Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2009-11-03
Coach Jones said that after the success of this year and the progression of the team that they were going to go ahead and schedule some tougher teams next season. He mentioned they are looking to schedule some Division I-AA schools. Some schools in California and Texas were examples.
Lee mentioned that he talked to the coach from Milford Academy and he said they were taking a two day bus trip, leaving out on Wednesday, to travel down to Mobile for Saturday’s game. Lee joked he was just glad that, after their loss the weekend before and the Jags big 64-6 win, he was glad they didn’t cancel the game.
Coach Jones jumped in and said that they (other schools) want to win the game but they also want to expose their players to different places and schools. He said that after last weeks game they had players coming up to them saying that they were Freshman and that they really liked what they have going on here (South Alabama), he mentioned the crowd and the atmosphere then he mentioned that they would like for them to consider them for next season.
Lee asked Coach Jones about the progression of Brennan Sim and if he has closed the gap between him and Myles Gibbon. If that they were trying to get him more playing time because of that. Coach Jones said that they both play well and that with the 7 game season they could play both of them and get a better evaluation of them. Brennan only has one season left, he will be a redshirt Senior next year. Lee ended the segment by asking if they were looking to bring in another quarterback which Coach Jones answered quickly by saying that they are.
There are alot of activities going on at USA on Friday. From 4:30 to 5:30pm they will be having open house at the new Football Fieldhouse with a couple coaches and players giving tours and talking with fans. Then at 6:30 there will be a homecoming parade on campus followed by a bonfire. Then Saturday is the homecoming game with Miss America to sing the National Anthem.
Coach Jones said he was pleased with the passing game beyond the first two throws. He was pleased with Sim and Nick Owens passing. Lots of high percentage completions and they looked pretty sharp. He said they are getting more comfortable with it. He also mentioned that its something you have to work on day in and day out. They have a blitz period almost every day, at least two out of three days. Constantly getting that over and over again, they get used to it and adjust to it.
Justin Schwind, the strength and conditioning coach, came onto the program with Coach Jones. Coach Schwind said first off they have to sell the program to the kid, that they will get stronger and that the work will pay off by better play on the field. Next he has to meet with them individually to see what their goals, wants and desires are and try to amend their program towards that.
His first goal after that is to keep the player healthy and off the injured list. Then after that goal, he wants to help these guys get bigger and stronger which will help their play. But the number 1 thing performance wise that these guys need to do is mature physically. He used Clifton Crews as an example that he has gained about 15 lbs over the summer but still needs to gain about 15 lbs more to be the right size for Division I-A and be able to push some guys around and there are other guys he could name to that list.
Coach Schwind also works with the players for their diet. He doesn’t like the word ‘diet’ he likes uses the word ‘lifestyle change’ because thats what it really is.
Lee asked Coach Jones if they knew who they were opening up the season against. Coach Jones answered that they don’t know yet but they are talking to some people like UC-Davis and Nicols State but don’t know who its going to be yet.
Asked by Lee to make a case for Milford, Coach Jones said that most of the teams they have faced this year have had better defense’s than offense’s but Milford may be the best offense they have faced this season. They have a couple good commitments to schools, one to Florida.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2009-10-27
Coach Jones called in for a few minutes during the show while he was traveling to Birmingham. But Lee Shirvanian was joined at Baumhower’s Wings Restaurant by Coach Crain, Coach Craig and Coach Rodrigue. Coach Crain and Coach Rodrigue both got the Joey Jones Plate (AKA the black and white chicken) while Coach Craig ordered the grilled chicken.
The coaches mentioned that they practiced this morning from about 5:30am until about 9:00am and had a really good practice.
Lee asked Coach Jones about Fork Union Academy which he said they were very athletic on defense and will definitely be a challenge for the Jags on offense. Lee then asked Coach Jones and the rest of the staff on hand if the players would favor the flurry of games coming up, three in 12 days. Coach Jones said that he thinks they want to play games and that they will favor this. Typically coaches think they need more practice time while players are ready to play. Coach Rodrigue said that he thought that having a game at the end of a week of practice helps to keep them focused and interested. While Coach Crain said that an open week is good especially to recover from playing week after week and the bumps and bruises you get during a normal schedule. But he likes to get into game week and scheme and do everything that goes with that.
One of the South Alabama marketing people came on and said that they were asking tailgaters to decorate their area for halloween. They are calling it Truck Or Treat. The kids can dress up in their costume and trick or treat from tailgate to tailgate. Kids 12 and under can wear their costumes or their favorite teams shirt (hopefully the Jags) and get $5 tickets to the game.
Lee then moved to recruiting and mentioned Alabama’s Terrance Cody and if there were many of them out there. Coach Rodrigue said they are if you are looking to stop the run. But they are recruiting more speed now, some places are recruiting runningbacks and fullbacks to play linebacker because of their vision. Since they are used to looking for holes, they fit good being a linebacker who is supposed to fill those holes before the backs find them.
Lee then asked the coaches about how much time that USA spends on special teams, which Coach Crain said that they spend alot of time on every phase of it. Knowing when to pick up the ball and when to get away from it and things like that. He said it has really helped the Jags to be as successful as they have been this season. They both also praised Tommy Perry’s work with special teams as well.
Lee ended the show asking the coaches what is the toughest position to recruit for. Coach Rodrigue said he thought it has been defensive line so far for the Jags. Coach Crain said the quarterback would probably be the toughest in his mind, because once you get a good guy, its hard to get another one to commit.
I have to apologize because I missed a segment in the middle due to technical difficulties not related to the radio station. I hope you enjoy the recap nonetheless.
GO JAGS!
