Jags Make Up Missed Practice From Saturday
South Alabama made up their lost practice Monday morning due to weather on Saturday. They hit the field even earlier than normal for the Jags. Their practice went from 5:30am – 7am as they wore shells for the first time.
They opened practice with work on the punt team. They then transitioned to working on the running game. After that, they worked on screens.
The offense and defense then came together to work on perimeter runs and passes. Following that, they went 7-on-7 passing drills.
Later the offense and defense came together once again to work on third-down scenerios, picking up blitzes before final drills to end practice.
After practice, Coach Jones spoke about practice. “This football team is hungry and they think they have a lot to prove. But on the flip side of that, we have a lot of work to do. Defensively right now, we are ahead of the offense and that’s fine. That’s what we want, a great defense. Offensively, we are still putting things in and trying to establish a running game, passing game and quick-tempo offense. Their heads are spinning, but I’m proud of where we are.”
Coach Jones continued speaking about the players progress. “It’s not going to happen overnight, we just have to keep working. And we have to keep in the back of our minds that our goal is to be great this fall. If we work every day and do what we’re supposed to do, then we’ll get there. We just have to keep that mindset.”
The Jags will have Tuesday and Wednesday off before hitting the practice field again on Thursday at 6:30am.
Rain Threat Does Not Deter Jags From Second Day Of Practice
Even though there were threats of rain, the Jags hit the practice field for their second session of spring practice. They were able to get in a two-hour practice despite the weather threat.
Most of the first half of practice was dedicated to individual work and position coaches.
Near the end of practice, the Jags had two 10-minute sessions of offense vs defense. The first session was a 7-on-7 skeleton passing drill and the second was full 11-on-11. Both sessions were focused on the defense with emphasis on the pass rush and blitz.
Before the offense versus defense session, the defense worked for about 20 minutes on formations and blitzes while the offense worked against the scout team for about 15 minutes.
Some of the challenges facing the players this spring as they go from the power offense the Jags ran previously to the spread offense by Coach Matthews is adjusting to new personnel and the increased tempo. “When you hurry a kid up on the second day of practice in a brand new offense, it multiplies the problems,” Coach Jones said. “I think they have handled it pretty well. The biggest thing is that day 15 has to be much better than day two, that’s what we are shooting for.”
One reason for spring football practice is to evaluate players and help to determine who will be on the field in the fall. With a daunting schedule ahead of them with a full Sun Belt schedule and a very tough non-conference schedule, every position will be observed. “You can’t tell much without pads on, we’re just trying to teach them and get them to learn what they are doing,” said Coach Jones. “Saturday when we put the shoulder pads on, we will be able to tell a lot more about our players.”
“We want to find out who our players are, who will be on the two-deep,” said Jones. “It’s really wide open. There are some spots that are obvious, but there are a lot that aren’t. We’ve got guys who have worked their way up in our program, who are going to be juniors, and have been No. 2 or No. 3 fighting for jobs, and we’ve brought in some new players who are fighting for those spots. I would say that 75 percent of our spots are wide open right now.”
Coach Jones indicated that he was comfortable the linebackers and noted their experience. Jake Johnson and Enrique Williams both started all 10 games last season at the inside positions. Clifton Crews also started all 10 games at outside linebacker while Logan Bennett and Bryson James have both lettered the last three years at the outside position. Plus Ben Giles and Desmond LaVelle both received playing time last season.
Overall, coach Jones thought it was a good day of practice and liked the effort put forth. “I thought it was a good day,” said Coach Jones. “The intensity was there, the kids were working hard. Offensively, we are a long way from being all together, but we were expecting that. The kids have really locked in, they are making some mistakes out there but we had some good things happen when they went against the defense too. It’s just a matter of being patient, of coming in every day and studying what we are doing and getting better. It’s just going to take some time.”
The team will take a day off on Friday before practicing in shells for the first time on Saturday. That practice will be held and the Jaguar Practice Facility and is scheduled to begin at 9am.
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.
