Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2012-10-09
Head coach Joey Jones and host Lee Shirvanian are joined by Bo Bishop of Baumhower’s, Lloyd Meyers from South Alabama Marketing and linebackers coach Brendt Bedsole.
Coach Jones began the show by saying they have had two of the best practices of the year. It was good that they had Thursday, Friday, Saturday and really Sunday off. He said it was like a really good spring practice because it was very spirited and even had a couple fights they had to break up.
Lee asked if that was normal to have a very physical day. Coach Jones answered by saying they have to have a good physical day each week and theirs is usually Tuesday. They then back off in shells on Thursday so they are not beat up for the game.
Bo Bishop of Baumhower’s Restaurant announced that next tuesday they will have a breast cancer awareness day at Baumhowers. They will be giving a portion of their proceeds to breast cancer awareness. Their featured item was pot roast, they also said that kids eat free all day on Wednesday, trivia on Thursday then games all weekend.
Lee goes back to Coach Jones to ask about Ross Metheny and the advantage he will give the team going into the game as the starting quarterback without any rotation. Coach Jones said that the advantage is that Metheny will get more reps in practice which should make him better in the games. Jones said that Metheny has had a good week so far and really cares about it by watching lots of film and trying to understand everything he needs to do.
Then Lee asked about his leadership ability. Coach Jones said that Metheny shows good leadership and players are responding in the huddle. He corrects players without jumping on them and the players seem to be listening to him.
Lee commented how there are rotations at so many positions but that quarterback is not a position is rotated because of the importance at that position. He then asked how C.J. Bennett is taking it since he was the starter all last season and back into the season previous to that. Coach Jones indicated that C.J. is taking it well and working hard. Jones also said that players are working hard every week competing for their position and C.J. knows he can get back into it like any other position and he needs to be ready to go in at any point.
The Orthopedic Group Injury Report: Coach Jones said taht all of the defensive linemen were out there today. However Randon Carnathan had a gold non-contact jersey on but is in the 90% healthy range. Montavious Williams ankle still hurts from the high ankle sprain he suffered at Mississippi State a little but he will play on Saturday. Actually every one will play. Also mentioned that B.J. Scott is good to go.
Lee asked about South Alabama procedure about concussions. Coach Jones said that concussions are very detailed process. They put the players through a battery of tests. No only do they test them while relaxed, they also test them after exhertion. If they get a headache after exercise they will not allow them to play. They are very careful about that injury because the health of the players is more important than football.
Arkansas State is in the top two or three in the conference. Their quarterback was player of the year in the conference. They have lots of Juniors and Seniorts.
New coach Brendt Bedsole has experience in radio and with the team. He has transitioned from the role of Director of Operations to an on-field coach now. He hopes his players say that he is a teacher.
Lee asked if he saw the report of Auburn coach Gene Chizik apologizing to the fans for them leaving the game early. Lee then asked if he had ever seen that before. Jones said that sometimes when you are in a situation like that and get frustrated, you say things you shouldn’t have said. But Jones said that he has learned that sometimes you hold your tongue and you may reconsider what you were or did say. As a coach you don’t want to let anyone down.
Gus Malzahn, the former offensive coordinator at Auburn, is now the head coach at Arkansas State. Coach Jones said that the biggest thing they do is that they do a great job of self-scouting. They do something for a couple weeks then the next week they change a certain scheme so just when you think you have them down, they change stuff.
Also coach Jones said that they do a great job of spreading the ball. By that he means that they are good at using the whole field. Bedsole then said that they use every yard of the field, width and length, with their offense. Its the same offense in many ways as the offense they used to win the NC again Oregon, beating Alabama after coming from being down 27-0 at halftime. They do run lots of base plays, but with lots of “window dressing” on them.
Coach Jones said that, when you run an offense like that, you have to have a quarterback that can do it. You can’t have a quarterback who can’t run or one that makes the wrong decision on running or passing. Their quarterback Ryan Aplin does a great job, he is big, great arm and can run. He could be an NFL quarterback.
Lee then asked coach Bedsole what the keys were for this week. The key is to be very disciplined. He said 1: Lining up 2: being disciplined, which he said was reading your keys whatever they are and 3: believe what you see.
Lee said that when he asked an Ole Miss assistant that was previously an assistant under Hugh Freeze at Arkansas State, what South Alabama is walking into in Jonesboro he was caught off-guard with the answer. The assistant did not mention players he mentioned the travel to get there is the worst.
