Coach Jones To Participate In Online Fan Forum
On Monday afternoon Head coach Joey Jones, in a partnership with C Spire Wireless, will be participating in an online forum to answer questions from Jaguar fans.
C Spire Wireless is kicking off its first-ever CIRCLE Blitz College Football Question and Answer series on August 13. They will be directly connecting fans with the coaches they love and admire. Fans will be able to get the inside story on their teams’ winning strategy for the 2012 college football season.
The forum will take place in C Spire’s online community called CIRCLE. Fans will post questions on CIRCLE and coaches from the top football programs in the region will be able to respond directly to the fans. They will be offering valuable information about the upcoming football season. Also fans posting questions to the forum will be entered into a drawing for prizes ranging from game tickets to autographed school and team paraphernalia.
Coach Jones will be the first of seven head football coaches. Others that will be participating includes Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen, Ole Miss’s Hugh Freeze and Southern Mississippi’s Ellis Johnson.
Any fan can join the online forum and post questions by visiting the CIRCLE Blitz website. Each forum will last one hour and will be dedicated to a specific coach and school.
Get your questions ready and post them online at www.cspire.com/circleblitz. Coach Jones’ forum is scheduled to begin at noon on Monday, August 13.
Go Jags!!
South Alabama Completes First Two-A-Day Practice
Head Coach Joey Jones speaks to his team after the conclusion of the Jaguars first practice of preseason camp.
Thursday morning, the Jags completed an hour-and-a-half practice session. It was the first half of the Jags first two-a-day scheduled for preseason camp.
They opened practice with special teams work before they broke off and went into individual group position drills. Later in the practice the offense and defense worked against each other. Kendall Houston notched a touchdown running the ball and C.J. Bennett found Jereme Jones for a touchdown pass as well.
The morning session had lots of emphasis on routes. Receivers were tasked with getting seperation from defenders in certain instances, improvising routes on the fly. Nathan Sassaman bumped a defender on a fly route and caught a pass for a touchdown.
During the full team drills, the defense caused problems. C.J. Bennett had problems finding players and had at least three interceptions. A string of three pass defenses in a row was followed by an interception by a defensive lineman. Enrique Williams had an impressive stop on Demetre Baker up the middle. Eddy Cabrera notched a couple of pass breakups.
Ross Metheny had similar problems as Bennett did, but did showcase some impressive scrambling ability. Corey Besteda continued to impress observers with a behind the back, one-handed catch.
The staff closed the practice with more special teams work followed by conditioning drills.
“I thought we came out with a great attitude this morning,” said head coach Joey Jones. “We looked real sharp. I was pleased with it overall. They worked and had a good session with the offense going against the defense. I thought we achieved what we needed to achieve today. We have to come back out this afternoon and be ready to go. There’s nothing easy about it, we just have to suck it up and go.”
He continued by saying, “We have to fight through the tough things. Toughness is one of the three things we talk about. We have to practice toughness to be tough, so that’s why we do it.”
The Jags returned to the Jaguar Practice Facility for a 4:30pm practice session. The second half of the Jaguars two-a-day practice saw some emphasis on running backs working on holding blocks on passing plays.
After a session of 11-on-11 work, the team moved to red zone passing plays. Bryant Lavender and Greg Hollinger made some great catches against the Jaguar defenders.
The team also practice a two-minute drill for the first time this preseason. The first string, led by Bennett, failed to convert on 4th down at the 34 yard line. The second string, led by Metheny, drove down to the 26 yard line with ten seconds left before having to settle for a field goal.
Kicker Michel Chapuseaux kicked for the first time this preseason. Both he and Aleem Sunanon were kicking well from 40+ yards out. Chapuseax nailed a 47 yard field goal in a hurry-up situation with 3 seconds remaining.
The Jags will return to the practice field for a lighter practice session as they prepare for their first scrimmage of the preseason on Saturday. The Saturday scrimmage will be closed to the public.
Jags Continue To Make Strides In Preseason Camp
Coach Tommy Perry talks with running back Terrance Timmons during preseason camp.
The Jaguars returned the to the field for their third consecutive day of practice this week and their sixth thus far of preseason camp. It was also their second day of practice in full pads as well.
Coach Jones and his staff backed off slightly today, instead of practicing for nearly three hours, they only went for about two hours in a hot, humid morning practice.
“Practice was good,” Coach Jones explained. “I challenged them today. I thought there were times we were up and times we were a little bit down, the heat really got to us a little bit. But, I kept seeing them fighting back and getting better. When they dipped down, I thought they might be done, but they fought back which I was real proud of. We have to concentrate in those times when it’s hot, the mistakes you make when you’re tired are what loses ball games. We have to be able to concentrate and do what we are supposed to do.”