South Alabama’s 2012 recuiting class breakdown
Incoming freshmen in Summer/fall:
- Daniel Aust, OL, 6’2″, 260lbs, Birmingham, AL, Hoover High
Two star OL from Scout and ESPN. Ranked 112th nationally among guards by ESPN. His measurables are listed as: 40 yard dash in 4.9 seconds, max benchpress 330, shuttle 4.6 and a 29″ vertical. He other offer was from Navy. - Caleb Autry, CB, 5’8″, 170lbs, Foley, AL, Foley High
44 total tackles, 8 pass deflections and 2 interceptions his senior year. - Cameron Broadnax, WR, 6’1″, 180, Hueytown, AL, Hueytown High
A 2 star recruit from Rivals. Caught 61 passes for 835 yards and 13 TDs his senior season. He is listed as having a 34 vertical. He was offered by MTSU, Samford and UAB. - Lawon Debardelaben, CB, 5’8″, 165, Prattville, AL, Prattville High
A 2 star CB by Rivals and ESPN. He ranked among the top 115 CBs in the country by ESPN. His measurables are listed as running a 4.52 in the 40 yard dash, shuttle 4.25 seconds, vertical of 38″. He was offered by Arkansas State and Rice. This kid really stood out with his vision and instincts for the ball. - Mike Dumas, S, 6’1″, 180lbs, Cape Coral, FL, Island Coast High
A 2 star S from Scout and ESPN. He was all-southwest Florida and all-county in Lee County as a senior. He was offered by UConn, FAU, FIU, Iowa, Iowa State, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, NC State, Purdue and Vanderbilt. - Steven Foster, OL, 6’3″, 305lbs, Demopolis, AL, Demopolis High
A 3 start OL from Scout and ESPN. He was a three-time all-county and Tuscaloosa News All-West Alabama honoree. His other offer was from UAB. - Ridge James, DE, 6’4″, 210lbs, Richardson, TX, Bakersfield (CA) CC, Berkner High
Only played in two games last season but collected 13 total stops, 11 unassisted. - Terrance Jones, DL, 6′, 290lbs, Prattville, AL, Prattville High
A 3 Star DL from ESPN and a 2 star from Scout. He was ranked the 43rd best DT nationally by ESPN. He also had offers from Arkansas State and Memphis. - Paul Kyles, TE, 6’3″, 255, Mobile AL, Vigor High
A 3 Star TE and wasranked among the top 60 TEs nationally by both ESPN and Scout. He also had an offer from Auburn. - Clay Machen, OL, 6’4″, 300lbs, Auburn, AL, Auburn High
A 3 Star OL. He wan ranked as the 13th best center in the nation and 40th overall best player in the state of Alabama. His listed measurables are a 5.32 in the 40 yard dash, a max bench of 315, max squat of 460, shuttle of 4.97, vertical of 25″, GPA 3.2 and ACT of 22. He also had offers from Chattanooga, Georgia State, Memphis and UAB. - Steve McKenzie OL, 6’1″ 320lbs, LIthonia GA, Stephenson High
A 3 Star recruit from Rivals and ESPN. A 2 star by Scout. Listed as having a 23″ vertical. He had offers from Duke, Illinois, Indiana, Marshall and Southern Miss. - Perry Meiklejohn OL, 6’3″, Miami FL, El Camino (CA) CC, Westminster Christian High
Selected to 2nd team all-National Northern Conference as a Sophomore. - Jay Minor DE, 6’1″, 240lbs, Prattville AL, Prattville High
A 3 Star recruit by ESPN and a 2 star by Scout. Listed as running the 40 in 4.89 seconds, a shuttle of 4.6 and a vertical of 33″. He had offers from Arkansas State and Memphis. - Tyrell Pearson CB, 5’8″, 150lbs, Greenville SC, Mesa (AZ) CC, Greenville Senior High
As a Sophomore he intercepted 8 passes and finished the season with 10 total passes defended. - Grant Powell QB, 6’2″, 200lbs, Germantown TN, Christian Brothers Academy
A 2 star QB from Scout and ESPN. Runs the 40 in 4.7 seconds, the shuttle in 4.4 seconds and has a 32″ vertical. - Joseph Scelfo OL, 6′, 280lbs, Bogart GA, North Oconee High
