Jag Video: Strength And Conditioning
This video was posted yesterday and it goes inside the South Alabama locker room and show the Jags commitment in getting stronger, faster and better players. If this doesn’t get you excited for this Fall, there’s not much that will.
Jags Spring Practice Is Winding Down
The Jags started the week with a lively practice on Monday morning after playing hard and getting beat up in last Saturday’s scrimmage. But much to Coach Jones’ delight, they came out and worked hard.
The players know they have a limited amount of time to impress the coaches with the end of Spring practice closing in. With practices on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday this week before tomorrow’s scrimmage, time is quickly running out.
Monday’s play was highlighted by improved play from the offensive line, which is something Coach Jones wants to see on a regular basis. While Wednesday’s practice was highlighted by some situational drills pitting offense against defense on full 11-on-11 play.
One of the drills was red zone play with a couple of big plays from Kelly Vail with a 21-yard reverse for a touchdown and a 19 yard catch on 3rd-and-10 to set up another touchdown.
The other full team drill was running third down plays with varying distances for the first down.
On Thursday the team had a light workout in preparation for the scrimmage on Saturday.
Coach Jones spoke about Wednesday’s practice by saying, “It was a real good day today. The offense came out and got better, and the defense played real hard. The defense has been knocking the offense around a little bit, but offensively we came out and competed, which is good. We’re creating competition out here every day, and have really gotten better not only from last fall to now but from the beginning of the spring to this point. We haven’t wasted a day.”
The offense did well throwing the ball in last Saturday’s scrimmage. However they were pounded by the defense whenever they tried to run the ball. But this week they have responded well as Coach Jones observes, “They got knocked around a little bit, but when your back is up against the wall you tend to react one way or another. Thank God they reacted in a positive way. They came out and worked and took it to heart. It’s not that the offense has come out and dominated, but they have gotten better. That’s what you’re looking for.”
But Jones is also pleased with the defense’s ability to stop the run as well as the offense’s attack developing more balance. The team has improved from last season as Coach Jones also comments about, “If you look where we were at the end of last season and where we are now, we’re a much better football team. We have a long way to go, but the bottom line is that we have improved, and a lot of that is an offseason in the weight room, maturity and experience. When you have a bunch of freshmen, the learning curve is going to be steep.”
Saturday’s scrimmage should be about 120 plays covering a variety of game situations beginning at 11am. Coach Jones said, “We’re interested in reps. We want to get them out there and put them in situations that we know we need to cover.”
He further said, “This is going to be what I call the last day of spring. We’re going to get everyone on the field so that we will be able to go back and look at the film to evaluate how they did ‘under the lights,’ so to speak. It’s going to be an important day for some of these guys. Some players know their positions are on the line and that they will need to come through on Saturday.”
This scrimmage will be the 12th of their 15 for the spring. With only two more practices scheduled before Wednesday’s spring game, or what Thunderjags refers to as the JagDay game. The JagDay Game will be held at Ladd-Peebles Stadium beginning at 6pm with the parking lot opening at 3pm for tailgating.
Jaguars Hold First Scrimmage Of Spring Practice
Saturday was the Jaguars first scrimmage of Spring practice and their focus was the passing game. Brennan Sim and Myles Gibbon each threw two touchdowns as the Jaguars offense racked up 286 yards through the air.
Sims was 11-of-21 with 172 yards with his two touchdowns while Gibbon went 6-of-9 for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Gabe Graham completed all four of his passing attempts for 22 yards as well. The Jags had 11 different receivers catching passes on the day with Kelly Vail catching four passes for 111 yards. Courtney Smith caught three for 38 yards as well.
While the defense allowed more than eight yards per passing play, they only allowed 66 yards on 58 carries. Linebacker Justin Dunn and Defensive Lineman Darrius McMullin both lead the defense with seven tackles. Enrique Williams had five tackles including 1.5 for loss. Several others had four tackles. Defensive Back Jonathan Cameron had three tackles to go along with his three pass break-ups. Ken Barefield and Zach Brownell both forced fumbles.
Additionally, the defense was credited with 18 tackles behind the line of scrimmage with 10 of them being quarterback sacks.
