Jags Hire Jerry Mack As Wide Receivers Coach
South Alabama announced the hiring of Jerry Mack to be the wide receivers coach to fill the vacant position left when Coach Ron Antoine left for the same position at Fresno State.
Coach Mack played wide receiver for one season at Jackson State before transferring to Arkansas State. He received his bachelor’s degree from there in 2003. The then went on to have three internships in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets. The then came back to the college ranks to coach as an assistant at Delta State from 2004-2006, Jackson State (2006-2008) and Central Arkansas (2008-2010). Then in 2010 he served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arkansas-Pine Bluff for a year. Last season he coached at Memphis, his hometown.
Mack joins an offensive staff undergoing a change from last season. Last year Coach Jones announced that former Offensive Coordinator Greg Gregory would not be returning and hired Robert Matthews from Southern Miss as his replacement. Matthews brings a spread offense he was a part of at Oklahoma State and Southern Miss.
He joins the staff just over a week before spring practice begins. “I’m just trying to get in here and learn as much as I can from coach Matthews,” he said. “They did a great job at Southern Miss and Oklahoma State where he came from. We played those guys when I was at Memphis, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to get on this staff and learn his system, which is one of the best systems in college football right now. It’s definitely exciting.”
As for his choice to come to South Alabama, the areas reputation was made the choice easy. “The ability to come into the Mobile area was a key,” Mack said. “I have always heard great things about it. I think it’s a great place to raise a family. As for South Alabama, I think it’s on the cutting edge of college football right now. It’s one of the top programs, I feel like, in the Southeastern region.”
Familiarity with the region and the teams in it were also a decision factor. He is familiar with Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee from the Sun Belt and Hawaii. But Mack is also familiar with the area in recruiting.
Mack spoke about what he would like to do with the receiver corps. “These guys had a good foundation (from Antoine),” Mack said. “I’m going to be able to help take what he had established and build on that. I’m a different style of coach than he is. I’m going to bring a different mentality to the receiver position; being more aggressive. Hopefully, we can improve on our guys’ blocking as well as catching passes and help them understand the new scheme. I’m just going to build on what the previous coach had established.”
Coach Mack was selected from a list of over 100 applicants.