A 3 Star OL from Rivals and ESPN and a 2 star from Scout. Ranked as the top center in Georgia. Runs the 40 in 5.19 seconds and has a max bench of 315. He had a host of offers from Appalachian State, Army, Charlotte, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Jacksonville State, Louisiana Tech, UL-Monroe, Presbyterian, Samford, Southern Miss, Syracuse, Tulane, UAB and Western Kentucky. - DeVonta Staples S, 6’1″, 190lbs, Lanett AL, Valley High
A 2 star from Scout. He was named first-team 5A all-State by the ASWA. Listed as running the 40 in 4.49 seconds. He also had offers from Illinois, Kentucky, Marshall, MTSU and UAB. - Sir’Vegias Steele CB, 5’8″, 170lbs, Mobile AL, LeFlore High
A four year letterman starter. He has 102 tackles and 16 interceptions during his career. He was also recruited by Auburn. - Davion Stuarts LB, 5’10”, 205lbs, Punta Gorda FL, Charlotte High
A 2 star from Rivals, Scout and ESPN. He was chosen district player of the year his final season. He was also offered by UCF and MTSU. - Aleem Suananon PK, 5’6″, 185lbs, Orland FL, Olympia High
A 2 star recruit from ESPN. He earned all-State and all-Metro honors his senior season.
Junior College Transfers who signed in December:
- Anthony Harris CB, 6’1″, 175lbs, Miami FL, El Camino (CA)CC, Southridge High
Credited with 20 tackles, 14 solo, and 2.5 for loss last season. - Pat Moore DE, 6’3″ 235lbs, Southhaven MS, Northeast Mississippi CC, Southaven High
Lead his team with 3.5 sacks and 43 total stops in 2010. He added 30 tackles in 2011. - Darrius Morrow CB, 5’10”, 170lbs, Memphis TN, Hutchinson (KS) CC, Germantown High
His team finished 9th in the final NJCAA rankings. Runs the 40 in 4.4 seconds, max bench of 265 and a 40″ vertical. He was also offered by Indiana State, Murray State, Southern Illinois and UT-San Antonio. - Wes Saxon TE, 6’4″, 225lbs, Hueytown AL, Itawamba (MS) CC, Jess Lanier High
Caught 10 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown last year as a freshman. He earned 2nd team all-State honors. - Charles Watson CB, 6’1″, 195lbs, Tylertown MS, Mississippi Gulf Coach CC, Ocean Springs High
In 9 games as a Sophomore, he totaled 46 tackles, 31 solo, and 6 for a loss.
Transfers who have enrolled in school prior to the spring 2012 semester:
- Brandon Bridge QB, 6’5″, 215lbs, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Alcorn St, St. Marcellinus High
Played the last two season at Alcorn St. where he posted 2,687 total yards of offense as a freshman. - James Elliot OL, 6’2″ 300lbs, Pensacola FL, University of Kentucky, Pensacola Catholic High
A 3 Star recruit by ESPN, Rivals and Scout. He sat out last fall as a redshirt.
Basketball Season tips off this weekend
South Alabama Men’s basketball team starts their season on Saturday in Starkville Mississippi against Mississippi State University. Tipoff is scheduled for 1pm.
The University of Alabama football team will be playing MSU later in the day, so tune into WNSP 105.5 at 1pm for the Jaguars basketball game, then you can tune in to ESPN at 6:45pm for kickoff of the Crimson Tide.
Unfortunately Auburn’s football game will overlap the end of the Jags basketball game since their game is scheduled to kickoff at 2:30pm in Athens Georgia and will be broadcast on CBS.
South Alabama also announced two players signing with the Men’s basketball team for next season. Antoine Allen is a 6’1″, 185 pound guard currently attending Palm Beach State Junior College. He originally signed with Miami FL and will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Delvin Dickerson is a 6’5″ 200 pound forward and currently attends Westbury Christian High School in Houston Texas. He will be a freshman next year at South Alabama.