The first and second team defenses both held the offenses to three-and-outs on the possessions of the days. It was Gabe Graham, the third team quarterback, who would get the offense in gear when he completed a 10 yard pass to Courtney Smith to get the initial first down of the scrimmage.
The first team offense’s next series saw Sim find Kelly Vail inside the five yard line in stride but Brownell caught him from behind and forced a fumble that would roll out of the back of the end zone.
Two possessions later the offense would finally put the first points on the board. Ross would get a first down on his first carry, which would be followed up by Gibbon hitting Corey Besteda on the left sideline for a 49 yard touchdown.
The defense would answer with two consecutive three-and-outs with three sacks in those six plays. Then they ended the third possession when Eddie Cabrera hauled in an interception which he ran back 17 yards.
The first half of the scrimmage would see the offense getting five first downs but unable to score.
The second half of the scrimmage saw the defense open up with four three-and-outs before Brandon Ross would get two first downs for the offense. But no one was able to score.
It wasn’t until offensive possessions started at the defense’s 40 yard line was the final points of the day put on the board.
Sims found Kelly Vail for a 36 yard completion to move the offense inside the five yard line. Then three plays later Sim would find Ryne Baxter in the left corner of the end zone for a touchdown.
Gibbon would helm the next drive which began with an 18 yard pass to Richard Ross but it would only lead to a 30 yard field goal by Jordan Means.
The final four drives of the day were first-and-goal from the nine yard line. The first ended with a 23 yard field goal by Michel Chapuseaux. The next saw Sim find Smith on a fourth down slant pattern for the eight yard score. The final possession had a nine yard touchdown pass to Robby Stoner from Myles Gibbon.
After the scrimmage, Coach Jones commented on how the Jags played. “Offensively, I think we are throwing the ball a little bit better. That has been an area that we have been looking to improve on. Our defense has just gotten tougher against the run, which is what you want to see. Last fall, it was a little bit porous at times against the offense, but they have done a great job of improving. Sure there are things that still need to be corrected, but I have been pleased with their efforts to stop the running game.”
“We’ve made some improvements in the last week-and-a-half, but we have got to have a great week this week,” Coach Jones continued. “The next four practices we have need to be great because when we get to Monday the week of the spring game we are basically going to be done at that point as far as trying to get better. I think the kids will respond to that challenge.”
The Jags will practice in pads on Monday with limited contact beginning at 7am then on Tuesday the team will resume tackling when they hit the field at 7:30am. The second of the three scrimmages this spring will be on Saturday, March 6. Practices this week and Saturday’s scrimmage will all be held at the Jaguar Practice Facility near the Jaguar Football Field house.
Spring Practice Continues For The Jaguars
Receiver Ralph Turner lined up during Spring practice.
Starting with the second day of spring practice, the Jags started working on drills. They began on special teams, position drills, 7-on-7 skeleton drills and 11-on-11 offense versus defense. They even had the offense and defense face the scout teams as well.
Coach Jones compares the improvements between the first and second games of last season to the improvements seen between the first and second practices this spring. The coaches unanimously thought that last seasons improvements between the first two games were the biggest of the year.
Thus on Friday, Coach Jones decided to go with full pads for the first time in the Spring on Saturday. The nearly three hour practice on Saturday saw a variety of work for the players.
After warming up, one of the first drills was the punt teams practicing staying in lanes on punt coverage. While on the other end of the field it saw the quarterbacks and receivers working throwing drills and quick throws.
The offense and defense separated onto opposite ends of the field and into three groups and went through fundamental drills. One of the most spirited drills was blocker on tackler with a runner going through the lane. The tackler had to fight through the block in order to get to the runner for the tackle.
Then all of the players met in the middle of the field for a team huddle. They broke the huddle and split into offense and defense again for more drills. They then had skeleton passing drills while the interior offensive and defensive lines practices inside running plays.
Then the real fun began with full offense versus defense drills running first down plays from the 35 yard line. Which went into first and ten drills followed by 3rd and 8 drills trying to pick up the blitz.
After the final huddle, the kickers got a chance to practice kickoffs with returners fielding kicks.
Overall there was alot of hard hitting even though the coaches limited the players to two hand tag most of the time. The players definitely came out with an intensity that carried over from last season.