They began practice with team drills with the ball placed at the offense’s 35-yard line. Returning starter C.J. Bennett began the drill with a 10-yard pass to Bryant Lavender. Demetre Baker picked up at least five yard on rushes twice as well. Ross Metheny and Wes Saxton combined for a 20-yard completion as well. Terrance Timmons made a couple good runs as well.
The final period of team drills had the first and second teams running three goal-line plays from the defense’s three-yard line. Kendall Houston was stopped twice by Ben Giles in the first three plays from scrimmage. Ross Metheny found Wes Saxton in the end zone for a touchdown. Demetre Baker found his way into the end zone twice.
“It was good,” Jones said of the goal-line drills. “The defense came out first series and stopped the offense, but the offense got better on the next set of downs. It was like two heavyweights punching each other, I liked it.”
While being satisfied with how the offense has been progressing so far during preseason camp, he knows what they need to continue to focus on as they progress through camp. “The consistency has to be there,” he stated. “You want them to be successful every play, that’s not going to happen, but the offense hit some plays today. I see some good things. If we can shore up the line of scrimmage where we can really block and protect, we have enough skill to where we will be able to do some good things. We’re putting a lot of pressure on those guys up front to do what they are supposed to do.”
With the Jags facing their first two-a-days beginning tomorrow, Coach Jones knows the players are getting tired. “The biggest thing is we have to fight through,” he said. “We’re at the point where our legs are getting tired, but we will have to battle through that. We’ll back off Friday before the scrimmage, so the coaches are going to stop installing and getting things ready for Saturday. That way we can evaluate the kids better. We don’t want them confused Saturday, we want them to be able to execute and show us what they can do.”
As mentioned above, the Jags will go out onto the practice field twice tomorrow. Their first practice will begin around 7:15am then they will return to the field for the second session around 4:30pm. Each should be around one and a half hours in duration.
South Alabama Hits The Field In Full Pads
Quarterbacks Trey Fetner and transfer Ross Metheny participating in position drills.
The Jaguars took to the practice field for their fifth time during preseason camp on Tuesday morning. Though this was the first time they were able to don full pads.
Practice went for almost three hours at the Jaguar Practice Facility behind the Football Fieldhouse on the South Alabama Campus. After warmups, they began with special teams and position-specific drills. Then the offense and defense faced off against each other in first and third-down situational drills which lasted for about 15 minutes.
Highlights from this segment included a 35-yard completion from Trey Fetner to Cameron Broadnax, a 15-yard run by Ross Metheny, a 10-yard gain by T.J. Glover and another 10-yard gain by Fetner. While on the defensive side of the ball, Will Thompson notched a sack and a fumble recovery and Bryson James and Eddy Cabrera both notched a pass breakup each.
The next session was the 7-on-7 skeleton passing drills for about 15 plays. C.J. Bennett went 4-of-7 with a touchdown pass to Wes Saxton for five yards. Metheny recorded three pass completions with one of them going for a 10-yard touchdown to Cameron Broadnax.
The Jaguar offense and defense met in the next session with the ball placed at midfield. Highlights from this drill was a 15-yard rush by Kendall Houston and a 17-yard completion from Bennett to Terrance Timmons. Defensively Thompson added a tackle-for-loss to his daily total, Cabrera added another pass breakup as well and Jake Johnson also recorded a pass breakup.
Coach Jones thought practice went well again. “I thought we had a good practice intensity-wise,” Jones said. “The defense is getting better in pass coverage. I’ve noticed that and talked with coach Walker about that during practice. We’re sticking much tighter to the receivers and the zone coverages are harder to find, so we’re getting better on defense. Offensively, it’s a continuation but I think we’ve made some progress. I really like the effort again. They came out with intensity and practiced hard, so we’re excited about that.”
Senior Linebacker Jake Johnson was excited to put the pads back on as well. “It’s always good to get the pads back on,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for this season since I came here to play. It’s a great opportunity to really show what our team is made of. We have gotten bigger, faster and stronger, which is really key.”
B.J. Scott also mentioned that the Jaguars are getting better. “We had good weather and guys were flying around. We got better today,” said Scott. “We are preparing and getting ready every day, and we’ll see what we can do when it’s time. But we should be better off with the experience and leadership we have on defense this year.”
The Jags will return to the field at 7:15am on Wednesday.
Jags Make Impression After Off Day
Defensive coordinator Bill Clark working with Jake Johnson and the linebackers during individual drills on Saturday morning.