Monday press conference for November 7
Center Trey Clark and the offense make adjustments at the line of scrimmage.
Coach Jones was joined by offensive lineman Trey Clark for their Monday press conference. They reflected on the Jaguars win over Mississippi Valley State and previewed the Jags final game of the season against Cal Poly on November 19.
“I think it [the weekend] was a good break for our players and our staff to just get away from football for a couple of days,” said Coach Jones in his opening statement. “The players came back refreshed, and that was good. As far as the Mississippi Valley State game, I thought we played well. We had a really good first half, and we got a lot of guys playing time in the second half. We’re looking forward to (the) Cal Poly (game). We know they are a great football team, but one thing we are focusing on this week is fundamentals. We are going to practice for three days in pads, and have some physical practice and work fundamentals. We’ll also put the game plan in, but the big focus the next three days is getting better fundamentally. We’re excited about it. One thing our players have talked about is that we have had a good year, and we want to finish strong. The way you finish strong is by practicing hard and doing your part in practice, and then the games take care of themselves.”
In reply to a question about what Coach Jones would like to see after two consecutive wins, he answered. “We just want to finish strong, and that’s the biggest thing. We have played well all year. We had some issues in some games and some mistakes, but we played well all year. I want to finish on a good note. We have some seniors who came and started this program three years ago, and I want to send them off on a good note as well. They have done a lot for this program.”
Coach Jones then spoke about Cal Poly. “On the offensive side of the ball they run the triple option, which is what coach Bryant used to run in the 70s and 80s. It is a very good offense and very tough to defend. People have a hard time stopping it because it is the best offense put together in my opinion. On paper it is the very best one because you don’t have to block two people on the side of attack. If you read one and are pitching off of another, you’re basically double-teaming everywhere else. There’s just no other offense that can do that. It’s very tough to defend. Our kids don’t see it very much at all. I think it is hard to prepare for a game like that in one week, so us having two weeks to prepare helps. It gives us three extra days to work on that, and I am thankful that we do because they are very good offensively. Defensively, they are very sound and fundamental. They have strong guys up front. They don’t do a lot of things on the defensive side of the ball; they are just sound in what they do and are very well-coached.”
Coach Jones was then asked about remaining undefeated at home. “That’s always in the back of your mind, but we can’t get caught up in all of that. We know that what happens on the practice field creates success on Saturdays. We just worry about that. We have to do what is needed to get prepared for this team. It is a very good football team. UC-Davis beat them last week, and we know how good of a team they are. It took all we could do to beat them last year. They play very good football, so we just have to get ready.”
Coach Jones also spoke about Trey Clark’s importance to the program. “When you start on offense, you start with your center. Trey has been the core of our offensive line. He is very smart; he makes all of our checks and calls. He cares about it and is passionate about this team. He is a guy who has that much of what I call guts inside of him. He has the want-to to do it. He is a little undersized, but he plays big in the game and we can win with guys like Trey Clark – there’s no doubt in my mind.”
Clark spoke with the media about having another off week. “We will take this opportunity to go back and really work on our fundamentals. We’ll definitely take full advantage of this bye week in preparation of Cal Poly. We have started watching a little bit of film; they are very well-coached and a physical bunch. They have pretty good size up front, so I think this week will be great for us in terms of preparation.”
Clark then mentioned sending out the seniors on a winning note. “It is going to be a very emotional game for me playing with all of those guys for the last time. We want to do our best to send them off on a good note, and win it for the seniors.”
Finally Clark continued speaking about the emotions involved as the season finale approaches. “It’s definitely bittersweet. I thought we played well in the last two games, but at the same time you really don’t want it to end so soon because I have played with these boys for three seasons. Some of them are getting ready to go off and start the next chapter of their lives, and I’m going to miss so much being next to those guys. It’s one of those things where we just want to send them off on a good note and win it for the seniors.”
Jags down MVSU 35-3
A bad snap caused a big loss for the Delta Devils.