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2009-10-20
Chuck Dunn, the outside linebackers coach, joined Coach Jones and Lee Shirvanian at Wing’s Sports Grill for the show on Tuesday. Once again Coach Jones ordered the ‘unofficial’ Joey Jones Special, which is the black and white chicken platter with steamed broccoli.
Lee asked Coach Jones about an email that a listener sent that they didn’t get to cover last week. They asked if the records from this year, like the win-loss, rushing yards etc. would be included in the future since we are not playing Division-I schools. Coach Jones said they would, they may have an asterisk by them but yes they will be kept for the future.
Lee also had a question about red shirting. They were wondering if he was going to be red shirting anyone this year, is anyone being red shirted right now? Coach Jones answered that they are doing some red shirting, they have some players that are being red shirted this year and they will look at it next year as well. He also mentioned that they have to, they have to plan ahead and spread their graduation classes out. They have to look four and five years down the road to plan that out so they don’t have 40+ players graduating in one year.
It was mentioned about Brandon Ross, how he has two more years of eligibility after this season. Lee asked wouldn’t they like to have a player like him around when they reach Division-I play. Coach Jones said yes they definitely would and that they have talked to him about that and have worked it out.
Talking about Louisburg, Coach Jones said they may have under estimated them a bit at first. The game film they got was from pretty far away so they couldn’t tell their size and were caught a little off guard by their speed.
Lee asked Coach Jones which of the quarterbacks played better on Saturday. He said he thought they all played better. Myles played better, completed more passes and managed the game well. Brennan Sim came in and threw a couple really good passes. He said he was proud of them.
Back to Brandon Ross, Lee asked how did Memphis ever let him go. Coach Jones said he didn’t know but he was sure glad they did. Coach Jones said he was a great running back and has a lot of potential. But said if he learns how to run every play like its his last, then he could continue his career in the NFL.
Lee asked Coach Dunn what kind of rotation he had for the outside linebackers and if he was satisfied with it. He said that he was satisfied and that hey had three guys in the rotation, Josh Chestang, Clifton Crews and Logan Bennett. He said they are a great good and probably the most coachable group of players he has ever had.
Lee asked how Coach Dunn and Coach Crain, who coaches the inside linebackers, coordinate to coach the linebackers. He said they are good friends and do a good job communicating.
Lee asked if it was easier to be an inside linebacker or an outside linebacker in the Jaguars defensive scheme. Coach Dunn answered that both are tough. Coach Clark asks the linebackers to be the quarterbacks of the whole defense basically.
Coach Jones said that they are more than just two positions of linebackers, inside and outside. Everything has gotten much more specialized now. The inside linebackers are covering the A gaps and the B gaps as well as chasing the ball outside. The outside linebackers are really covering two halves of the field, they have to contain the quarterback and running backs inside and not get outside of their defense. They can rush the passer from the edge and drop back into coverage. He said he thought the outside linebackers really had to learn more as far as different skill sets than inside linebackers.
Lee asked if their decision to run the ball more came from the weather being so windy. Coach Jones confirmed that and said that they had planned to throw the ball more but the wind was blowing 25 MPH. He watched snaps before the game and saw the ball get blown two feet to the side before the ball reached punter. Thus if the quarterback throws the ball down the field then its probably going to get blown six feet which can cause interceptions to happen.
Coach Jones talked further about the Jaguar passing game by stressing that the Jags definitely have to become a better passing team. He said that that is their goal this week is to improve their passing game and he wants to really put the ball in the air in the next two games.
Lee was a little surprised by Coach Jones commentary and asked why when they are running the football so well. What difference does it make? Coach Jones answered by saying that he wants them to be a complete team, a better team by the end of the year. In staff meetings and player meetings they said they want to work on their weaknesses and their weakness on offense is their passing game. Coach Jones said he thinks that the Jags are an average passing team and a great running team right now. He did qualify his answer by saying that they are not going to sacrifice a win just to throw the ball more. If they are struggling throwing the ball, then they will run the ball if that is what works.
The next question asked was about the consideration about the wind in the game against Louisburg. Lee asked how much consideration went into it before the coin toss. He then mentioned remembering hearing about Coach Saban in a recent windy game that he based everything so that he had the wind at his back in the fourth quarter. Coach Jones said they certainly consider that in game situations. One thing they have to look at is the time of day. Coach Jones said that they wanted the wind in the first quarter because they thought it would be the strongest and that it would die down in the evening. But if you know that the game will be gusty the whole time, then you would want the wind at your back in the fourth quarter.
Coach Jones was then asked why the offense took so long to get going against Louisburg. He answered that it was probably a couple things, the first he mentioned was that maybe it was his fault that he did not prepare them well enough and he took full blame for that. The second thing was that the defensive front showed a look that was not on film and so the first couple series the line was confused about where to go and who to block. Then it was a matter of one guy making a mistake while everyone else did their job and that one guy came through to make a play.
Coach Jones then mentioned how it goes on offense versus defense. On offense everyone has to do their job and if one guy messes up it can throw everything off. While on defense you want all 11 players going to the ball but it only takes one guy to make a play thats the difference.
The injury report was slim yet again. John Mark Patrick still has the knee problem but the good news is that he came onto the field in Monday’s practice to do some drills and light workouts. Coach Jones said that hopefully, by next week, he might be able to play. That depends on if they can get him ready in time. Its still touch and go really. They had a couple people injured yesterday that were just one or two day issues and that they should be back this week.
Lee asked Coach Dunn if the Jags practices were tougher than the games. Coach Dunn replied that they get after it and Coach Jones does a good job of setting up practices where they get good competition against each other.
They have talked before about putting together an offensive game plan for a game, so Lee asked Coach Dunn about how they go about putting together a defensive game plan. It all starts with Coach Clark obviously, but Lee asked what part Coach Dunn plays in that process. He answered that his part is that he takes the opponent and breaks them down play by play, personnel, down and distance, formation, strong, weak and other factors. He compiles all of that into what they call a hit chart. He breaks it down into formations, both right and left, and if its a run or pass and where they threw it or where they ran it. He then gets a percentage and gives the numbers to Coach Clark so he can plan according to that.