Coach Jones said that travel is something that they keep in mind each week for the players. They don’t want any lost time. But Jones continued by saying that you can’t help it when you have to fly into memphis then a have a 90 minute bus drive to Jonesboro. Jones indicated that it will basically be 6 hours of travel for them. They will leave Mobile, fly to Memphis, bus to Jonesboro, go to the stadium for a walk-through it will be around 6 hours.
Talking about their defense, Lee asked if it presented anything different from what they have already seen this season. Coach Jones said that they don’t present anything totally different. Their defensive coordinator comes from Georgia State and likes to blitz and bring pressure off the edge. Their defensive linemen are very athletic and good about getting off blocks.
Lee asked about T.J. Glover and big plays. T.J. played running back his first year, and he is back to running back. Hopefully he can make some big plays from running back.
Coach Jones thinks that, offensively, the changes they have made will make them more competitive. They are close, they just have to get over that hump. He mentioned that at the beginning of this season they were starting two freshmen and five sophomores on offense, so they are very young.
Lee asked about the offensive line and how that they have moved Tremain smith to left guard. Lee asked if that was showing more cohesiveness. Coach Jones said it was and that they are a better offensive line this year than last year. He said that it may not look like it on the outside looking in, but they are better and they are continuing to get better.
Lloyd Meyers, the assistant marking director came on to make some announcements. He said that this is about 35,000 seats in Jonesboro and Jag fans going to the game should wear white.
He also announced that homecoming will be next week against FAU. Fun Fest carnival will be Thursday night and it will be free and open to the public. Friday is a big day with moulton tower mural dedication, wall of honor unveiling, homecoming parade and pep rally. Game time is not known yet due to possible tv interest like any game but coach Jones thinks it’s 2:30. It should be announced this week though.
A caller asked if Coach Jones has a different game plan for 3:00 left in the game. he answered by saying that they have two different game plans, four-minute offense where, if they are ahead, they slow it down and use the clock. If they are behind, they have what they call a two-minute offense where they speed it up and try to get out of bounds and stuff.
Lee asked if college football should they have the two-minute warning like in NFL? Coach Jones said he doesn’t know it wouldn’t matter that much really. There are positives and negatives for and against it.
Another caller asked Coach JOnes concerning the spread offense and mentioned Coach Saban talking about it recently. Coach Jones said that a team has to have a good quarterback who can distribute the ball and be able to run the ball. We [South Alabama] are not to that maturity point to be able to pressure the defenses as other teams who have been running the offense longer. When they can do that you still have to be able to run the ball but when you can pressure the other team it can wear the defense down.
Coach Jones spoke very highly of Jake Johnson, the answer to the trivia question for the day. He leads the Sun Belt in tackles per game. They said he weighs 240lbs and runs a 4.53 – 40 and are very fortunate to have him on the team. Been putting him on the edge and rushing the quarterback with him in the last few games.
They then talked about coordinators and coaches on the sidelines versus in the press booth. The offensive coordinator Robert Matthews is in the booth calling plays. But so is coach Bedsole. Defensive coordinators tend to be on the sidelines because they are reactors. They have to quickly react to what the offense is doing on the field. While the offense is actors, they dictate what goes on on the field for the most part. The defensive coaches and coordinators tend to be on the sidelines so they coach the players and relay observations quickly to the players.
Another caller asked for an update on transfer James Elliot. Coach Jones said that he was cleared by the NCAA to play about a week ago and is doing well and getting more reps now. The caller also asked if Coach Jones was involved any in the play calling. Coach Jones said that he does have input in play calling. However he tries to let coach Matthews call the game but coach Jones does controls if they are going to go for it on fourth down of if there are any deep throws they may want to do.
Lee asked if Jaret Palmer is in the rotation at tight end since he noticed him playing quite a bit against Troy. Coach Jones said he is doing a great job and has worked himself into getting some playing time. Palmer previously played as a receiver.
Lee asked if Coach Jones was hands on with the defense as he is with the offense. Jones answered by saying no, he is more of an offensive guy. Jones continued by saying that most head coaches tend to lean to one side or the other.
Lee asked if Arkansas State has any break-out players that are dangerous that the Jags will have to keep tabs on. Coach Jones indicated that Josh Jarboe is quick and has the ability to score anytime he has the ball. Their quarterback Aplin is the same way and he has the ball on every play on offense.