Thursday nights matchup against Mississippi Valley State was a bit of a mismatch. The short week didn’t make much difference as the they won 35-3 in a cold breezy game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
With injuries to Jereme Jones and B.J. Scott, J.J. Keels handled the lone kick return duties against the Delta Devils. Keels showed he was ready for this opportunity very quickly in the game. After forcing the Delta Devils to punt, Keels would take the punt off of a bounce and return it 45 yards to the two yard line. Keels would not be able to take it into the end zone on the first down play, but Houston would on the next play though.
He would also take the opening kickoff of the second half 100 yards for a touchdown to get his first touchdown as a Jaguar. Earlier in the second quarter, Keels would break a 25 yard run down to the Delta Devil one yard line, where he stepped out of bounds before scoring. Again Houston would put the ball in the end zone.
Every time the Delta Devils threatened to score, they would make a mental mistake and break their momentum, it would allow the Jaguars defense to stiffen and force a stop.
The defensive front, particularly the starting three, were in the backfield all night. Romelle Jones regularly beat his man but Delta Devils linemen did good to knock him off his rush from time to time. Ben Giles had a career night with nine tackles.
It was another game where the Jags could go deep into their bench and get other players some playing time and experience in game situations. But the Jags also tried out some new wrinkles in their goal line package and successfully scored a couple times in that situation.
Coach Jones commented after the game, “It was big for J.J. to come in there as a true freshman and make those types of plays. We lost B.J. and Jeremé, so we have gotten thin in our return game. I thought he stepped up and did really well. That [the kickoff return] was a big play in the game.”
“I thought we played really sound in the first half,” Coach Jones said. “The defense gave up a little yardage in between the 20s, but got stiff down there toward the goal line. The offense had a short field a couple of times, then we had an 80-plus yard drive in the first half, which is big. The special teams played well — the return game was good and we kicked the ball well. Overall I am real pleased with the game.”
“We are kind of a methodical football team, we don’t have big-play guys on offense,” he continued. “J.J. came in and sparked us in the return game, and he had a couple of good runs. But we are the kind of team that if we don’t make mistakes and have a lot of penalties, we have a chance to beat a lot of people. When we play like we did tonight then we end up on the winning side, so we just need to keep that up.”
The Jags have a week off before their final game of the season when they host Cal Poly on Saturday, November 19. The game can be seen locally on UTV44 and nationally on ESPN3.com and will kick off at 4pm.
MVSU Gameday is here
The Jaguar offense led by Myles Gibbon, goes four wide on 3rd down late against Henderson State.
South Alabama will host Mississippi Valley State University today with kickoff scheduled at 6:30pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in a White-Out game (Wearing all white uniforms). The Delta Devils are 1-8 on the season after finally coming out on top last weekend against Texas Southern by a score of 12-9.
The Delta Devils previous eight games were against Alabama State (41-9), Murray State (39-0), Alcorn State (39-14), Prairie View A&M (43-34), Southern University (28-21), Alabama A&M (37-14), Jackson State (17-16) and Grambling State (30-24 OT). All were losses for MVSU.
The Jags will be without Jereme Jones after his shoulder injury in last weeks win over Henderson State and B.J. Scott (knee). I wouldn’t expect to see Kendall Houston or Demetre Baker too much if the Jags jump out to a good lead. Both are nursing some knee injuries which are slowing them down. Coach Jones and Coach Perry will want them to get plenty of rest between now and the Cal Poly game on November 19th.
Earlier this week, Clay Machen announced his verbal commitment to the Jags. Machen is a three star (scout.com) recruit out of Auburn High School. He is a 6’4″, 295 pound center but according to his high school coach Tim Carter, he can play any position on the offensive line but he also said he thought center would be his best position long term. Carter also said that he played basketball which indicates he has good feet.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-11-01
One of Kendall Houston's three rushing attempts versus Henderson State.
Joey Jones and Lee Shirvanian joined by strength and conditioning coach Justin Schwind for this week’s Joey Jones Radio show at Baumhower’s Restaurant on Airport Boulevard.