Coach Jones said he likes to know what is going on in the defense but he doesn’t get into the middle of it all the time. He mentioned that he is a 3-4 guy. Lee asked him why to which he answered that from an offensive standpoint blocking an odd front (3 is odd, 4 is even) there are several ‘bubbles’ that can change in a 3-4 scheme. But against an even front like a 4-3 or even a 4-4, there are more predetermined ‘bubbles’. Coach Jones said that based on his standpoint from the offense, there is a better running game against a 4-3 than a 3-4 because of the predetermined ‘bubbles’. Based on their game plan and play list, when they play against a 4-3 defense their run play list was more than they had against a 3-4 defense. So that tells Coach Jones that if you can hold up with 3 guys on the defensive front and hold the running game then you have a better chance to stop and offense.
Coach Dunn said that they (the linebacker coaches) like the 3-4 because its a chance to put more speed on the field. The offense tries to match the personnel, but with the 3-4 they can keep the same guys on the field no matter what the offensive formation.
Lee then mentioned how they have talked about the wildcat formation and how its just a throwback to the old days and the single wing and box formations. He asked how long it will be before the defenses catch up to what the offenses are doing.
Coach Jones said that he does not think that the offenses have explored the offense enough in college. He mentioned the offenses they used in High School when he was coaching that utilized the shotgun and was very multi-dimensional with it all the way back in 2000 and 2001. But he said that it involved the quarterback running the ball a lot. The Jags does not use that wildcat formation because they don’t have to put someone back there that can run because they feel that the quarterbacks are athletic enough as it is.
The quiz question was name the player who had the most sacks in the game versus Louisburg JC. The Vanguard’s own Hannah Skewes answered and won with Josh Chestang. Check out her work online.
Lee and Coach Jones also mentioned that the Jags will be sporting a slightly different look on October 31. Instead of wearing their red jerseys with white pants they are going all red. Red jersey’s and red pants to take on Fork Union Military. Come on out to Ladd-Peebles Stadium and bring your kids. If they wear their costume or the jersey of their favorite team (which should be the Jags) they will get in free. Plus they will have some extra special kids activities since its Halloween.
Go Jags!
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2009-10-13
Coach Joey Jones joined with Lee Shirvanian and Dameyune Craig at Baumhower’s Wings Restaurant on Airport Boulevard for today’s show.
First question they are going to start with, now that the Jags are 3-0 and they have defeated what they think will be their best competition of the year. Where do you think this program is in terms of what level of competition could you compete with Division I-AA, Division II or division III. If you could redo the schedule where do you think they could go? Coach Jones talked to the team yesterday about some of their goals for the rest of the year and what they can do to get there. He then, kind of reluctantly, went on to talk scores. The #2 Junior College team beat Georgia Military 28-8 and the Jags beat them 31-3, but by the scores they could compete with that team. However, Coach Jones was quick to remind the listeners that it does not mean they could beat them but it indicates that they could compete with some of the best JC’s in the country.
Coach Jones then said they could probably get on the field with many of the Division I-AA schools, but not the Appalachian States or other traditional big schools in that division.
Lee then asked Coach Craig said he really didn’t know because they have alot of freshman. But that they have a really great group of kids that go out and work hard and learn, so its hard to compare. He thinks they could do well in Division II and maybe Division I-AA. He also thought they could probably do well in the SWAC conference.
Lee also mentioned that they tried to schedule Alabama State but it didn’t work out. But Coach Jones hopes to schedule them in the future thinking it would be a good game.
Lee mentioned that the team has a lot of Freshman but they also have a fair amount of Junior College linemen and asked if that was the difference for the team. Coach Jones said that they came in and gave the team a maturity factor that rubbed off on the younger guys. They are more calm with something bad happens in a game.
Lee followed up asking if the Jags would be looking to bring in some more Junior College players and transfers like Courtney Smith and others. Coach Jones said you should always look to better your team any way you can. Meaning that they have Brandon Ross that expressed an interest in coming to USA. The same with Charlie Higgenbotham. He said they have to spread their wealth, they took Brandon even though they had a pretty good line-up at running back because he was a difference maker.
Lee asked Coach Craig what positions they were looking to focus on this recruiting season. He answered that they are looking at defensive ends, cornerbacks and safeties. They feel pretty good about receivers and running backs but they can always use offensive lineman.
Looking back at Georgia Military, Coach Jones said that they knew that defensively they were a good team. Also they felt like there were some deficiencies on their offensive line that they could exploit and pressure the quarterback. They hurried and hit the quarterback a lot but didn’t get too him. The defense ran him around the field so much that at one point he had full body cramps and they also hit him every time he threw the football which was good for the Jags.
Lee asked about Michel Chapuseaux’s injury which Coach Jones said he was alright. It looked worse than it was and it scared him some. It was a hard hit but he’s okay. Offensive guard Jon Griffin turned an ankle but is expected to be fine for the game on Saturday. Then John Mark Patrick who continues to out due to his knee problem.
The offense only scored two touchdowns and didn’t have a chance to catch many passes because they didn’t throw much. They just want to do what they can to win, players are working hard to make a play when its their time and to just do their roll in the game plan.
Lee joked with Coach Craig about his days at Auburn and how the Georgia Military quarterback moved around to make plays. Coach Craig joked that his games ended better, he didn’t throw interceptions but rather threw more touchdowns. But he gave credit to Coach Clark, the defensive coordinator, for doing an outstanding job with the guys on defense and that it has been a pleasure working with him and everyone on the staff.
