When the Jags left Mobile yesterday, Smith was not with the team. On the depth chart, Eddy Cabrera is next in line to replace the 6′, 185 pound Junior. The secondary is deeper at Safety and could see someone move over to fill in at corner. If the Jaguars come out and get a big lead, I would look for Coach Clark and Coach Jones to try a few players at corner to find a good fit as Smith’s replacement.

Coach Jones and Lee Shirvanian was accompanied by defensive coordinator Bill Clark for the Joey Jones Radio show from Baumhower’s restaurant on Airport Boulevard.

Lee asked about perspective about the UWA game. He asked if he thought that the Jags played a good game. Coach Jones started off by saying “I don’t know,” he then continued by saying that he thought the players played hard, that they got after it physically, they were there emotionally and were ready to play. But he said that they did make some mistakes and did not play what he considers ‘South Alabama Football’. He mentioned the four turnovers in the first half and the play on special teams.

He also mentioned the field position because the offense didn’t play well and the mental mistakes and the special teams play had them, on average, starting at their own 19 yard line. He did not know where the defense averaged their starting position but he thought it would be near midfield.

He then said that if your field position is that bad you are not going to play well. But, bottom line, those things are fixable and they have to turn them around quickly. If they want to be a good football team, they have to fix them quickly.

Lee then mentioned to Coach Clark that they have less to work on than Auburn’s defense. Coach Clark was quick to deflect that by telling Lee that, to them, it’s all about the next game. As they were looking back on the game, they liked the effort but they also have things they want to work on and get better at. Coach Clark also mentioned that it he likes that they have film of their opponent for the next game. For UWA all they had was what film they had from the previous year.

Lee then went about talking how Steve Spurrier benched Steven Garcia then he came off the bench to lead the team to a come-back win. He then transitioned that into talking about Kendall Houston and Demetre Baker being suspended for the first half of the game against UWA and asked if they have been in the game, would it have been different?

Coach Jones said yes it would have been different, however you don’t know for sure that it was. Jones also said that when you walk out onto the field without two guys like them and Corey Besteda, who is another big play guy at receiver, it leaves a bit of a void that the team has to overcome.

The Jags did score on their opening drive of the game, but Coach Jones said they threw the ball alot in that drive. But then the turnovers took over. He rounded out the answer by saying in the future they want those guys out on the field and that they do not want that to happen again.

Lee introduced the ‘Who’s hot’ feature sponsored by Fuego Mexican Restaurant. On offense, Jones recognized Kendall Houston for his job coming in and playing a good game and breaking lots of tackles. Defensively he recognized Enrique Williams for his performance. Williams had 11 tackles after coming back from a shoulder injury in preseason camp.

Lee and Coach Clark began talking about the defense and the secondary. Lee asked about how B.J. Scott, Damond Smith and Charles Harris in the secondary changes the defense. Coach Clark agreed with Lee’s comment that they are good cover guys so they can leave them in coverage and get a good pass rush on the quarterback.

Jones agreed with what Lee Shirvanian said about what a good job the defense did to prevent Worsham from making any big plays. While he did lead their team with five receptions for 44 yards, his longest was 13 yards.

Lee mentioned that in previous airings of this show, Coach Jones had said that special teams had improved. So he asked Coach Jones if he had a better game at that phase of the game. Coach Jones said no, but he did say that there were some positive things and negative things. But they know what they need to work on and they will get to work to correct them.

The first email question that Lee asked was if there have been any difficulty keeping the players and staff focused with NC State and Kent State games approaching. Coach Jones said he has not thought about those games and cautioned that his players better not be thinking about those games either. He cautioned that Lamar has had this game circled since last year and want to come to Mobile and win. So his players better not be caught looking ahead because Lamar could jump up and bite them.

Coach Clark answered from the prospective of the staff that it has not been hard to stay focused on Lamar and not look ahead to the two games ahead.

The next question emailed to Lee asked if that was indeed the wishbone formation that he saw near the goal line against UWA. Jones confirmed that it was the wishbone and went on to say that they use it when they get near the end zone.

Lee stepped back after a short talk about the wishbone and the single wing offense to talk about high school football. When he moved to South Alabama in the 80′s, he said that the offenses were ‘the quarterback hands off to the running back’ type of offenses. Now you see shotgun formations, trips left and trips right. The offenses have really opened up.

