South Alabama Adds Two Quarterbacks To The Team
Matt Floyd as a South Florida Bull against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Raymond James Stadium on December 1, 2012. | Photo credit: Kim Klement-USA Today Sports
University of South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones officially announced that Matt Floyd will be joining the Jaguar football program this fall after he signed a Grant-In-Aid with the school.
Floyd, a 6’1″, 200-pound Milton, FL native, joins USA from South Florida with two years of eligibility remaining. He was voted team captain prior to the start of the 2013 season. After sitting out his redshirt season in 2011, he saw action as a redshirt freshman with a 20-for-35 and 175 yard performance at Miami and in his first career start at Cincinatti he went 21-of-39 for 176 yards. He started against McNeese State last season going 9-for-20 for 72 yards.
He also garnered attention off the field by receiving the Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award in 2013, which honors a collegiate football player from the state of Florida or South Carolina each year who has impacted the lives of others through giving and community service. He was also named to the American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team last season along with the BIG EAST All-Academic Team in 2012.
In high school at Milton High, he was a three year starter where he threw for 4,988 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns in his career. In his senior season he led the area with 2,277 yards passing as he went 150-of-272 with 17 touchdowns as he earn Super Senior honors along with the IMG Academic All-Madden and First-Team All-Area squad honors. As a junior he threw for 1,711 yards and 14 touchdowns while completing 112-of-205 passes to be named to the Second-Team All-Area team. As a sophomore he threw for 1,000 yards and five touchdowns while adding five more on the ground.
South Alabama recruited Floyd out of high school but ended up choosing South Florida instead. Jones said that he was recruited both for his athletic ability but also because of his character and leadership skills. He fits in a similar mold that Ross Metheny filled the last two seasons as a dual-threat quarterback who can both throw with a strong arm and run with good size. He should fit into the Jaguars offensive scheme well.
Along with Floyd, the Jags added quarterback Hunter Vaughn to the to team. Vaughn, a former Robertsdale High School and Butler (Kansas) Community College quarterback transferred to USA and joined the team this summer. He is another dual-threat quarterback that the Jags were recruiting but they already had a commitment that season. Vaughn will most likely redshirt this season and had three years of eligibility remaining.
With the two newcomers, the Jags have a nice stable of quarterbacks for the approaching season. Current number 1 quarterback Brandon Bridge, last year’s number 2 quarterback and a senior this season, is sitting in the drivers position for the starting spot after showing lots of improvement in the spring and flashes of greatness last season. Trey Fetner, a junior, who knows the offense and has been regularly used in short-yardage “wildcat” situations but has a good arm is currently pegged as the number 2. Grant Powell, a sophomore, who has a good arm and can run, but needs more time to get comfortable with his decision making and the offense. Dallas Davis, a freshman, who will most likely be redshirted this season who is another dual-threat quarterback who should fit well into the offensive scheme Robert Matthews has going.
South Alabama will begin their season on September 6 against Kent State with kickoff scheduled for 1pm CDT. The Jags finished 6-6 and bowl eligible in their first season as a full FBS member, but did not receive an invitation to a bowl game. They also finished third in the conference with a 4-3 record after a three-game winning streak to close out the season with a 30-8 win over conference co-champion Louisiana-Lafayette to cap off the season.
Jaguar Volleyball Announces Addition To Coaching Staff
Faith Steinwedell played three seasons at Mississippi State and Cal Baptist and joins the Jaguar coaching staff for the 2014 season. | photo: usajaguars.com
South Alabama volleyball head coach Amy Hendrichovsky announced an addition to her coaching staff on Monday. Faith Steinwedell has joined the team as an assistant coach with her duties including defensive game-planning, scouting and coordinating team travel, Alumni relations and heading up community outreach.
Steinwedell is a native of El Cajon, California where she was a two-time All-Conference and All-League standout at Santa Fe Christian School in Solana Beach, California. She was part of two state championships in 2005 and 2007 and also district titles from 2004-2007. She earned a third-team Untion Times All-San Diego honors and First-Team All-Coastal North League honors in both her junior and senior seasons.
She began her collegiate career at Mississippi State where she had to work through two knee injuries yet still managed to play three seasons for the Bulldogs. Prior to the 2011 and 2012 seasons she was named team captain and ended her career with 493 kills, 559 digs and 162 blocks. She continued her excellent work in the classroom by earning Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll each year from 2008-2012. She was also one of four MSU players to earn SEC Freshman Academic Honors in 2008 and President’s Scholar as a sophomore with a 4.0 GPA.