He even included Coach Schwind the strength and conditioning coach on what a good job they have done and how well they work together. He continued saying that the summer workouts they did with the players getting them prepared for camp really made a huge difference.
A listener emailed in a question about the special teams punt coverage. He was saying that one punt went into the end zone where the coverage team had a chance to catch it close to the endzone but allowed it to hit and go in for a touch back. He wanted to ask if they are coached to catch it if they have a chance like that and the receiving team is not trying to catch it.
Coach Jones said that the kids are instructed to catch the ball in that instance. They have stressed that and have worked on it. He said as a coach he looks back on that and asks himself if they did that enough in practice and did they put their kids in that situation enough for them to make it happen in the game. He then said he takes full blame for that because they should work on that enough so that it becomes second nature to them.
Certain positions they are looking at Junior College players to recruit. But right now they are looking to find the best players at the positions that they are looking to fill in. If they could find some Junior College defensive backs, coach Craig said that would be great. It would help them to get more experience in the backfield. Lee then made the observation that Zach Brownell and company are doing a good job in the defensive backfield. Coach Craig said its more about creating depth. They are comfortable at certain positions about their depth but when if one player gets hurt and it completely changes your game plan, that is a pretty tough situation.
The Jags finally have back to back game weekends. It feels good to finally have this and the kids are ready for it too. But Coach Jones said they feel they have used the previous off weeks very wisely and it has paid off on the field.
After Coach Jones said previously that Georgia Military was going to be their biggest test of the year for the Jags. Where do they go now? Coach Jones said they are trying to teach these kids to work every day. This is something that will help them on the field and in life. He also told them if they come out onto the practice field and work for two hours every day and get a little bit better every day then they are going to be better the next game and better at the end of the season. Coach Jones says he does not like to talk about going undefeated but that is their goal for the season. But how do they get there? They don’t get there by talking about it every day. They work towards achieving that by going out and working hard to get a little bit better every day.
Lee said that previously that it was mentioned that they felt like some of their receivers could possibly play in the NFL. So Lee asked if that was possible and who they might be. Coach Craig said that Courtney Smith has the intangibles. He has size and speed but some things he needs to work on to get there and he is willing to work to get there. They also have some young guys that are being redshirted right now. Kelly Vail from LeFlore was also mentioned.
When asked by Lee about who has the best hands, Coach Craig answered it would either be Lim Windham or Corey Besteda.
Coach Craig again praised the other coaches on the staff and said that the biggest thing he learned was that they can get Freshmen ready to play. Before he thought that they just were not ready to play coming into the team but what Coach Jones and the rest of the staff have done has changed that. They got these player in summer so they could work out and it has payed off big time because they are ready to play.
Coach Jones said that Louisburg may not be as talented as GMJC but they are still talented. They have players committed to Temple and other schools like that. They mentioned that they like to roll out the red carpet to teams when they arrive to play the Jags. They like to show them around the field house and to show off their facilities. Coach Jones said he has not been to many schools but he is pretty confident that they probably have among the best if not the best facilities in the Sun Belt and probably are good enough to make some of the lower end SEC schools a bit envious.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2009-09-22
The show started with Lee and Coach Jones joking about having enough time to get ready for Army Prep. Coach Jones likened it to getting ready for a bowl game, which Lee pointed out would not be too far in the future. Lee also mentioned a pep rally this evening at Bel Air Mall from 6-7pm plus a pep rally on campus, probably at the Mitchell Center on Friday.
Mentioning the need for game time experience, Coach Jones said that game experience is invaluable. The team can practice for weeks on end, but game experience is needed to reinforce what they have gone over on the practice field. They understand why they ran something 45 times the last week when they see and understand it on the field during a game.
Speaking about Army Prep, coach Jones said they are very disciplined, more so than Hargrave but probably not as athletic as Hargrave. As we have mentioned over the last two week, Army Prep runs the triple option (defending the triple option, Jags continue Prep).
Army Prep copies the varsity team down to a T. Everything from Offense, defense, and special teams are all the same between the two squads. Coach Jones mentioned that it will be a challenge and the Jags must match their discipline but that he felt really comfortable about his team.
Lee asked about the triple option and Coach Jones answered that the quarterback can give the ball to the full back up the middle or keep it around the end or pitch to the back off the end. Its just like the wishbone offense except they line up in the double split formation. This is where they have two split ends that line up about a yard outside the tackle.
Lee called Army Prep and was told by their athletic director that these kids can not and will not be recruited by South Alabama. They were very secretive about any information about the players. All of these players have been tagged for West Point Academy. Coach Jones said he has heard it both ways, that they can and they cannot recruit their players. But he decided to be on the safe side and not recruit any Army Prep players.
Coach Brian Turner came in for the second segment. Lee introduced him and congratulated him on his defensive lines work against Hargrave in the first game.
Lee then turned to recruiting since Coach Turner is the recruiting coordinator for the Jaguars. Coach Turner said that they can make 42 evaluations as per the NCAA. So they have six coaches traveling seven times during the year to make their number of 42 evaluations. The coaches are still evaluating players and their board has about 100 players that they are watching or have already offered scholarships to. Coach Jones said that they ahve to re-evaluate and re-rank players from time to time to make sure they do the best with their resources. They have been doing that over the last week. Coach Jones said that when you have two scholarships for defensive linemen or a receiver, you want to make sure you use those two scholarships wisely.
Lee asked about Coach Turners thoughts on kids verbally committing early and the possibility of an early signing period. He said No if its in December. He thinks it would hurt schools like South Alabama if it were to be in December. But if the early signing period was in May he would be for it. Lee asked what if it was in September? Coach Turner said he possibly would be for it.
Lee asked how many scholarships can USA give in February? Coach Jones said they have about 25 scholarships to give, but they also have some gray shirts commitments so they probably have about 20 to sign actually in February.