Coach Jones commented that they need to spend more time learning their assignments because they did make their fair share of mental mistakes. Coach Jones commented, “We’re going to strive to be perfect, so mental mistakes aren’t accepted around here.”
Coach JOnes also made note of Brennan Sim’s passing during practice as well as Tim Harvey and Charlie Higgenbotham on the defensive side.
Tuesday’s practice was the teams first full-contact practice of the spring session. They once again got an early start by hitting the field at 7:30am. They began with agility drills by position then moved onto special teams work. Which was followed by fundamental drills by position. Then around 8:45am they started 11-on-11 drills with the popping of pads meeting on the gridiron. The only non-contact players of the field were the quarterbacks.
They ran about 20 plays total between the first and second teams. This was followed up with offensive and defensive lines ran skeleton pass rush while the secondary teamed up with the receivers and backs for skeleton pass drills.
The Jags then came back together into 11-on-11 drills to close out practice. But it wasn’t your typical offense though. They practiced goal-line stands as an idea of success. Of the final 30 minutes of practice devoted to 11-on-11 drills, half of that was focused on plays near the goal line with the offense and defense cheering each other on from nearby.
The Jags had a huge goal-line stand in last seasons finale against Huntingdon College. With the offense struggling early and after a couple big plays, the Jaguar defense lined up near the goal line. The Jags were about three yards from going behind in a game for the first time but the defense came up huge to ignite the Jags on both sides of the ball.
Forcing a fumble, the Jaguar offense, which had sputtered so far in the game, drove 98 yards for the games opening score of the game and onto the final win of their undefeated season.
Coach Jones was pleased to see the fight and intensity from his players. “I think the defense has stepped up against the run compared to last fall. Coach Schwind and coach Dunn have done a great job with them in the weight room during the off season. They’ve gained weight, gotten faster and stronger and are playing more physical. Offensively, we’re trying to concentrate a little more on throwing the ball well, and running it. We know one of the biggest areas we have to improve upon is throwing the ball well.”
But the intensity and excitement in those final 15 minutes of practice at the goal line really had the players going. Coach Jones said, “I thought we had a real spirited end of practice today. Really, what you’re looking for is competitors and guys who are going to come through in the clutch, when it’s fourth-and-one, on offense and defense. What you’re looking for is those guys who are going to step it up and not back down. That’s why we put them in those situations in practice as much as we can. You can’t do it too much. You don’t want to get people hurt. But it was good to see that at the end of practice.”
Thursday, the Jags will hit the practice field again to continue spring workouts.
Jaguars Hit The Practice Field For First Day Of Spring Camp
South Alabama began their spring football practice session Thursday morning with excitement. Coming off of their first season of competition could be enough for some, but to go an undefeated 7-0 mostly with very decisive victories, one could not write a better script.
The Jags had 115 players in helmets on the first day with lots of familiar faces both coaching and being coached. But they also had a few new faces who enrolled this spring such as Jonathon Cameron and Jereme Jones. Plus a new face on the coaching staff to replace Dameyune Craig who left to join Jimbo Fisher’s staff at Florida State. But in steps Ron Antoine to coach the receivers.
Coach Jones stated that every position is up for grabs. But this spring session was going to be used to further emphasize toughness in addition to fundamentals, but that the running game will get lots of work.
One of those position battles that will definitely be interesting to watch this fall will be the quarterback position. Brennan Sim, a transfer from Oregon State last year, was at a huge disadvantage coming into fall practice last season. He had surgery after developing pneumonia in order to remove some of the infection, which caused him to miss the majority of the preseason conditioning work.
Sim is now healthy and has been participating in the off season workouts and conditioning. But he is also continuing to look good on the field as well. He impressed the coaches last season as he picked up the offense and gained playing time throughout the season. When Myles Gibbon was injured in the sixth game, he got the start in the final game of the season.
With equal footing to begin spring camp, the Sim and Gibbon battle for the starting spot promises to be something to watch. Nick Owen, who was the third string quarterback last season, has left the team and returned to California which leaves Gabe Graham as the third string.
It’s expected that when C.J. Bennett arrives in August, that he may be in the mix for the starting position as well. But that will have to wait until fall camp begins.