She then moved to Cal Baptist in Riverside, California where she started all 26 matches in which she played and ranked third on the team in digs (256), total blocks (56), fourth on the team in hitting percentage (.267) and also had 217 kills. During her only season with the Lancers she was selected both 2012 All-PacWest Honorable mention and second-team NCCAA West All-Region while also earning 2012-2013 PacWest Conference Academic All-Conference honors.
Steinwedell earned her bachelors of science degree in kinesiology for sport pedagogy from Mississippi State in 2011 and her master’s degree in kinesiologoy for sports management from Cal Baptist in 2012.
The Jaguars open in the Asics Classic in Malibu, California on August 29 and 30 when they face Pepperdine, Nevada and Oral Roberts in two days. For the full schedule visit the Jaguar Volleyball site here.
The Jags had a trio of freshmen in Mallory Moore, Jessica Lewis and Mechell Daniel who earned numerous Freshmen of the Week honors. Daniel also earned Offensive Player of the week honors, only the fourth Jaguar to earn that honor in program history. Daniel was chosen as the SBC Freshman of the Year, only the second player in program history to earn an individual award, and First-Team All-Conference honors. Lewis also earned Second-Team All-SBC honors.
Welcome to Mobile coach Steinwedell! Go Jags!
Ryal Joins Oklahoma State Cowgirl Program
South Alabama head softball coach Becky Clark is looking to fill a position on her staff this off-season.
It was announced on Friday that South Alabama assistant coach Mark Ryal has joined the Oklahoma State Cowgirl softball team in a similar capacity. Ryal was part of the Jaguar program for one season as the Jaguars went to their third-consecutive NCAA Regional appearance.
This past season the Jaguars went 42-14 overall and were ranked as high as #11 in the NFCA Coaches poll midway through the season. They eventually lost to national runner-up Alabama 3-0 in the Tuscaloosa Regional final. Three players received All-Sun Belt Conference honors this season.
Ryal is a native of Dewar, Oklahoma which is about 115 miles from Stillwater, so his return to Oklahoma is not a surprise.
Kaitlyn Beans Finishes Season Strong At NCAA Track And Field Finals
Kaitlyn Beans’ freshman season finished up on Friday and what a freshman season it was. She jumped a 12.67m mark on her second jump to finish 17th in the 24 person field and finish one spot and two-hundredths of a meter shy of earning a second-team All-American honors.
Beans, a native of Montgomery, Alabama, qualified for the national meet after a 13.18m mark and a seventh place finish at the regional preliminary to become the first individual in program history to advance to the NCAA finals in any of the jumping events. She is also the first freshman to qualify for the nationals in any event. She finishes the season as the school record-holder of 13.19m when she earned the gold-medal at the Sun Belt Conference Championships in May.
Locke St. John Signs With Detroit Tigers
Locke St. John was selected in the 32nd round of the 2014 MLB First-Year draft by the Detroit Tigers. | Photo by: Brad Puckett usajaguars.com
Locke St. John, a junior, has reportedly signed with the Detroit Tigers after being drafted in the 32nd round of the 2014 Major League Baseball First-Year Draft. He was the 970th overall pick and one of 22 pitchers taken by the Tigers in the draft.
St. John finished the season, his only with the Jaguars, with a 6-3 record with a 3.24 ERA in 15 starts. He struck out 52 batters and walked 29 in 97 1/3 innings pitched. He threw one complete game and combined for a shutout this season.
He is the second left handed pitcher to be selected in the draft in as many seasons.
St. John hails from Pell City, Alabama and came to South Alabama by way of Southern Union Community College in Wadley, Alabama where he pitched 100 1/3 innings as a freshman and had an 8-8 record with a 3.93 ERA with 88 strikeouts and two complete games. In his sophomore season he only pitched 8 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts and three walks with a 3.24 ERA before joining the Jaguars.
Congratulations Locke! We will be cheering you on!
Frechou Sets New School Record; Earns First-Team All-American Honors At NCAA Championships
South Alabama’s Renaldo Frechou finished seventh in the men’s hammer throw at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships while setting a new school record with a throw of 67.64m. He also became the sixth individual in program history to be claim All-American honors with his first-team selection.
Frechou entered the event the 15th overall seed and the school record holder in the event. But he would break his own record four different times in his six attempts before finishing with his 67.62m mark on his final throw. That was more than tree meters better than his 64.36m school and Sun Belt Conference record setting throw in the East Region Preliminaries just two weeks ago.