Beginning segment three, Lee mentioned again that Coach Jones will be at Bel Air Mall this evening from 6-7pm signing autographs and attending the pep rally scheduled there.
Lee and Joey talked about some college football happenings around the nation briefly and then asked if USA could play any Sun Belt schools earlier than their first full year in Division-I. Coach Jones said yes, they could but in 2012 they would still be a Division I-AA school and that Division I school can only schedule one per year. Most of the schools already have one scheduled but that they are also still working on the schedules that far out.
Lee then asked Coach Turner, how many defensive line players are in the rotation during a game. Coach Turner said that they have nine players in the rotation. During Hargrave they had 10 but due to a knee injury one will be out for Army Prep. He also said that is a good part of being a young team is having the ability to rotate a large number of linemen into the game.
The fourth and final segment started with the injury report. Coach Jones said they are very healthy except for John Mark Patrick, who went down late in the Hargrave game with a knee injury. They think he should be back this season and hope to have it back for Georgia Military.
Lee asked about transfers from other schools. Coach Turner said that the player has to initiate the contact and then before the coaches and talk and try to recruit the player, they have to have a release from the school. Coach Jones said that if a player transfers between schools in the conference, they have to sit out a year but Coach Turner said that he would not want a player transferring to another school within the conference.
Lee also brought up how he liked how the Auburn players were coached to give the ball to the officials, even in the end zone. It makes for a more speedy game and it seemed more classy. Coach Jones agreed, he does not like kids to showboat or toss the ball around. USA also runs a more up-beat offense but they have taught the players to hand the ball to the official especially during the hurry-up drills.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2009-09-08
Unfortunately I missed the first half of the show, but I have covered what I did get to listen to of the Joey Jones Radio Show.
I tuned in just in time to hear coach Jones talk about how USA was smaller than Hargrave up front however they matched up very well. The defense did a good job stopping the run except for a few plays and the one big pass play for a touchdown.
Coach Crain came on the program and said that he was pleased about how the defense played. They were good enough to win but were not perfect, which is what they strive for. He said that USA has been blessed with players that want to go out and play hard and do the best that they can. He believes in having pressurized practices. He also said that if you can get to the point where practice is the hard situation and the game is not, then you can be very successful.
Several callers mentioned the great time they had on Saturday. Coach Jones thanked them for coming out and giving the players a great environment to play in. He said he loved the atmostphere and had to take off his headset a couple times just to hear the crowds reaction to some plays. USA had some top recruits in for the game and that they look forward to making some calls to them to guage their reaction. it should make a good impression on them.
Another caller said he was very impressed with how the Jaguars played. That they were only called for four penalties for about 25 yards which is not what you would expect for a first game.
Another caller asked when they were going to upgrade the scoreboards at Ladd they wanted to see replays. Coach Jones said he thought that both the GMAC bowl and the Senior Bowl both brought portable big screens for that but he did not know of any plans for that to be installed at Ladd.
Lee asked again if USA had a wildcat like formation. Coach Jones said they do not. Several teams use it, mostly when they don’t have a quarterback that can run well. The Jags have some very mobile quarterbacks and they don’t need to use that formation because of that reason.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2009-09-01
Coach Jones and Lee Shirvanian were at Wings Sports Grill on Airport Boulevard for the Joey Jones Radio Show and covered several interesting topics. Coach Jones strayed from his ‘unofficially’ named ‘Joey Jones Special’ (the black and white chicken platter) to get the chopped steak.
The first thing mentioned was Hargrave played their first game over the weekend against Radford, which they won handily 63-3. However the score does not indicate the level of talent they played. Radford is merely a club football team in their second year. However on the other hand, don’t let that disuade you about the level of talent that Hargrave puts on the field.
Coach Jones has talked to many people in the area and each one has said that they plan to be at the first game against Hargrave. Many people said they are staying home to watch USA instead of traveling to watch Alabama take on Virginia Tech. But Coach Jones said he is still going to estimate a crowd of about 35,000 for the first game if the weather is nice.
Lee then asked Coach Jones to talk about how good Hargrave is. He made sure to reiterate that Hargrave is a very talented team with lots of Division-I players. They are capable of big plays. The offensive line is better this year than it was last year and possibly in the last couple years and it is a concern of Coach Jones and his staff. The defensive front and secondary has some good players. The team has to stay focused and work to prevent big plays from happening on both sides of the ball.
Hargrave has only lost two games in the previous two years and Coach Jones also said that they have been a very good team over the last few years. But he doesn’t want the team to get caught up thinking about how Hargrave is going to play, but focus on how they are going to play themselves. He thinks the conditioning factor and their preparation will benefit the Jags and help lead them to a victory. Hargrave has the ability to choose from a vast number of players, not many schools has that luxury. They had read somewhere they Hargrave gets to school from about 3,000 players a year at about five different camps.
Comparing the Jaguar defensive line against the Hargrave offensive line, the defensive line may be a little under sized but the Jags play very hard, they are quick and agile. He thinks they can keep pace with Hargrave because they have worked so hard for so long already and they have the footwork to use their speed to cause problems.
Its very hard for the Jags to get a sense about Hargrave’s team because they have such a huge player turnover each year. But similarly, Hargrave will have a difficult time preparing for South Alabama since they have yet to play a game. It will be critical for South Alabama to make good, effective halftime adjustments.
To start the second segment offensive coordinator Greg Gregory joined Lee and Joey. Lee asked Coach Jones about injuries, was there anyone out for the first game? Coach Jones answered that the Jaguars are healthy for the most part, there are two or three players who are pending right now. The thing he is worried about most is the flu, there are a couple guys with flu-like symptoms that he wants to get healthy quick.