Coach Jones said that he called for a radio interview in Arkansas leading up to the game this week and they asked him about their schedule being in the Sun Belt for the first time and playing Hawaii. Coach Jones said that he answered that every week is something new with this team. This will be the Jags first sun belt road game so they will be learning.
Brendt Bedsole Glad To Be Back Coaching Again
The South Alabama football program’s newest on-field coach, Brendt Bedsole, has been waiting for this opportunity for about three seasons. Bedsole joined the program as the director of football operations but he said his true calling was to be on the field.
He last coached in 2008 which was his second year as an assistant coach for Hoover High School. Prior to that he served as a graduate assistant, Student assistant at Auburn, Trinity High, Murray State and Samford.
Bedsole is back coaching, but not the way he envisioned. The unexpected death of former assistant coach Kurt Crain hit the players and staff, including Bedsole, very hard.
When Head coach Joey Jones hired Bedsole for the director of football operations shortly after he was hired to start football at South Alabama, he let Coach Jones know that he was very interested in getting back to coaching when the opportunity arose.
“That was my original hope and I let that be known to coach Jones,” Bedsole said. “That’s where I feel more comfortable. It’s my natural position. It’s what I got into this profession to do, to coach on the field and affect young men’s lives. Not just coach them football but to teach them about other things outside the white lines, things about life and how to be a good daddy and be a good husband. … Not that I couldn’t do that as a football operations director, but you get more of a personal relationship with your players when you coach them on a day-in and day-out situation.”
Bedsole is thankful for his position to be back coaching again. “There’s 124 FBS teams and nine assistant coaches on each team,” he said. “The odds of getting one of these jobs is pretty slim. I’ve sat down before and done the math. There’s only 1,116 such jobs in the United States and I have one of them. That makes it pretty special. And I don’t take it for granted. Coaching isn’t a job, it’s a calling. It’s something I couldn’t get out of my system.”
Latest News About South Alabama Sports
Lady Jaguar Softball Team, Sun Belt Champions
The South Alabama Lady Jaguar Softball team is in Tuscaloosa and will play Georgia Tech today at 3:30 pm in their first ever appearance in NCAA Regional play after defeating rival Louisiana-Lafayette in the Sun Belt Conference Championship. This will be the first time both schools have faced each other on the diamond. Georgia Tech season record stands at 36-21 overall. Most recently, the Yellow Jackets beat Virginia, No. 19 Florida State and Virginia Tech to become the 2012 ACC Tournament champions to get the #2 seed in the Tuscaloosa Regional. Visit the USAJaguars.com page for links to information about the Tuscaloosa regional and for links to live radio coverage this afternoon.
Coach Joey Jones and the South Alabama Football team announced recently that they have promoted Brendt Bedsole from Director of Football Operations to be an on-field coach. Last month coach Kurt Crain died unexpectedly. Coach Brian Turner will return to coaching the entire defensive line, defensive coordinator Bill Clark will coach the inside linebackers and Coach Bedsole will coach the outside linebackers according to an interview on WNSP’s Morning Sports Show. Coach Bedsole has coached at three Universities before; Samford, Murray State and Auburn as well as Hoover High School before joining the Jaguar staff.
Myles Gibbon takes in Carter-Finley Stadium before the team takes the field for warm-ups.
Myles Gibbon, the Jaguars first starting quarterback, graduated on Saturday and will be transferring to a school closer to his native home in Canada. He has two years of eligibility remaining and can play immediately since he has graduated with his undergrad degree. Gibbon was responsible for the throw to Courtney Smith for the first ever touchdown in Jaguar history against Hargrave Military Academy.
Gibbon started six of the programs seven games in it’s first season, missing the last game with an injury. That season he led the team in total offense with 632 yards, was 29-of-51 passing for 538 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 94 yards and two more touchdowns. He then started the first two games of the 2010 season and played in seven of the Jags 10 games that year, passing for 325 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 68 yards and a touchdown. Last season, however, he played sparingly yet rushing for 105 yards and passing for just 82 yards and one touchdown. His career totals as a Jaguar stand at 865 yards passing with nine touchdowns and ran for 267 yards and three touchdowns, a total offense of 1,132 yards. He was responsible for 12 scores total.
Congratulations on your graduation Myles, you have been an excellent ambassador for the South Alabama program and remain a role model for student-athletes entering the program.