He is the first All-American since the pair of Tonny Okello and Vincent Rono earned honors in 2007 and only the fourth in the history of the men’s program. He is also the first thrower in school history, man or woman, to earn the honor.
Track and Field head coach Paul Brueske had lots of praise for Frechou, “Renaldo came out here against the best hammer throwers in the country and had four throws over his personal best in the biggest meet of the year. This is a great day for him and for our program. He really stepped up and did a fantastic job, and I’m really proud of the way he handled himself today.”
Kaitlyn Beans will represent the Jaguars on Friday in the triple-jump. The event is set to get underway at 5:25pm CDT where the she is seeded ninth among the individuals participating.
Jaguar Football To Host Football Camps Across Alabama This Month
Head Coach Joey Jones talking with a wide receiver preseason practice.
If you live somewhere in Alabama outside of Mobile, there’s a chance that head coach Joey Jones and his staff will be hosting a camp near you this summer. Jones and his staff will host five camps across the state later this month, beginning with a two-day camp on the campus of the University of South Alabama followed by camps in Dothan, Montgomery, Birmingham and Decatur.
The two-day camp in Mobile will be for players from the ninth to 12th grades on June 20 and 21 on the University of South Alabama intramural fields in front of the Football Fieldhouse. The participants have a couple of options for the camp, they can attend both days and stay overnight on campus ($200), participate both days and commute ($180) or participate on one of the two days without an overnight stay ($100).
The four other camps will be held at locations around the state beginning with Dothan on June 22 at Rip Hewes Stadium from 6-8:30pm. Montgomery on June 23 at Park Crossing High School from 5-7:30pm. Birmingham on June 24 at Oak Mountain High School from 6-8:30pm. Decatur on June 25 at Decatur High School from 6-8:30.
Each of the four camps across the state will only cost $30 per participant and is open to ninth through 12th graders. The road camps will be shorter versions of what the coaching staff will be doing at the two-day camp in Mobile where they will be teaching fundamentals for each position.
Additionally the school will be sponsoring a 7-on-7 camp on June 19 from 4-9pm on the Jaguar Practice Fields behind the Football Fieldhouse on the South Alabama campus. It will be open to ninth through 12th graders for a full team and will be held in conjunction with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It will cost $345 per team to participate.
South Alabama finished 6-6 overall and bowl eligible in their first season as a full Football Bowl Subdivision member and eligible for postseason play. Though they did not receive a bowl invitation. They finished third in the Sun Belt with a 4-3 record after finishing the season with a three-game winning streak including a season finale win over SBC Co-Champion Louisiana-Lafayette by a score of 30-8.
The camp is yet another way the Jaguar coaching staff is trying to get their name out to reach young prospects in the state of Alabama to build off of the name recognition last season brought the program. “People look at what we did in our first season of D1 (competition) last year and (prospects) saw the Tennessee game (close loss in Knoxville),” Jones told Alabama Media Group. “It’s just amazing what a game like that can do (in terms of recognition). There’s just a lot of excitement around the program and the players are seeing that.”
This season the Jaguars will open on September 6 against Kent State before returning home to host Mississippi State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on September 13. They will also travel to South Carolina on November 22 and finish out the season at home by hosting Navy. Between Mississippi State and South Carolina, the Jags will play an eight game Sun Belt Conference schedule in nine weeks.
For more information about South Alabama’s football camps you can visit the website www.jaguarfootballcamps.com. Participants can register online or on site for the camps.
South Alabama Releases 2014 Women’s Soccer Schedule
South Alabama released the 2014 women’s soccer schedule on Tuesday. Out of the 20 matches scheduled, 11 of them will be in Mobile.
A home exhibition match against Jacksonville State on August 15th will get their schedule underway before the regular season debut when they host UAB on August 22. UAB defeated the Jaguars 3-2 last season in Birmingham as they finished the season 11-7-2. Nicholls State will visit on August 24, they finished the 2013 season with a record of 12-6-2 with one of their two ties coming against the Jaguars in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
The following weekend the Jags will travel to Troy for the Trojan Classic where the Jags will face Tennessee Tech and Kennesaw State on August 29 and 31 respectively.
On September 5 they will return home to host Southern Miss before three-consecutive games on the road against Southern (September 7), Mississippi State (September 12) and Alabama A&M (September 14).
South Alabama will then host the Jaguar Classic to start a five-match homestand which will also begin conference play for the Jaguars. USA will face North Florida and Fancis Marion on September 19 and 21 respectively. Then they will begin their Sun Belt Conference schedule with Troy on September 26, Louisiana-Monroe on October 3 and Louisiana-Lafayette on October 5.