Lee then asked how did Coach Gregory come to the decision to start true freshman Myles Gibbon at quarterback, since its the most asked about position on a football team. Coach Gregory affirmed that Gibbon won the job. Each of the quarterbacks received equal number of reps during camp. They all worked hard and Myles was very mature for a freshman, he is 20 years old. While he has separated himself from Brennan Sim and Nick Owen, they are still very close to each other competition wise.
Lee followed up asking if he was worried about the level of competition Myles saw since he is from Canada. Coach Gregory flat out said no. At first he would have, but after seeing him face the Jaguar defense for the last several weeks, he has done very well and that is not a concern at this point.
Coach Gregory followed that up by saying that Myles is a guy that could go into most places and compete from the beginning. He may redshirt the first year at some established programs, but he can compete with the best of them.
Lee asked about possibly rotating quarterbacks. Coach Jones said no, they want to go with one quarterback and he is not one to rotate quarterbacks. He continued by saying that Sim and Owen are close to Gibbon’s talent and they feel that either one could step in and win the game for the Jags in needed. Coach Gregory said that there are two very important things when evaluating a quarterback. The first thing to look for is a quarterback that won’t get you beat. Then the second thing is for a quarterback that gives you the ability to make some big plays to help you win.
Lee asked “what does Myles bring to the table?” Coach Gregory said his size (listed as 6′3″ 210 lbs), his speed (he will run a 40 between 4.5 and 4.6) and his strong arm can throw the ball deep. They will have to wait and see how accurate he is until he is in a game situation.
Lee asked about how they go about putting together an offensive game plan. Coach Gregory said that you start with what you do best. There are things that they do well and that they will do in all of their games, they try to fit them into the game by formation against the defense. Then you find and install some wrinkles that you can use to try to get some big plays to help you win.
Having a young quarterback and a young defense on the field, the Jags must execute well. Coach Jones told us that he asked the players to think about how they were going to respond. How were they going to handle the crowd and how are they going to respond if they miss a block or commit any number of possible mistakes on the field. Both teams are young and inexperienced so both teams will make some mistakes. But Coach Jones thinks whoever minimizes the number of mistakes will win the game.
Lee asked Coach Jones about leadership and he responded by saying that he thinks Myles is a great leader. He is a bit soft spoken but he has a winning swagger about him that rubs off to all of the other players.
A caller asked how do they monitor players to keep them out of trouble. Coach Jones said they cannot monitor them all the time. The NCAA does not allow schools to have football dorms like Coach Jones and Coach Gregory had when they played in college. They had to check in with their monitors all the time. Students now stay in general student dorms or apartments and they just can’t be monitored all the time. So part of the recruiting process is to make sure you get kids that are well disciplined and to discipline those when and if they warrant it.
Lee Shirvanian mentioned that he was at a high school game on Saturday and there were lots of kids cramping up. So he asked what precautions is USA taking to try to prevent this. Coach Jones said that they will get plenty of fluids leading up to the game and there will be plenty of fluids available on the sidelines. Another thing that has been overlooked by many but they are doing is to get more salt in their diet and to make sure they have a good amount of fat on them as well. Kids with low body fat, once they burn through their carbs, will start burning muscle and they will cramp up. The forecast shows that it should be about 85-88 degrees for the game, Coach Jones would actually prefer 95-98 because he feels it would benefit them over Hargrave.
Lee then asked about the running game, if they had a clear number one running back. Coach Gregory said that their clear #1 running back is Brandon Ross. However they have two or three backs, that if something happened, could easily step up and give them a good chance to win. The will rotate running backs and spread the carries around, however Ross should get the majority of the carries. They do have situational backs because some block better than others, some catch the ball better out of the backfield than others. He also reaffirmed that the Jags are a one back offense, but not to be confused with being a spread offense. They are a one back team with power running and passing but also some option thrown in.
Lee then asked if they have something akin to the ‘wild cat’ formation, something like the ‘wild jaguar.’ They both said no, Gibbon can run with the best of them and could get as many yards or more than the running back so they don’t need that type of formation for him.
Lee then asked how they found Gibbon. Coach Jones said one of the coaches saw him in a football camp and started recruiting him. Many schools stay away from Canadian players because they take different classes up there as opposed to in America. So they have to take some time and take extra courses in order to be eligible by the NCAA.
Coach Jones commented that they know of about 9 of 13 players on defense that have committed to Division-I schools. Also Coach Gregory has been recruiting from Hargrave for about 20 years, so he knows Hargrave pretty well. He has a good relationship with Hargrave’s head coach and when he told him that he was taking the job at South Alabama, his response was that he wanted to come down and play.
Another question from Lee was about footwear for the game. What kind of shoes do they wear. Coach Jones said that they use just normal cleats. The turf at Ladd-Peebles Stadium is actually a little shorter than on the practice field and that makes it a little faster. He does want to get the player out at Ladd one more time before the game because of that difference.
The final question was how many players were going to suit up for the game. Coach Jones said they were going to dress out about 96 players. Lee followed up asking how many of those were scholarship players, which Coach Jones answered that about 50 of them were scholarship players. He went on to say that their team is about 50/50 scholarship and walk-ons right now.
The Joey Jones Radio Show Returns To WNSP
Get ready to order up what has to be your favorite dish on the Baumhower’s menu, because the Joey Jones Radio Show is back. On Tuesday, the University of South Alabama announced that the radio show will begin its second season on August 25th.
The show will air live from Baumhower’s Wings Restaurant on Airport Boulevard, just like last season. It will feature interviews with Jaguars assistants and other various athletic department personnel and of course Coach Joey Jones and Lee Shirvanian. The program will air on WNSP 105.5FM during lunch from noon-1pm.