Last year on the first day of spring practice, there was a lot of unknowns. But since then several have been answered. But on this first day of practice they all knew where to be and what to do. Coach Jones is no longer starting from scratch as he was last year, but he is building a program before our eyes. He now has players with experience and they are teaching the newcomers the process and they are improving.
Latest News About South Alabama Sports February 16, 2010
Football
Earlier this month, the Jags signed 22 players for their 2010 class. Their process to get to Football Bowl Subdivision play will continue this week as they return to the practice field for Spring workouts.
On Thursday, they will begin working out for 15 practices which includes four full-contact practices and three scrimmages. Their practice period will end on March 10th when they will conclude their spring drill session with a 6pm scrimmage at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Admission and parking will be free. The other 14 workouts will be held at the Jaguars on-campus practice facility near the Football Fieldhouse. All events are open to the public and free.
Head Coach Joey Jones says things will be different from last year. “I expect the first day to be a really good day, as opposed to waiting three to five days to get things going last spring. Last year, we were starting from scratch. Nobody knew terminology or each other, but now we’ve started to build a team. We’ve gone through a summer program, a year and an offseason, so our kids know each other and what to expect from us as coaches. We should be able to pick up from where we were at the end of the season and progress from there.”
The opening week of spring drills will have the Jags out on the practice field for workouts on Thursday at 7:30am and Friday at 7am in only helmets. Then drills on Saturday at 9am with pads but no tackling. Four other full pads practices without full contact are scheduled for February 22, February 24, March 1, and March 8 all will begin around 7am. Their first full-contact practice is scheduled for Tuesday, February 23 at 7:30am with more scheduled for February 25, March 2 and March 4.
The Jags first scrimmage is scheduled for Saturday, February 27 at 9am. Other scrimmages are scheduled on Saturday March 6 at 11am and their final scrimmage on March 10 at 6pm. On Tuesday, March 9 at 9am, the Jags will work out only in pads in preparation for the scrimmage the next day.
Men’s Basketball
Bryan Sherrer went down with a knee injury early in the February 11th game against Florida International. It was announced yesterday by Coach Ronnie Arrow that he tore his lateral meniscus and will miss 2-4 weeks.
Bryan has started the first 26 games of the season and averages just over 10 points per game, which is third best on the team. He also ranks eighth in the nation in free-throw percentage at 90.8%.
This will be a big loss for the Jags as the Sun Belt Conference tournament begins in just about two and a half weeks in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The tournament is the only hope the Jags have to make the NCAA Tournament this season after losing two key players for the rest of the season back in January.
Martino Brock, a freshman, was named the Sun Belt Conference’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Week on Monday. This was his first honor of his collegiant career.
His contributions over the last week lead the Jags to two wins by averaging 18.5 points and 12.5 rebounds. He also recorded two double-doubles. He ranks second on the team in two categories, with a season average of 12.3 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game.
Women’s Basketball
After starting off strong (9-0) in the Sun Belt, the Lady Jags have cooled off with two 3 game losing streaks recently. They are now sitting at 4th place (of six) with a 9-6 record in the Sun Belt eastern division and in 6th place overall in the SBC.
Arkansas-Little Rock and Middle Tennessee State are leading their divisions, both with 13-1 records in the Sun Belt. UALR has the overall edge for the season with a record of 20-5 to MTSU’s 18-5.
However, it just came to our attention that Tashley Gaines has been dismissed from the team. She was the Jags leading rebounder and their third leading scorer. It is unknown why she was dismissed from the team at this time as no official announcement has surfaced.
South Alabama’s 2010 Signing Class
Coach Jones, as always, gave lots of credit to his assistant coaches on the excellent job they have done, both last year and in recruiting since the season ended. He said that recruiting is the lifeblood of a program. Either your program will improve or your program will flounder depending on how well your coaches can recruit players to your school.
Coach Jones continued by saying that last year they had to recruit players by selling them a dream. They had plans for a field house and a practice field, but nothing had been built yet. Now they have a state-of-the-art football field house that is among the nicest in the nation. They have a very nice artificial practice surface. They have an undefeated inaugural season and thousands of season ticket holders filling the stands. They have something concrete to show the players now.
The fans were obviously a big part of the recruiting process. When players attended games for their visit and saw the South Alabama fans come out like they did for each game it really helps the recruiting process by showing the players that the fans truly support the team.
