hear the first about possible new additions to the Sun Belt Conference? It could be as early as next week.
Tonight is the semifinal round of the FCS playoffs kickoff with #1 North Dakota State and #5 Georgia Southern playing for a slot in the FCS National Championship game. Kickoff is set for 8pm.
Rest assured that Sun Belt Conference officials and Georgia Southern officials have been in contact and talking about their interests in moving up to the FBS level and the Sun Belt’s interest in adding a strong team within it’s regional footprint.
Earlier this year the students voted to move up to the FBS level with an increase in student fees to help support the move. I believe that these meetings have been occurring since the students voted for the move but were going to wait until after the season was over to get serious about talks. But with Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic accepting invitations to Conference USA, I believe those talks were accelerated.
If Georgia Southern loses their Semifinal game then we could hear an announcement as early as next week. However if they win and earn a spot in the National Championship Game against the winner of the #2 Eastern Washington vs Sam Houston State game, then the announcement would probably be delayed. The FCS National Championship game is set for January 5th in Frisco, Texas.
That would put the Sun Belt back up to nine football playing schools. Who else would the Sun Belt consider adding? There are rumors about New Mexico State, Appalachain State, UT-Chattanooga all the way to Lamar, Liberty or Sam Houston State.
New Mexico State is already an FBS school but were a bottom dweller in the WAC with only one win last season that came in their season opener against Sacramento State. They would bring a very tall basketball team as the Jags learned in a recent game.
Appalachain State is another team in the regional footprint of the Sun Belt and has been a powerhouse in FCS for some time. However their location in Boone, NC is a very beautiful place, it is also a difficult place to travel for sports.
UT-Chattanooga is an interesting school to consider. It is located in well-known Chattanooga, TN which makes travel quite easy for sports and also fits in the regional footprint as well. They could be a very good replacement for Middle Tennessee who is just up Interstate 24 from Chattanooga towards Nashville.
Many South Alabama fans may know some about Lamar University. The Jags played their first true road game against the Cardinal in Beaumont, TX a couple years ago in the Jaguars second season of football. Football had been dropped from Lamar back in 1989 but in January of 2008 the students voted to add an athletic fee to bring football back to the University. Their stadium had a huge overhaul and a large jumbotron screen was installed. Their campus is very nice and could be a nice hidden gem in conference expansion.
Sam Houston State, as mentioned above, is in the semifinals of the FCS playoffs. They are located in Huntsville, TX which is north of Houston on I-45. Either school Sam Houston State or Lamar would be a nice addition to compliment Texas State out in the Lone Star State.
Then there is Liberty. I haven’t heard much about the possibility of Liberty joining the Sun Belt. Liberty is a private christian university located in Lynchburg Virginia. They have an enrollment of about 12,500 and 80,000+ studying through their online program. Their chancellor is Jerry Falwell Jr. I don’t see them moving to the FBS level, but stranger things have happened.
Who do you think would be good additions to the Sun Belt to comprise a 10 or 12 (football) team conference? Post your suggestions here or on our Facebook page.
Six Jags Selected To Phil Steele’s All-Sun Belt Postseason Team
Romelle Jones and Alex Page give chase to the FAU quarterback during the Jaguars win in 2012.
Phil Steele released his 2012 All-Sun Belt postseason team on www.philsteele.com on Wednesday. South Alabama was represented well with a total of six players selected and one first-team selection.
Steele publishes the Phil Steele College Football preview each season. He also updates his work throughout the season on his website. He also releases postseason team selections.
Senior linebacker Jake Johnson was the lone Jaguar selected to the All-Sun Belt first-team. Johnson led the league in tackles this past season.
Again, South Alabama only had one player selected for the second-team. Junior defensive lineman Alex Page finished the season with 64 tackles, fifth on the team, with 11.5 tackles for loss, six sacks, two pass breakups and five quarterback hurries.
The Jaguars had four players selected for the fourth-team All-Sun Belt team by Phil Steele. Junior linebacker Enrique Williams, junior defensive back Tyrell Pearson, sophomore punt returner T.J. Glover and two-time Sun Belt Special Teams Player of the Week, senior placekicker Michel Chapuseaux.
Williams finsihed second on the team in tackles and seventh in the conference in tackles. He also recorded one pass breakup, three quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Pearson finshed the season with 40 tackles for eighth on the team. He also recorded three tackles for loss, 11 pass breakups, four interceptions for 94 yards and one forced fumble.
T.J. Glover finished the season with 1,181 all-purpose yards, almost double the next closest Jaguar on the team. He had 642 yards in kick returns, 210 rushing yards, 206 receiving yards and 123 punt return yards in 13 games this season.
Michel Chapuseaux was 20-of-27 in field goal attempts for 74.1% on the season. He had two blocked but connected on a career long 53 yard field goal. Chapuseaux was a perfect 2-for-2 from 50+ yards on the season. He was also a perfect 24-for-24 in PAT attempts.
Congratulations Jaguars!
Change Is Constant In College Sports
Each year there are changes in every conference. Coaches fired, coached hired, players graduate and new ones recruited, offensive and defensive schemes change. But for some conferences they have whole teams move in and out.
Gus Malzahn is gone from Arkansas State and Willie Taggart is gone from Western Kentucky. So far we have added Bobby Petrino at Western Kentucky, Dennis Franchione will enter with Texas State and reports are circulating that University of Texas offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin has been hired at Arkansas State.
Two-time Sun Belt Player of the Year Ryan Aplin graduates from ASU, but Kolton Browning returns to Louisiana-Monroe. Browning was possibly the most exciting player this past season.
As conference realignment trickles down, the Sun Belt continues to be affected. As mentioned before, North Texas and Florida International will leave the conference this summer for what they hope is greener pastures in Conference USA. Conference Commissioner Karl Benson added Georgia State and Texas State to the conference as well as Texas-Arlington (non-football school).
But realignment occurred again this year when Florida Atlantic and Middle Tennessee accepted invitations to Conference USA. But no announcement of additional schools have happened yet, but speculation is that Georgia Southern is one of the schools that could be added. Appalachain State and New Mexico State have been rumored to be possible additions as well.
Offenses will continue to be high power in the conference, but like they say “defenses win championships.”
Many braced for a tough season as the Jags played their first full Sun Belt schedule resulted in a 2-11 overall record and 1-7 conference record. Some expected them to win more games than they did, and they probably should have. But they were more competitive in their first FBS season than any team in recent memory.
South Alabama’s first season of FBS play was a big learning experience. They went up against 12 FBS teams in their 13 game schedule with seven games on the road. They measured themselves against several good teams and know where they are and what they need to do to get there.
The Jags will make an impact in the conference sooner rather than later. Coach Jones along with his staff and players have established a presence in the conference and have earned the respect of many opponents.
Coach Jones still has holes to fill and the team has some maturing to do. It needs to take what it has learned this season and build upon it. They need to use what they learned on game day and in key situations. The depth chart will benefit from a 2012 signing class where all but one player was redshirted and it will benefit from several fifth-year players ready to fill spots in the starting lineup and on the depth chart.
Troy was another school that had a disappointing season and missing out on a bowl game for the second consecutive season. In 2011 the Trojans went 3-9 (2-6 SBC) but improved to 5-7 (3-5 SBC) in 2012. But look for them to play a role in the Sun Belt in the future as they have in the past.
It could be an interesting few years in the Sun Belt as both Troy works it’s way back up and South Alabama strives to blaze it’s own way toward the top as well.
Sometimes change is good and sometimes it makes you think, “what were they thinking?”