However, they will not be airing each week as in the previous season. The show will air on Tuesdays before Jaguar games as well as the August 25th and November 17th which is the Tuesday after the season finale. The airing dates are Aug. 25, Sept. 1, Sept. 22, Oct. 6, Oct. 13, Oct. 27, Nov. 3, Nov. 10 and Nov. 17.
Gary Saunders, Jaguars Sports Marketing General Manager remarked, “Baumhower’s Wings Restaurant in Mobile has been a supporter of University of South Alabama athletics for several years. Their three-year commitment to host the Joey Jones Radio Show is another example of the confidence they have in our first-year football program. We look forward to working with them on future Jaguar Sports Marketing/IMG College programs.”
CEO Bob Baumhower also had remarks to share about the deal. “We at Baumhower’s Wings Restaurant are happy to support the University of South Alabama and the athletic program,” Baumhower stated. “This year we are excited to once again host the Joey Jones Radio Show and support the inaugural season of Jaguar football. Coach Jones and his staff have put together a competitive team, and we are honored to be part of it.”
When you go to Baumhower’s, make sure to order by name. Ask for the “Joey Jones Special” which is the Black and White Chicken platter. Trust me, you won’t regret it!
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2009-03-25
Ronald Douglas watches practice on Tuesday
Coach Joey Jones and Lee Shirvanian are in the studio for the final episode of the Joey Jones show. Coach Jones lunch choice of the day: the Joey Jones Special Black & White chicken. Lee’s choice of the day is the fish and broccoli. Plus, to celebrate the end of this years run of the Joey Jones Radio Show, they enjoy some of Wing’s delicious banana pudding. But don’t worry, the Joey Jones show will return in August for more Jaguar Football goodness.
A caller asked what kind of volunteer work that can be done for the team or sideline work that needs to be done? Coach Jones urges anyone who wants to volunteer to call the office because there will be some volunteer work that can be done on the sidelines and they have the list of what needs to be covered.
Lee asked about yesterdays first practice in pads. Coach Jones loved the intensity and said it was good to start to see who were the tough guys are. They had some full team stuff and had a couple players catch the coaches eye (I saw a huge hit on a running back that got the sidelines and the 30 or so spectators really excited).
When asked about the uniforms, Coach Jones said that the president has approved the uniforms and will hopefully be able to introduce them in two weeks. They are still working out how the home and away situation will be with the fall schedule this season in terms of uniforms. But they are considering doing something different that most schools but similar to what LSU does and wear a white top for home games. Coach Jones also said that he had thought about going with the silver helmets like he had mentioned before on the Joey Jones Show, but he thinks the latest version really stands out to him and will represent the school well.
Today’s practice will be similar to Tuesdays practice but it will have more special teams time before getting into full team practice sessions. They did not really do much special teams practice yesterday and want to start adding more of that starting today.
Men’s Basketball player Ronald Douglas is going to try out for the team. He is 6’8” and is a very good athlete as Coach Arrow told Coach Jones. So he should be out in pads today and will start working out with the team. They are thinking about putting him at the defensive end position. Douglas played football back in high school, so this is not something new for him.
Lee and Coach Jones talk about some of teams on the schedule this season. Coach Jones mentions that the first thing that came out (about the football teams) was that the Jags were going to play 4 or 5 games. However, Coach Jones wanted to increase the number of games and also increase the level of competition. With the schedule that they put together, both he and Joe Gottfried have put together a good schedule of games that will challenge the players to work hard and play hard. Initially they were going to play club teams, but Coach Jones pushed to raise the competition level to test the kids and also recruit some of the good players that come out of these schools. Hargrave Military Academy turns out lots of really good players that transfer to SEC and other Division I schools and finished 10-1 last season. Huntingdon College is the only Division III school on the schedule, the rest are prep, military or junior colleges. Huntingdon finished 8-2 last season and were considered for an at-large bid to the Division III playoffs after starting the season 8-0. They also outscored their opponents 417 – 158 with three shutouts and finished the season ranked 5th in scoring offense.
Some of these teams will have better athletes than a lot of SEC schools signing classes. They have kids that were recruited by schools from all of the BCS conferences and they are getting players from all over the country. Hargrave is probably the number one prep school in the country with the number of players going to Division I schools. Most people do not recognize the number of future NFL players who come out of prep schools.
Most of these kids that go to the prep schools are just under the cut-off for a Division I school. So it’s not the case that these kids just could not cut it in Division I academically, but rather they may have made a C in an English class and just barely missed the cutoff. So they go to these schools and work hard to better themselves and after two years, hopefully sign a Division I scholarship to play and get their education.
Lee asked Coach Jones what do these schools think of South Alabama recruiting these kids. Coach Jones said that these schools are happy, they want to have more of their kids signing Division I scholarships. It looks better for them and helps them to get better kids into their program as well.
When a caller asked about scrimmages and how Alabama has the ‘A-Day Game’ Coach Jones said that every Friday from here through the end of spring practice will be a scrimmage. But, he also said that every day they are out on the practice field, they are doing 11-on-11 plays.
Lee asked what Coach Jones vision for this program is. He then qualified that question to be mainly about stadiums. With a proposed stadium being built by a group that will be out I-10 West that is supposed to seat 50,000, is that something the USA is going to look at or is something on campus is the ultimate goal for the school? Coach Jones said that probably an on-campus stadium should be the ultimate goal because it adds to the atmosphere of the campus and whenever any other team has transitioned from an off-campus to an on-campus stadium, their attendance doubles.
Back to the schedule this fall, the times are all stated at 4pm except for a lone 11:30am kickoff. Lee asked if these times were set in stone or are they subject to change? Coach Jones said that they are subject to change of course, but this year will be time to test different kickoff times and see what works out best for South Alabama versus Alabama and Auburn obviously.