After the first three practices, although the Friday practice was shortened to about an hour by incliment weather, the Jags got a well deserved day off on Sunday. When the team returned to the practice field Monday morning, the Jags put on an impressive showing.
The players were in shells for the second straight practice which spanned nearly three hours at the Jaguar Practice Facility on the campus of the University of South Alabama. It began with almost 45 minutes of individual skill work by both the offense and defense. Then inside drills began with receivers and defensive backs going one-on-one.
Nearing half-way, the team took a five minute break from the increasing heat of the morning to cool off in the shade provided by an open sided building with cooling fans and gatorade. Before returning to the fields, the Jags had a quick warmup stretch and workout.
When they returned to the field, the offense ran about 16 plays against the defense in the first of two team periods during this practice. They also had a pair of skeleton passing drills which spanned about 10-minutes each. The first was in the open field and the second was near the end zone.
The final of the two team periods was over 20 plays in duration near midfield. C.J. Bennett completed passes to five different Jaguars during the period. Jake Howton caught passes from Bennett and Trey Fetner. But the highlight of the session was a great throw and catch from Bennett to Greg Hollinger down the left sideline. Hollinger made the move from wide receiver to tight end in the spring.
Jaguar head coach Joey Jones commented after practice about the improvements made after the day off. “I thought it was a very good day, we definitely got better in practice today,” he said. “There were some mistakes, they always happen, but overall I thought we improved. The kids came to practice. It was almost a three-hour practice out here and they gave great effort. We had a little lull in the middle, but they fought through and got better at the end. We’re learning and fighting through, we didn’t have anyone cramping today, so it was much better.”
Coach Jones also commented how much the secondary has improved. “In the secondary, at the corner position, our coverage is much better,” he continued. “They are playing a lot of man-to-man and able to cover guys. They got beat a couple of times, but the coverage there is getting much better in the secondary.”
The Jags will take the field on Tuesday in full pads for the first time in preseason camp. “I’m anxious to see what will happen,” Coach Jones said about donning full pads for the first time. “It’s not going to change much, we’re not going to tackle a lot, it’s going to be similar to today. Inevitably, when you get the pads on it livens up a little bit, I think something triggers in their heads that they are supposed to go a little harder. We’re looking forward to it, the great thing about it is you can have the ones go against each other on the line of scrimmage, you can really get something done without worrying about anybody getting hurt.”
Other players of note: Cameron Broadnax, a true freshman wide receiver, has looked good through the first four days of practice. The Jags have a number of smaller receivers, Broadnax’s size will definitely help the Jags.
NCAA Board Of Directors Approve New Bowl Selection Process
As talked about earlier this week on Thunderjags, the NCAA Board of Directors approved a new selection process on Thursday for bowl games. This new process includes the possibility of a team with a 5-7 record to be selected to a bowl game.
Under this new measure, on the contingency that there is not enough bowl-eligible teams or if a bowl cannot be filled by its conference affiliations, the open spots would be filled through a six-tier process.
- First consideration will go to 6-6 teams with a win against any FCS teams (Former Division I-AA) regardless of scholarship numbers.
- Then a 6-6 teams with wins over two FCS schools.
- Follow by a team that finish 6-7 and loses in a conference championship game.
- Next a team that finishes 6-7 that play a 13 game schedule allowed under the Hawaii exception (Hawaii and it’s home opponent).
- Then a transitional team moving from FCS to FBS if they have a 6-6 record.
- Finally A team with a top-five APR that finishes 5-7 on the season could be selected.
There are 124 FBS Schools as of 2012 (Four are transitional teams which will be completing their second year of a two year transition). As you probably know by now they are the University of South Alabama, UT-San Antonio, Texas State and UMass. There are four schools that have a bowl ban for the 2012 season, Ohio State, Penn State, North Carolina and most recently UCF.
However two more institutions, Oregon and Miami (FL.) University have cases pending before the NCAA which could further lower the number of bowl-eligible schools to as few as 114 possibly. There are 35 bowl games which opens 70 slots for bowl teams.
In 2011, there was worry that there would not be enough bowl-eligible teams to fill the needed slots. By the end of the season there were 72 teams for the 70 slots, including a 7-5 Western Kentucky team which was not offered a bowl berth.
While we have been told the Jags would not be eligible for a conference championship or a bowl game, that may not be true now. Depending on how the rule is applied, IF the Jaguars can finish with a least a 6-7 record, they could potentially be eligible to fill any empty slot in a bowl game.