The players they recruited had to meet two criteria. They had to be as good or better than their previous signing class and they had to be good academically. Their previous signing class was quite good and if these guys are better, watch out Sun Belt. The Jags are coming.
Here are the signees for the 2010 class at the University of South Alabama with notes based on the highlight video shown at the National Signing Day Announcement held this evening at the Mitchell Center.
Davin Hawkins a defensive back listed as 6’2″ weighing 215-lbs from Etowah High. Hawkins video showed his speed breaking on the ball and as a kick returner.
Melvin Meggs offensive lineman listed at 6’2″ weighing 320-lbs from Petal High School in Mississippi. Meggs is a big, wide guy who can dominate his opponent.
Rush Hendricks who played full back and inside linebacker listed as 6’2″ weighing 225-lbs from Jay High school in Florida. His highlight video showed him at inside linebacker. It showed that his time at full back helped him develop vision to get to the ball and make the stop.
T.J. Glover listed as an athlete at 5’9″ weighing 170-lbs from Plant High in Tampa, Florida. Glover had good speed, good vision and he made very good cuts.
Trey Sims a defensive back listed at 6’2″ weighing 185-lbs from North Gwinnett High in Buford, Georgia. Sims seemed to have great instincts for the ball.
Drew Dearman an offensive lineman listed at 6’3″ weighing 280-lbs from Vestavia Hills High School. Dearman had very good blocking ability and comes from a school that produces alot of good talent.
Shawn Artz is an offensive lineman listed at 6’6″ weighing 265-lbs from Buford High School in Georgia as well. Artz is very tall but could probably use some more weight (that’s coach Schwind’s job).
Vondre Jackson a defensive back listed at 5’11” weighing 190-lbs from Troup County High in West Point, Georgia. He looks to be another hard hitter with a good nose for the ball. He should make a good compliment to Jerron Mitchell at corner.
David Crumitie a defensive back listed at 5’10” and weighing 170-lbs from Jefferson County High in Monticello, Florida. His video showcased his speed and agility.
Johnny Lockett a running back listed at 5’9″ and weighing 185-lbs from Sweet Water High. He is big and had decent speed. He comes from a perinial powerhouse at Sweet Water in 1A.
Rodney Thomas a defensive lineman listed at 6’1″ weighing 300-lbs from Auburn High School. Thomas is big and can move lineman. Defintely a run stopper.
Ucambre Williams an offensive lineman listed at 6’3″ weighing 250-lbs from Central-Phenix City. Ucambre is one of those dominating offensive linemen. He is going to be in control.
Terrell Brigham a defensive back listed at 6′ and weighing 185-lbs from Burke County High School in Waynesboro, Georgia. In his highlight video he played both quarterback and safety. It accentuated his speed over his throwing ability. I would expect him to play safety for the Jags.
Shane Doty an offensive lineman listed at 6’4″ weighing 255-lbs from Fork Union [Va.] Military Academy. Doty is another one of those big players. He has experience playing since he was at Fork Union and he also faced the Jags.
Colby Harper is a wide receiver listed at 6’1″ weighing 180-lbs from Wylie High in Texas. He ran good routes and is a good possession receiver. He is probably not as fast as some receivers, but his catching ability and work to make people miss makes him a good recruit.
Chris May an offensive lineman listed at 6’3″ weighing 275-lbs from Deshler High School. He is a solid blocker for the offenive line.
Cassius Bradley a defensive back listed at 5’10” and weighing 190-lbs from Blinn Junior College in Caldwell, Texas. He had very good speed off the edge in blitzing plays.
Antwan Williams a defensive back listed at 5’10” and weighing 175-lbs from Hoover High School. He had good ball sense and comes from school known for good players.
C.J. Bennett a quarterback listed at 6′ weighing 200-lbs from Alonso High School in Tampa, Florida. His video showcased his strong arm. His accuracy seemed good, however most of his receivers were well open most of the time.
Jonathan Cameron is a defensive back listed at 6’1″ and weighing 190-lbs from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. A good cover corner with two years of experience which will help the young secondary of the Jags.