Lee said that he has had people ask him what is the best way to get their son recognized and possibly help them get a scholarship to South Alabama to play football. Coach Jones said that the biggest and easiest way to mass publicize a player is for a high school coach to make a highlight reel for a player. But USA is getting over 2,000 DVDs and they at least look at them all for some amount of time, but it’s hard to pick players from video. While their highlight reel may show their two good plays from a game, they may have had 5 bad plays in the game and they want to know this. A really good way for a kid to be recognized by the coaching staff at USA, or other schools for that matter, is for that kid to go to a football camp. Some schools may not sign a player unless they have either been chosen as a ‘blue chip’ recruit or have gone to at least one of their football camps. Coach Jones also said that he will not sign a quarterback without actually seeing him play in person.
That wraps up this season of the Joey Jones show. Keep visiting Thunderjags.com for more football news. Also check us out for information from other sporting news from the Jaguars. Also come out and support all of the South Alabama sports, including baseball and softball, which are going on right now.
Go Jags!
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2009-03-18
 |
| From South Alabama Football First Spring Practice |
Coach Joey Jones, Lee Shirvanian and Tommy Perry are in the studio at Baumhower’s Wing’s sports grill on Airport Blvd for today’s radio show. This is the next to last Coach Joey Jones show so go out and tell the people at Wing’s that you love the show and would hate to see it leave the airwaves. They also have their Grills Gone Wild specials going on right now so make sure to ask for that menu when you go. Joey Jones choice of the week is the Ragin’ Cajun chicken wings with the sauce on the side.
The first caller had another question about the release of the football schedule. However, this week we got some really good news when this was asked, not what we have been getting. Coach Jones said that the schedule will be released on Tuesday with seven games, probably an eighth and quite possibly a ninth and all of the confirmed games (seven) will be home games.
The caller followed up with a question about what kind of teams USA will be playing against come football season? Coach Jones said that USA will be playing smaller teams and schools, like he said before, but he can’t mention names until Tuesday. They will be teams that USA could recruit from in the near future which indicates possibly junior colleges and smaller Division II schools. They are moving towards Division-I as fast as they can and will be playing Div-I teams in three years, which when they release the schedule for the fall they will also talk about some of the upcoming Division-I teams that they have contracts to play in the coming years. The eighth game may be a road game for USA to wet their feet with traveling.
They took a few minutes to joke about Lane Kiffin at Tennessee and some of the questionable remarks he has made since he was hired at Tennessee.
Lee wanted to look back on the practices held last week. Coach Jones said he likes how the players and coaches were over their first week of practice but they cannot tell anything about the players until they put pads. But they improved from day one to day two but they really improved from day two to the third day of practice as expected. They start to internalize the drills and just get back into moving like a football player again.
When asked about some standout players so far, Coach Jones mentioned Courtney Smith and Ralph Turner as some good looking Wide Receivers with good routes and such. He aslo mentioned Richard Ross, Anthony Mostella and Santuan McGee as some good looking running backs. Starting next week they will be wearing pads and will start hitting and there will be some sort of scrimmage on April 10th but with only two quarterbacks he is trying to figure out how that will work, they don’t want to risk one or both of them getting hurt.
They have about 97 to 98 players coming out to the practices with about 28 more scholarship kids coming in the fall. He said a total of about 45 coming in the fall and for camp they can only have 105 players, but when they start fall practice they can have 130 so they can add 25 kids at that time.
Tommy Perry is the running backs and special team’s coordinator for USA. Coach Perry is from a long line of coaches, his grandfather is John David Crow and his father is a high school coach as well. He graduated from Texas A&M and then went to University of Texas to work with Coach Brown, who he credited with teaching him how to coach a player one-on-one and to how to work with them.
Coach Jones said that they could have split the special teams’ duties between the other coaches but he like Coach Perry for that position. Coach Jones said that Coach Perry was irritated after the first day of practice because everything did not go like he wanted but as the players have gotten better so has his mood (a little chuckling there from both of them). Coach Jones said he and the rest of the staff really likes Coach Perry and Coach Jones really likes that he is a perfectionist.
Special Teams is a very critical part of the game. If you look at the conference champions each year in any conference they are almost always the leader in the special teams’ categories. He was a backup full back in college so Coach Perry got his chance to play because of special teams. Some people do not think that much about special teams and coaching special teams and can almost belittle them. But your good coaches know and acknowledge that specials teams can and will make or break a game.
Continuing on about special teams, Coach Jones said he will have players that are not allowed to play on any specials teams at all. Then some players can be on some special teams but not all of them. One reason is to prevent game fatigue. One example was a wide receiver that just ran a 55 yard fly route and then has to come right back and play the gunner position on the punt team. That is a lot of energy expended in two consecutive plays.
Talking about punt returning, getting a good punt returner, like Javier Arenas at Alabama, is pretty rare. But when a team blocks a punt, that team typically wins about 95% of the time. So Coach Jones said he may not emphasize the punt return as much, but he will definitely emphasize getting pressure on the punter trying to block a punt which could yield maybe 20 yards instead the average of 8 or 9 yard punt return if he is pressured and not blocked.
Talking about the Senior Bowl possibly moving to Tampa, Coach Jones said he was sad to hear that news that broke yesterday. After 59 years in Mobile, he hopes that they don’t leave for the tradition, for Mobile and for the USA Football program.
Practice next week will be in pads for the first time. Monday will be a weight training day. Practice will be held from Tuesday through Friday from 2:30-4:45pm. Once warmed up they will start hitting, some one-on-one drills and other drills. Coach Perry says he was pleasantly surprised with group of running backs at USA. Some speed guys and some grind it out and hard hitting guys. But it’s easier to look good in shorts but when they get pads on and the holes get smaller they will really see how good they are.
Loading ...