Lee started by mentioning that the Jags got off to a good first half, but that it looked like they just wanted to get the game over with as quickly as possible in the second half since it’s a short week. Coach Jones said that they got players out of the game to rest and give other players some time to play.
They immediately went into the Fuego hot players of the game. Lee and Coach Jones mentioned linebacker Desmond LaVelle is a great player, hard worker. The coaches love his attitude and nose for the football. He was actually named linebacker of the week by the coaching staff. Then Coach Jones mentioned offensive lineman Melvin Meggs, a redshirt freshman that really played well, probably his best game of the year. Very effective on Bakers 7 yard run for a touchdown in the game. Getting really good with the technique for an offensive lineman. They further mentioned Demetre Baker with first 100 yard game of the year even after not practicing much during the week due to a bum knee and another defensive player was Gabe Loper who is becoming a good force in the secondary with good man-to-man skills and his zone technique is getting better.
Next they went into the Orthopedic Group injury update. Coach Jones mentioned Jereme Jones hurt his shoulder in that 65 yard run against Henderson State and will not be playing against MVSU on Thursday. Jereme was the only player he mentioned.
The PAT was a fake that was preplanned that didn’t work. The blocked was wrong and caused him to get stopped, but if they had picked up the correct guy to block, then he would have walked into the end zone Coach Jones said.
Lee asked about being up 16-0 and deciding to go for the two point conversion instead of kicking the PAT to make it 17-0 and not have to “chase points.” Coach Jones said that it was to be a surprise when they may not be expecting it plus doing that tells the other teams that you are willing to fake it any time which helps with the rush. He also mentioned that they probably should have done it earlier in the year and that Coach Perry is on him all the time about faking it to keep teams honest.
Lee mentioned Keels first start, CJJ said it was mainly because of injuries. Kendall has been nursing a knee injury for a while now, but he indicated that today was the first time he looked close to 100% in the last two weeks. Also it was mentioned earlier that Baker had been nursing a knee injury as well. At one point they weren’t sure either Baker or Houston would even play in the game.
Lee mentioned that you could never have too many running backs since the Jags have a good stable of backs. Coach Jones agreed and said that Brandon Ross could possibly play in the final game of the season, but they are not going to do that but rather wait for him to come back next season instead. Jones said he’s probably 90-95% right now but they don’t want to risk it.
Caller asked Coach Jones thinks that the team is ahead of schedule? The caller remarked that, looking at other teams in the conference, he thinks the Jags could be in the “upper echelon” of the conference right now. Coach Jones said he does not know where they would be and said that they are not at their full scholarship level yet, but they will be after this recruiting class. They want to be competitive in the Sun Belt but knows it will be tough with teams like Troy and FIU with teams like Western Kentucky and Arkansas State getting better. But the biggest difference and the toughest thing will be facing good FBS teams week after week.
The next caller to the show asked about the problems Trey Clark had snapping the ball to the quarterback in the shotgun. Coach Jones said that Trey was complaining about his hands being dry from the cold air and wind. So they put a glove on him and his snaps improved. Plus with the wind and his style of snapping can cause problems because it’s not like a spiral so it can be affected by gusty winds at times.
Lee asked about the strategy at the coin toss and if the wind was the major factor in choice after winning the toss. Coach Jones said it was, they wanted the wind at their back in the first quarter and more importantly in the fourth quarter. Around 4:00 the wind is pretty strong but by 7:00 it has died down. So after looking at weather forecasts they wanted it at their back when it is at it’s strongest.
When asked by Lee about concern about not being able to run the ball consistently inside the five yard line Coach Jones said he was very concerned. It has kind of snuck up on them, it was something they were very good at early in the year but now it has been clamped down on. The coaches have looked at it and changed some things. He also said that they should have picked up on that a week or more ago. They have some changes they are making that they think will get them back in gear again.
Lee and Coach Jones introduced Coach Schwind by saying that he has been with Coach Jones for about five years. He is very good at his job, is a great person and is a great motivator for the players.
Coach Schwind answered the question about how he motivates the players to work out and get stronger is by showing them the purpose of why they do it. How it translates into better performance in the game on the field. When asked who was the hardest worker in the weight room, Justin immediately said Paul Bennett.