Coach Clark then chimed in talking about how the high school offenses have evolved. The rise of the throwing quarterback then the advent of the running quarterback. Then you put those together. Coach Clark also mentioned that Coach Jones was one of the first to use the spread and throw the ball around alot in the high school ranks in Alabama.

The next sponsored segment was the Orthopedic Group injury update. Coach Jones said that the team came out of the game looking great on the injury front. Looking back to what they were like during the summer, they are looking really good. He said it was about two pages of injuries, down to one page, down to half a page and now it’s only about three players with injuries. He announced that Greg Hollinger will be back for the Lamar game, which is a tall receiver that has shown some good play in practice.

Coach Jones said he came in last year and tore his quad muscle then this year he hurt his shoulder at the beginning of the summer. Greg is about 6’3″ and weighs about 215-lbs. Jones said that last year he was a terror against the first team defense, which Coach Clark agreed with. They are now ready to get him on the field.

Lee asked about Melvin Meggs, who he saw leave the game. Coach Jones said he had cramps and that was all with him. He also mentioned B.J. Scott having cramps late in the game as well. Other than those, he said that they don’t have any injuries.

Lee asked about Enrique Williams and his injury last year going into this year. Coach Clark said that it wasn’t a worry that he was missing practice time. He continued by saying that he has been in the system for a while so they were comfortable with his play, but he was still out there with Coach Crain and the linebackers so he would know what was going on without physically participating.

Lee asked coach Clark as to who is their field guy who makes sure they are lined up correctly and takes control on the field. Coach Clark said that they depend on the Mike Linebacker who is either Jake Johnson or Bryson James and they also depend on their safeties Scott and Charles Harris.

Lee circled back to Hollinger and asked how much playing time he would see. Coach Jones said that they rotate in receivers quite a bit and feel they are interchangeable. They are two deep so he would expect Hollinger to see action for about half the game because they feel he is that good of a receiver.

Lee made light that Lamar will be the first team that we will have faced twice. He also said that the defense played very well, shutting out Lamar at home. Coach Jones agreed, he said that it was the start of a three game series with road games against Lamar and UC-Davis before returning to Mobile to face Georgia State. They really considered it the first road game too, the Dothan game wasn’t the full road game experience to them.

The WNSP staple caller Scooter called in and asked a few questions and made a couple comments. One of his questions was to Coach Jones about his preference of field, was it grass or artificial. Coach Jones said he was a traditionalist and preferred grass, but that field turf has come a very long way and makes such financial sense now for many places. Scooter followed it up with a question about burns and scuffs on the artificial turf. Jones said that they do still get burns and scuffs, but it’s not like what it used to be on the old turf.

Lee asked about the field turf and drainage since it rained heavily on Thursday. Coach Jones said that it drains very well, within 30 minutes or so it was drained and in great condition. It’s one of the major advantages of the artificial fields.

Another caller asked that, if South Alabama defeats NC State, would he name every player on the team as captain for the rest of the season like Coach Belichick. Coach Jones said that was a great idea and he might do that if they win, but he quickly turned the conversation back to Lamar.

Lee turned the conversation from TV, that one caller was calling about, to uniforms as being a big issue after the first week of play. Coach Jones let out a very audible “Oh god” when uniforms were mentioned. Lee asked if USA would ever go to something like the Georgia uniforms. Jones was quick to say “no.” However, he did mention that his wife liked the Georgia uniforms. But Coach Jones said that the Georgia uniforms were nowhere near as bad as the uniforms that Maryland wore for their game.

Coach Jones said that he has liked some of the Nike ProCombat uniforms that they have designed in the last few years, but that the Maryland uniforms were horrible. Coach Clark agreed and said that they took away from the game itself. They like to do things that the kids like, but Maryland’s were just too over the top.

Lee mentioned Tim Brando and what he said on his show about the uniforms. Brando said part of the allure of college football is the tradition of college colors so he was against it. Coach Clark said that they (South Alabama) likes to mix it up, but as long as you stay within your colors.

Another caller asked for Coach Clark to comment on Ken Barefield’s play on Saturday. Clark acknowledged that it was a very good comment. He said that Ken is a very good player and since his move to linebacker from safety, it gives them a fifth defensive back in the game in a way. They felt that they have found him a better place to play because of his agressiveness during the game. He can be their Sam or nickle linebacker. He is very mobile, as fans saw during the game when he leapt over the offensive player attempting to block him. Plus he added an interception in the red zone.