“It’s exciting to even hear that news,” Head coach Joey Jones said. “We had put that completely out of our mind and that next year would be the first year that we would have an opportunity. For our players and our staff, that’s something to work toward.”
Jags Second Practice Cut Short Due To Weather
Quarterback CJ Bennett prepares to take a snap in the light rain at the Jaguar Practice Facility on Friday evening.
The Jaguars hit the field for their second practice of preseason camp but cut it short due to weather. After only an hour on the practice field with light rain, Coach Jones has to call off practice due to lightning too close the practice facility.
Saturday’s practice has been moved up from the previously announced 6:30pm time to an early 7:15am practice. This will mark the first time the Jags will hit the field in shells and allowed light contact.
Their short practice allowed them to work on individual drills for a little over 30 minutes before about 15 minutes of skeleton passing drills. It was during the Skeleton drills that the call was made for the players, coaches and staff to return to the Football Fieldhouse.
First year offensive coordinator Robert Matthews said that, after meetings and walkthroughs prior to practice, the offensive unit would not be affected by the weather and that the installation of the game plan will continue to be on schedule when they take the field on Saturday. The offense is converting to the spread from the multiple power offense that had been run previously.
“We had a lot of good meeting time today, but unfortunately lightning popped and we had to go back inside,” Coach Joey Jones stated. “We can make it up with good meeting time and walk through time, but the bottom line is we didn’t get in much of a practice. But we’ll have a good practice tomorrow morning, I’m looking forward to that. We were going to practice in the morning starting on Monday anyway. There’s a 20-30 percent chance of rain tomorrow morning, but 40-50 percent chance in the afternoon, so we rolled the dice and will go in the morning.”
South Alabama Completes First Preseason Practice
Head Coach Joey Jones speaks to his team after the conclusion of the Jaguars first practice of preseason camp.
The University of South Alabama opened preseason camp on Thursday night at the Jaguar Practice Facility behind the Football Fieldhouse. The Jags begin preparing for their season opening match-up against UTSA on August 30 a nearly three hour session. (See videos at end of article)
The players hit the field in shorts and helmets as they began preseason camp which began with individual position drills, one-on-one position drills, multiple 7-on-7 skeleton passing drills, group position skills and about 10 minutes of 11-on-11, offense vs defense drills where they ran around 30 plays.
After warm-ups practice began with individual skill drills for around 30 minutes before going into the first skeleton passing drills which lasted for about 15 minutes. The first and second team units combined for about 24 snaps and the third team was on the field for about 15 or more plays.
The squad came together for another skeleton passing session over an hour later. The first and second teams run about 16 plays each while the third team added at least 10 snaps themselves.
Head coach Joey Jones was pleased with the session but was quick to let the players know that more is expected of them and they still have a long way to go.
“It was a long practice and it was hot out here,” Coach Jones stated. “They came out with great effort and intensity, but we did have a few guys cramp up. They were mentally sharp, but what I challenged them with is to work on everything individually to make our team better. If they can do that and we are better on August 30 than we are now, then we will be achieving our goals. We can’t rest, we need to keep pushing.”
Coach Jones said that he expects a similar distribution of plays to continue next week as they get closer to the first of three preseason scrimmages. After the scrimmage, the coach staff will begin to focus on potential starters and forming a depth chart. “For a week and a half, I would say that we will give equal reps at least through the threes,” he explained. “After that, we’ll have to start to make some decisions.”
Coach Jones was also pleased with the performance of the quarterbacks and receivers. He attributed their success today with their voluntary workouts over the summer.
“I thought our quarterbacks distributed the ball very well,” he said. “You could tell that they have been working through the summer. They knew where to go with the football, and they placed the ball in some good spots. I was pleased with that.”
Some notable players were not on the roster today, Receiver J.J. Keels and Linebacker Logan Bennett were both absent from roster. We were unable to get any reasons why they were not on the roster, however it is suspected it was academics.
The Jags will return to the Practice Facility at 6:30pm on Friday and are scheduled to wear shorts and helmets again.
Head Coach Joey Jones speaking about the first practice of preseason camp.
Demetre Baker speaking after the first practice of preseason camp.
Quarterback CJ Bennett speaking after the first practice of preseason camp.
Brandon Ross speaking after the first practice of preseason camp.
Linebacker Jake Johnson speaking after the first practice of preseason camp.
Players Report Wednesday, Coach Jones Quotes
Head coach Joey Jones working with the field goal unit during South Alabama’s Scrimmage on Saturday, March 3, 2012.
The players are scheduled to report today and they will participate in their first preseason practice on Thursday at 6:30pm at the Jaguar Practice Facility. Below are more quotes from head football coach Joey Jones.