Lee said that the jags are a very physical team and asked Justin if they meet his expectations for a physical team. Coach Schwind’s answer was yes, they are a very physical team and coaches from other teams tell them that the Jags are the most physical team they have played.
Talking about the Kent State game, Lee mentioned how the Jags were being pushed around by their defense and how physical they were with us. Coach Jones agreed and said that their defense was the most physical team they have played so far. He gave them credit for their play.
Lee also asked about the difference between workouts during the season and during the off season. Coach Schwind said that the off season is about getting bigger and stronger. In-season, the idea is recovery. Your emphasis is recovery and to maintain what they have.
A follow-up question by Lee was asking if there was such a thing as too much weight training. Justin answered with a “yes and no”. If you are doing the same thing every day then that is not good. You are going to hit a wall and over train an area while under training other areas. You have to plan the regimen to meet the needs of the kids and how they recover so you do not cause injury.
Later Lee asked about changes to their workouts as they go into an FBS schedule next season. Coach Schwind said that he has already talked to Coach Jones about this and that they have mainly discussed emphasizing discipline. Justin’s job in the off season is to focus on this in every thing they do. Strive for perfection and hope that continues into the season and onto the field.
Another follow-up question from Lee was about the possibility of strength and conditioning helping to prevent injury. Coach Schwind said that there is no doubt about it, it helps to avoid injury. If you are in a perfect anatomical position of the body to do something, your susceptibility to injury is greatly reduced. They train for a complete balance of the body, if you do not have a sound weight training regimen then you are opening yourself up to possible injury.
Coach Jones also chimed in to help explain. He said that if you only did benchpress without any Lat pulls to strengthen your back, you will have shoulder injury. He said Herchel Walker always talked about pushups, but he had shoulder injuries, possibly because he wasn’t balanced that way.
Turning towards Mississippi Valley State, Coach Jones said that they are very athletic. Defensively they very dynamic, they have a very big number of different blitz’s that they can run. They have lots of different coverages and different types of fronts they can use. Which is a lot to go through in a short week.
Offensively, they have quarterback who can throw and who can run some. They try to get him to the edge a good bit so they have to keep him contained and to watch down field for the big pass.
Talking about last Saturday’s game some more, Coach Jones liked the blue uniforms and said that they would wear them again. But he wanted to get some input from the fans about them. He said the players and President Moulton both liked them.
Free tickets to the game for high school kids with $5 companion tickets for the parents. These are end zone tickets.
A caller asked about designing plays. When the Jags play a team do they try to use plays that they see and like and put it into their offensive system. Coach Jones said not really, they don’t want to be what he called a “Monday football” team. Where they play a game and add plays that they see on Monday morning. First off, different teams have different personnel which factors into a play being fit for one team and not another.
Coach Jones used an example of a team using a speed sweep against the Jags. He said that, with T.J. Glover out, they are not a speed sweep team because they lack that speed to get out to the edge quick enough to make it work.
The previous question lead to Lee’s next question to Justin about developing speed in the weight room. Justin said that it can be done by technique. They can work on how to run and how to run fluidly. He said that fundamentally there are two ways to run faster; by improving frequency and by increasing stride. Improving frequency is about getting their legs and feet to get up and down faster to take more steps. Stride length is how many yards they cover in each step. Lots of times, when players get to college, they find out no one has emphasized to them these things.
The next caller asked about recruiting Junior College players to help the team as they begin their transition to FBS with a much tougher schedule next season. Coach Jones said they are probably looking at four to five JuCo players to add to the team. Mainly in the secondary the offensive line. They also want to find a rush type defensive end to rush off the edge and get after the quarterback.
Monday press conference previewing MVSU on Thursday
The Jaguar offense lining up in the wishbone set in the first quarter against Henderson State.
South Alabama Head Coach Joey Jones recapped Saturday’s win over Henderson State and a preview of the Jaguars game against Mississippi Valley State on Thursday night. Joining Coach Jones was defensive end Anthony Taylor and freshman running back J.J. Keels.