Calvin Jenkins is a quarterback listed at 5’11” and weighing 175-lbs from Auburn High School. His video showcased his scrambling ability which highlighted his speed.
Audoniss Madison an offensive lineman listed at 6’5″ and weighing 290-lbs Karr High School in New Orleans, Louisiana. Another tall, large offensive lineman that was a solid blocker.
Recruiting Update For Monday, February 1st
Some updates on recruiting as we near National Signing Day on Wednesday.
Audoniss Madison, a 295-lb, 6’6″ offensive lineman from Edna Karr High School in New Orleans has given his verbal commitment to the South Alabama coaching staff. He received interest from Virginia, Memphis, Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois.
Madison was all-metro, all-district and all-state. He provides size with agility that the Jags need to continue to improve.
Antwan Williams who is a 5’11” 175-lb corner from Hoover High School verbally committed to the Jags. He had received interest from UAB, Memphis, Kentucky and Louisiana Tech. Hoover has been a perinial power in the 6A ranks.
Terrell Brigham, a 6’1″ 185-lb corner from Burke County High School in Georgia. He played both quarterback and cornerback in High School but will play cornerback for South Alabama.
C.J. Bennett a 6′ quarterback from Hillsborough County verbally committed to South Alabama last week. He made a visit to South Florida but did not receive an offer from new coach Skip Holtz. Just before former coach Jim Leavitt was fired, Bennett received an offer for an official visit and was hoping to receive a scholarship offer when he visited.
Bennett had committed to Wyoming back in the summer but then decommitted about halfway through the high school season. He blamed the distance from home as his main reason. Offensive Coordinator Coach Gregory had a long relationship with Bennett during his time at South Florida which helped the Jags land Bennett.
Another player that is reportedly ready to publically commit is Trey Sims from North Gwinnett High School. He is a 205-lb 6’3″ Safety who has a reported time of 4.39 40. He is projected as an outside linebacker. Other schools that showed interest in Sims was Akron, Indiana, Toledo, Lousiana-Monroe and Western Michigan.
Shaun Artz of Buford High School in Georgia also committed as reported in the last Thunderjags.com recruiting update. He is listed as a 6’6″ 246-lb offensive tackle. He comes from a football powerhouse in Georgia and will have a chance to earn a spot quickly. Artz can play either guard or tackle and will have a chance to play either. He received interest from Samford, Eastern Michigan among other schools.
But note, that these are only verbal commitments and can change at any moment. Wednesday, February 3rd is the first day that players can sign National Letter-of-Intent’s which make their decisions official.
South Alabama will be hosting a National Signing Day event at the Mitchell Center. Coach Joey Jones and his staff will be showing a brief video of the incoming freshman class and they will speak about the upcoming 2010 schedule. Attendees will also have the opportunity to get autographs from teh current Jags roster and coaching staff.
So come out and on Wednesday for the 5pm event and support the Jags!
Top 5 Stories Of 2009
[EDIT] I had left out my original #2 that I had planned back at the beginning of December when I was mentally planning this article.
Its time for a quick look back as we let go of 2009 and start 2010. Also, since the Mobile Press-Register did not see fit to include South Alabama in their Top 10 stories in the area, here are my top 5 stories from the past year.
Leave comments if you think another story should have been included. Or if it were a top 10 list, what other stories would you include.
Top 5 of 2009
1) Kickoff of Jaguars football
South Alabama completed its first season in college football with an undefeated inaugural season. With games in coming season against Kent State, NC State, Mississippi State, Navy and Tennessee, it shows that the school is committed to this program.
A four game home-and-home series with Navy. Two-for-One series with NC State, Kent and Mississippi State where the Jags will visit the teams twice in return for a home game against each. Which mean some big time home games against NC State and Mississippi State in Mobile.
The Staff that Coach Joey Jones assembled and the players they have recruiting has this team much farther ahead than coaches, players and observers thought. With that, they had to retool the schedule for 2010 to include more competition as they march their way to Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A).
[EDIT] 2a) Announcement Of Joe Gottfried’s Retirement And Hiring Of Joel Erdmann As Athletic Director
On June 2, Joe Gottfried announced in the Mitchell Center that he was retiring effective August 1. Gottfried, who was the Athletic Director for South Alabama for 25 years said the time was right. He was instrumental in getting first class sports buildings on campus such as the $30 Million Mitchell Center, a $3.5 Million renovation to Stanky Field, a 4,000 clubhouse, intramural fields and the football field house among many others.