“The thing you look at as we go into Division I is obviously we have a tough schedule and we really respect all the teams we’re going to play. But I also have a lot of respect for our team and our staff and everyone involved in our football organization and the price they’ve paid to get us where we are. It’s an exciting time for us.”
“The thing is, to get better you’ve got to play the best. I think we’re at the point where we’re playing the best. This is going to be the toughest schedule we’ve played, and I’m excited to see our kids step up to the challenge.”
“If our offensive and defensive lines will hold up, we’ll be in pretty good shape. I think a lot of pressure will be put on those guys, as it always is, to be successful. I think our team’s success will definitely be on their shoulders, but I tell them that every year.”
“It’s good to feed off the excitement. There’s no doubt that the kids are excited about this season. But then you look at 13 games in 14 weeks, you’ve got to be steady in what you do. You can’t get too high or too low at any point in the season.”
“You realize you play N.C. State, then Mississippi State, then Troy and then Arkansas State. You start looking at a run like that and there’s no way you can play that roller-coaster game. You’ve got to stay steady. I think that’s up to our team to learn, and it’s something we’re stressing with the staff.”
“(Only one open date) is going to be different for us and it’s something we’ve anticipated and worked on in the offseason to get the players to understand what type of deal we’re going to be in. We’re going to have to do a good job of monitoring that and monitoring our team’s health and their legs and even their mental side. We’ve got to be smart about what we do.”
“One of the big things I think for me and the staff and our players is the fact we’ll be able to measure ourselves against people in our conference. When you’re not in a conference, you kind of play for wins and losses and that’s all well and good. But when you come up against competition against other teams in your conference, that’s what it’s all about. That makes you competitive. It makes you competitive in recruiting, it makes you competitive on the field and every day you’ve got to get better. That’s something that excites me and I know it excites everyone else that’s involved.”
“(Thursday’s first practice) is going to be fun. I was able to get away and get some time off, but all of a sudden now you’re ready to get back. It’s been a good break for everyone, and we’re ready to go to work.”
Continue checking back as Thunderjags covers preseason camp and the entire season.
South Alabama Gets Lots Of Press Over EA Fumble
Kendall Houston as an alternate cover of NCAA Football 13
Several writers around the nation who cover College Football have written posts about NCAA Football ’13 set to release next month by EA Sports and how South Alabama is missing while UTSA, Texas State and UMass are all three included. South Alabama trustees voted on December 6, 2007 to add football and then hired Joey Jones to be the first coach on February 15, 2008 and played their first game in 2009.
However in 2009, they announced they were taking the most expedient route available under NCAA rules to become a full member of the FBS division of football. The three other schools only recently announced their intentions of moving up to the FBS level and will be classified the same as South Alabama.
An EA Sports communication manager Julie Foster said, “South Alabama was a provisional member of FBS last year and did not play a full FBS schedule. We did not receive confirmation that they were changing to a full FBS schedule this year until it was too late for inclusion in NCAA Football 13. South Alabama will be included in NCAA Football 14.” Further clarification was not made, however.
But this has left a sour taste in the mouth of many South Alabama fans. Many, like myself, have looked forward for over three and a half years to see our school among the storied programs of Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, USC and Oklahoma in a video game. Unfortunately, we have to wait yet another year and it was not the fault of our school. It was a complete blunder by EA Sports.
Among those who have written about this are Kevin McGuire, Sports Video Game Examiner; Jason Kirk, College Football Editor and co-host of Shutdown Fullback at SBNation (first and second articles); Graham Watson at Dr. Saturday a Yahoo! Sports Blog and one of my favorite writers, Holly Anderson with Sports Illustrated put it in her Weekend Whimsy. (By the way, it wasn’t a paperwork issue either).
But fans have not stopped there, they are attempting to get EA’s attention by tweeting with the hashtag #FreeSouthAlabama. While I don’t work in the game development world, I do work in the field of software and studied game development (a little). I doubt they can add us to the game that will be shipped out next month, but us in Jag Nation hope that we will be included with an online update at least. But the last thing I want is a half-hearted attempt to stuff us in the game.
EA highly disappointed me and they disappointed all of us in the South Alabama family. I hope this will be rectified in the next edition, a very long year from now. But there are seniors on this years squad who will not get to see their number out on the field wearing the Jaguar Red, White and Blue. It’s those guys who I feel for. Some of them came to South when there wasn’t a football field house. They came on a vision and will be leaving a program that is well on it’s way to great heights. It’s already something special.
C.J. Bennett as the alternate cover for NCAA Football 13. Image created by J.T. Crabtree.