Coach Jones spoke about Saturday’s win after coming off a loss to Georgia State. “We were challenged by that loss, and we needed to respond not only as a team but as men. I thought we did that. The kids came out and played hard again, which they always do, and got after and played passionate football. The challenge this week is that we have to do it again. We’ve talked about winning the game during the week – at practice. And they have continued to work hard and it has been a good deal.”
Quote on Coach Jones comments about the team’s defensive performance. “We had seven takeaways and I think we just got after them early and they just never got going. I thought we played extremely well defensively in the first half. It ended up being 28-0 at halftime, and I think it just took them out of the game.”
Coach Jones comments on Mississippi Valley State. “They are athletic on both sides of the ball, and got their first win of the season last week. They have a quarterback who is a tall, rangy guy who can run and throw. He is the key to their offense. Defensively, they run a lot of different fronts and multiple blitzes so it’s making us simplify our game plan even more – the fact that we have a short week and they run a lot of things defensively. The biggest challenge for us is the multiplicity of what they do defensively.”
Coach Jones speaking about Thursday’s game and how it affect the team. “It is a short week, and it changes your schedule somewhat. There isn’t a lot of preparation time. We’re used to getting a lot of preparation time in for a team, but it’s something we have to deal with and fortunately the other team does as well and they have to travel. We feel good about it, and the coaches have done a good job simplifying the game plan. What you have to do is execute in a game like this. You don’t want to put too much in and then the kids don’t get it and don’t perform well on Thursday night. Sometimes change is just good. As coaches, we are about routine. We have our routine and everything is planned, but sometimes a change is good not only for the staff but for the players. The great thing is that after this game on Thursday, we have a short week. They are going to get some time off, and that could really help us for that last ball game.”
A follow up on how the quick turnaround affects the Jaguar game plan. “We had to have it ready by Monday morning. Not only did we have to speed things up, but we also had to simplify a little bit to make sure we can execute. The biggest thing I stress is we have to be able to execute. We can’t put in too many things, and we just have to be smart about what we do.”
In the game against Henderson State, Anthony Taylor recorded his first career interception. This is what he had to say about it at the press conference. “The interception really turned it around, because they were moving the ball on us. We had a zone blitz called, and I dropped back into the right coverage and made the first pick of my career. It was a big moment for me and my team. I’m just happy I’m out there making plays for them. I got a newfound respect for what running backs do on that play. There is a lot going on and a lot of colors running together. The first thing I did was get out of bounds. But it was a big play and was really exciting.”
Taylor also spoke about the defense’s preparation for the Henderson State game coming off of the Georgia State loss. “Coming off the loss to Georgia State, our coaches really emphasized running to the ball. We really got back to that last week, and I think that showed. We got seven takeaways, that was a record-setting performance. I think getting back to the little things really helped us, just being an all-around swarming defense.”
Running back J.J. Keels spoke about his first career start against Henderson State. “I was happy and excited and tried to do my best to show everyone why I was recruited. Hopefully I can show that for the rest of this year and next year. I didn’t know I was going to start until our walkthrough before Saturday. It kind of took me by surprise, but it was the position I wanted to be in.”
Keels spoke about Saturday’s win as well. “I think the turnaround started at practice. Coming into the game off of a loss to Georgia State, everyone felt like we had to do better. During the week at practice, everyone knew that it was our week. These last three weeks will be the last games we will ever play with some of these people. This side of the ball, everyone came off with fire and so much passion that coach Jones was excited and he was happy with that.”
Keels also spoke about playing on a Thursday night. “It’s been a while since we played on Thursday. The last time was against West Alabama. The practice week is very short and we practice on days we normally do not practice. The times are stricter, but we have more fans on a Thursday. I think this game is big on Thursday. Everyone can come for entertainment, but it’s just another day at work.”
South Alabama and Mississippi Valley State kick off at 6:30pm on Thursday, November 3 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Jags will be wearing their all white uniform and are asking the fans to wear white as well.
Go Jags!