Lee asked both Coach Jones and Coach Clark as to what Lamar brings when they come to Mobile on Saturday. Coach Clark said that they had two of their starting receivers out and their starting tight end out on offense, but from last year to this year they added three transfers to their offensive line. The guard they added was the #2 guard in America two years ago and signed with USC but didn’t get in there. The right tackle came from Arkansas, is a big guy at about 6’7″ or 6’7″ and 300+ pounds who transferred to them. Their quarterback threw for over 400 yards before playing us last year. But they brought in a transfer at quarterback that signed with West Virginia and was the #5 running quarterback in the state of Texas, while also returning their quarterback from last year. He also said that they just have good players across the entire team.

Lee asked if the Jags would see much of a change in their defense from last year. Coach Jones said that they have changed personel some, but the biggest change has been the interior of their defense. They have changed from a 4-2-5 to a 4-3 defense. Last year they had lost two linemen to injury. They will have some big guys inside and he said that probably their two best players are the two guys on the inside.

Lee said that Kendall had a break-out game against Lamar by rushing for over 160 yards against them. He asked if the Jags could do that again. Coach Jones said he hopes so, but that the offense has to be balanced and they have to be mindful of the plays that they call.

Lee said he was a little hesitant to ask, but he asked both coaches what they thought of the Kent State game. Coach Jones said that the Kent State defense scared him a little because they were getting through Alabama’s offensive line at will early in the game. They did a good job of stopping the run early. But he wasn’t really watching them all that closely, they were watching the game as a game and preparing for Lamar. They will get to Kent State when it’s time.

Coach Jones looks on as Demetre Baker looks to the sideline before blocking for a field goal attempt.

The Joey Jones Radio Show started season three with host Lee Shirvanian and guest Joel Erdmann today.

They started the show off by talking about the depth chart now that they are finished with preseason camp and are into game prep mode. The first thing that Lee asked coach Jones about were there any surprises that emerged that he wasn’t thinking about. Coach Jones said that they don’t have many changes.

He mentioned on the offensive line that Levi Slaydon did not return so they had to fill that position. Jermaine Smith and Brian Krauskopf have stepped up and are neck-and-neck for that starting job. Other than that change, the offensive line is the same as last season. At tight end it is pretty much the same with Kevin Helms and Paul Bennett there. A little bit of a change will be the backfield with the addition of Georgia transfer Demetre Baker with Kendall Houston. He indicated that they would be co-starters in the backfield.

When coach Jones moved onto receivers, he mentioned that they have more names out there than they did last year. Last year Courtney Smith was the big name and the other receivers were ‘the others’.

Lee then started talking about the defense and mentioned that there were many familiar names on that side of the ball. He first mentioned Cori Barnett at the Sam position with Ken Barefield as his backup. Barefield played defensive back last season for the Jags.

When asked about how Cori emerged as being a starter, Coach Jones said that he had a great spring and awarded him with a scholarship for how well he did in the off-season. He mentioned that he is a bit undersized but still plays very well, he’s smart and knows all the answers to questions over on defense. Ken will still play alot.

The secondary will be very different this season. The lone returning starter is Anton Graphenreed, but he is joined by newcomers Charles Harris, Damon Smith and Alabama transfer B.J. Scott. When asked if he and defensive coordinator Bill Clark, coach Jones said it does not bother them. They are very good players and they feel very sound in the secondary.

Lee asked Dr. Erdmann about opening night for the Jaguars. He said that they are lots of ‘moving parts’ but that everything is coming along well. They are putting the final touches on Ladd-Peebles Stadium to make it a unique experience for South Alabama fans. They are also working on implementing instant replay and putting the final touches on that as well.

Turning back to training camp, the Fuego ‘Who’s Hot’ feature was C.J. Bennett on the offensive side of the ball. He has really stepped up as a quarterback, not only throwing ability and reading defenses but as a leader. Coach Jones said that Bennett is emerging as a great leader on offense. On defense, Coach Jones singled out Damon Smith at corner back. Saying that he has brought lots of energy to the team. He continued by saying that he is a very physical cornerback and can cover receivers well. He finished up talking about him by saying that he is a better player than what they thought they were getting when he arrived.