Then in July, South Alabama announced the hiring of Joel Erdmann as the new Athletic Director for the University of South Alabama. Erdmann held several positions at South Alabama previously and served as AD at the University of North Alabama and at his hiring he was AD at Southeastern Louisiana University.
2b) USA defeats two SEC Schools in basketball
Back in late November the Jags had two loses to good opponents in Rice and Tulsa and traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas to take on the Jags former coach John Pelphrey and the SEC. Many people just wrote it off as a typical loss to a big program, but Coach Arrow and the Jags took a page from Lee Corso’s book and said “Not so fast!” They stunned the Razorbacks on their own court with an impressive victory by a large margin, 74-61.
Then after losses to Southern Miss and UAB, the Jags made a trip to yet another SEC school. But this time it was a Top 25 ranked team. The Jags were facing #18 Florida in Gainesville, Florida where the Gator had not lost a home game since December 2004.
Again the Jags were written off from the beginning but stunned the Gators and made a huge splash on ESPN, ESPN News and ESPN.com. Although it was won on a last second put back, it was a huge win. It is only the second time in school history USA has defeated two SEC teams in the same season and the first since 1983-84. Plus it was the first time to knock off a ranked opponent since 2005 when they defeated #25 Houston.
3) Loss of Dameyune Craig to FSU
Many people thought it was just a matter of time for this coach who has quite a rising status in college football. But nontheless, it was the second assistant in less than a year that was hired away from Coach Jones’ staff to a major Division-I program. This time it was Florida State.
Jimbo Fisher was beginning to prepare taking over the reigns to the Seminole program from Bobby Bowden and one of his first hires was Dameyune Craig. A very good recruiter in the Mobile area that the Jags will definitely be recruiting against to keep local talent.
4) All Jaguar Football Players Who Are Eligible Receive A Redshirt
Just before the final football game against Huntingdon College, Coach Jones announced that all of the eligible players on the team would get an extra year of eligibility.
Those players who had not already taken a redshirt year, will take the 2009 season as their redshirt year. Unfortunately some players had already used their redshirt year and will not be able to have an extra season with the Jaguars.
5) Hiring of Gregory (also leaving of Koenning)
In December 2008, before the Jags even took the field for their first game, Coach Joey Jones loss his first assistant to an SEC school. Dan Mullen, who was just hired to replace Sylvester Croom, tapped him to be his offensive coordinator for the Bulldogs program.
Coach Joey Jones then began a search for a replacement that fit Koennings’ profile and the players that they were recruiting. In came Greg Gregory from South Florida, another new program in recent years. South Florida rose through the ranks and has the NCAA record to achieve its first Top 25 ranking faster than other Division I-A school in the modern era and eventually rising to #2 in the polls in 2007.
Florida State Hires Dameyune Craig To Coach Quarterbacks
It was announced today by Pat Greenwood that Dameyune Craig had accepted an offer from Jimbo Fisher and Florida State to coach quarterbacks for the Seminoles.
Fisher recruited, signed and coached Craig at Auburn in the 90s. This is a tough loss by Coach Jones and the Jags because Craig was a very talented recruiter in the area. He will likely recruit here for the Seminoles because of his strong ties with the area.
Craig was on WNSP with Pat Greenwood and they spoke about his ties with Fisher and his time with the Jags. He spoke about meeting in the basement of the Mitchell Center early on in the program. How they had to sell the program to kids with only a wood covered hill to show and designs in their minds for the field house and practice fields.
He said that the Jags program was in very good hands with Coach Jones. He knew it from the beginning and he continues to the Jags improving as they march towards FBS play.
This is the second coach to be picked off from Coach Jones staff since he was hired to start the program. Les Koenning was hired by Dan Mullen and Mississippi State after Mullen was hired to take over the Bulldogs program last year. Hailed as one of the top young coaches in the country, Craig will be missed by the Jag Nation.
We at Thunderjags wish Dameyune the best at Florida State and hope he will help South Alabama land a couple good games against the Seminoles in the coming years.