The Jags will then rotate between pairs of road and homestands to finish out the season. It will begin with a two match road trip at Texas State on October 10 and Appalachian State on October 12. Followed up with a two match homestand against Georgia Southern and Georgia State on October 17 and 19 respectively.
They will then finish out the season with two matches on the road against Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock on October 24 and 26 respectively.
The Jags will look to defend their Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship on November 5-9 at The Cage on the South Alabama campus.
“The opening weekend is going to be big for us,” coach Winkworth said. “We play two teams that we failed to beat last season, so we know we’re going to be in for a test.”
“Our conference schedule is very tough,” Winkworth continued. “We have a lot of traveling to do with flights and long bus rides, so that’s going to be very difficult. The hardest thing is that we’re going to have such a young squad and getting them used to the rigors of such intense travel is going to be difficult, but we have some pretty good leadership with the 10 that are returning so I’m excited about that.”
South Alabama Announced Kickoff Times For Mississippi State, Troy Home Games
Jaguar Pat Moore closes in on Mississippi State quarterback Tyler Russell in the first quarter of the Jaguars 30-10 loss to the Bulldogs on September 22, 2012.
The University of South Alabama announced the times for two more football games this fall.
The Jaguars home opener against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday, September 13 will kick off at 3pm (CDT) at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. It will also be be nationally televised on ESPN News.
The Jags game against the Bulldogs will be the second game in a 2-for-1 series. The Jags traveled to Starkville in 2012 and will return to Starkville in 2016 in the third and final game of the three-game series.
The Jaguars will host Sun Belt Conference and in-state rival Troy on Friday, October 24 with kickoff time scheduled for 6:30pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. In the third meeting between the two schools, it will also be the third time that their match-up will be televised. This season it will be televised on ESPNU nationally.
Last season the Jaguars trailed 24-7 early in the third quarter but the Jaguars scored 20 points in the fourth quarter with the 65 yard touchdown pass from Ross Metheny to Jereme Jones and a two-point conversion from Metheny to Corey Besteda to take a 33-27 lead with 0:48 left in the game. However a desperate heave into the endzone by Corey Robinson was caught by Eric Thomas to tie the game with the extra point giving the Trojans a one point lead 34-33 with 0:07 left in the game. The Jags were unable to get it into the endzone with one second left from their own 32 yard line.
Tickets for the Mississippi State home game are currently available only as part of a 2014 Jaguar Football season ticket plan with limited availability on the West side of the stadium. According to the South Alabama Ticket Office, single-game ticket availability is not guaranteed. A season ticket purchase will give you ticket to Mississippi State and Troy along with Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Texas State and Navy. Visit the South Alabama Athletics home page for tickets or call the South Alabama Ticket Office by calling 251.461.1USA.
Coach Fowler Announces Promotion And Hiring On Women’s Basketball Staff
South Alabama Women’s Basketball head coach Terry Fowler announced the promotion of Mallory Luckett to assistant head coach and the hiring of Matthew Daniels as the new director of basketball operations on Monday.
Luckett served as the director of operations for the women’s team last season. She served on coach Fowlers staff at the University of North Alabama for the previous three seasons. Her first two seasons she served as a graduate assistant before moving into an assistant coaching position for the 2012-2013 season at UNA after earning her master’s degree in criminal justice.
She arrived at UNA after playing four seasons at Murray State where she was a walk-on. She earned a scholarship her sophomore year and became a starter for her junior and senior seasons. During her senior season she became the only Racer to earn a triple-double when she posted 14 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds against Jacksonville State.
During her first season with coach Fowler she helped guide the team to a 21-7 record and a first place finish in the Gulf South Conference East Division. They advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 1994.
Daniels joins the program after spending one season as Jacksonville University where he was a graduate assistant coach on the men’s basketball staff under Cliff Warren for the 2013-2014 season. As a graduate assistant with the Dolphins, he organized and edited video for scouting and player development and also scheduled team functions and events.
Daniels received his bachelors of science degree from UNA in 2012 and began working on his masters of education degree while at JU. While at UNA, Daniels served as a student manager for four seasons 2008-2012 for UNA’s head coach Bobby Champagne. As a senior he also worked as a student worker in the UNA Compliance Office. He has been a member of the Rising Coaches Elite since June 2011.
Congratulations Coach Luckett and welcome to JagNation Coach Daniels.