Lee asked about the quarterbacks behind Bennett since he seems to be a solid #1 on the depth chart. Lee said that on the depth chart the 2nd string position was listed as being Myles Gibbon or Trey Fetner, a freshman. Coach Jones said that Fetner has moved up really quickly and that Gibbon and Fetner are neck-and-neck right now. This is Myles’ third year and has done well while Trey has come in as a freshman and has been throwing the ball well with a strong arm. But he was quick to say that they are very fortunate to have three guys who are great quarterbacks that they can count on in case someone gets hurt.

Lee then asked Coach Jones what needs to happen between now and gameday against West Alabama. Coach Jones answered that they started ‘dabbling’ with the gameplan some during last week’s practice. But said that they really got into it yesterday. He said that what they need to accomplish is to do a situational scrimmage on Thursday that covers situations that they have not covered in practice. They will treat it kind of like a game with running onto and off of the field. They want to make sure that the players are paying attention on the sidelines and get onto and off of the field in a timely and orderly manner.

Lee then directed a statement to Dr. Erdmann that he thought that people see the undefeated 17-0 record and tend to take the program a little bit for granted about how far the program has risen in such a short amount of time. Dr. Erdmann immediately said that it cannot be overstated what Coach Jones and his staff has done in starting this program and getting it to this point when just about two years ago it didn’t exist.

Lee then transitioned into this season by asking about season ticket sale. Dr. Erdmann indicated that, to date, that ticket sales is ahead of what it was last season. He then compared the season ticket sales trend at emerging schools, talking about South Florida in particular, is to drop off from year one to year two but have their largest drop off from year two to year three.

However South Alabama has defied that by increasing season ticket sales in each of the previous years. Actually South Alabama’s season ticket sales is currently second in the Sun Belt conference only trailing Troy. But Erdmann quickly mentioned that North Texas will probably get a bump in sales due to their new football stadium opening this season. Erdmann also said that some schools in Conference-USA and the MAC would be envious of the Jaguars season ticket sales.

Lee transitions over to talking about stadiums, which garners some chuckles from both Coach Jones and Dr. Erdmann. As for news about stadiums, neither one had anything to say beyond that it’s fun to talk about and obviously it would be nice to have an on-campus stadium. The key word was that Erdmann said that “no formal action” is happening towards a stadium.

After the first break, Lee came back to talk about the depth chart and Demetre Baker. He observed that many people don’t concern themselves too much with the depth chart at other positions other than quarterback. Coach Jones agreed and qualified it with the caveat that the quarterback position does not rotate much if any in most program. He said they [South Alabama] rotated quarterbacks in previous seasons because there wasn’t much difference between the first, second and third string quarterbacks. But at running back and other positions, in order to play Division I football, you have to rotate players because you are going to have some injuries here and there.

One listeners question was about how recruiting changed after last season than it was after the first season. Coach Jones answered it by saying that it has changed alot. Places know where South Alabama is and where Mobile is. When they walk into a school, they know where South Alabama is.

The next email question asked about what would be the focus of the 2012 signing class. Coach Jones said that the biggest need would be offensive linemen, because you cannot get enough offensive linemen. After that, their focus would be on defense looking for a little bit at each position. They are okay at quarterback, probably don’t need much at running back either. Also he mentioned that they probably need to sign one or two tight ends.

A third email asked about how much current players factor into helping recruit former teammates to the program. Coach Jones said you think that would naturally occur. If a player comes in for a visit, they look to pair them with someone they will be comfortable with. If someone played with them in high school, then that may be the best choice for them when the visit.

Lee then introduced the injury report sponsored by The Orthopedic Group. coach Jones said that they are looking pretty good right now. At one point they had 22 guys sidelined at one time with injuries. There are three guys who out right now. One is freshman receiver Anthony Ingram who had surgery on his shoulder and will miss the season. Running back Devin Robinson, another freshman, hurt his hand and will be out for three or four weeks. Then Brandon Ross who will most likely miss the season, but has an outside chance to be ready halfway through the season or later. On the bright side, Coach Jones said that Ingram can be redshirted this season and will have four more years of eligibility.

Lee then asked about Enrique Williams, who is listed as a starter for the West Alabama game but has not practiced much this season so far. Coach Jones said that Williams practiced on Tuesday and is back with the team. Most of the 22 returned on Monday or Tuesday with only about six players still out right now.

Coach Jones, Dr. Erdmann and Lee next talked about NCAA issues. Some representatives met with the NCAA recently about different issue. Three of the main issues they talked about was academic reform, cost containment and examining rules. They raised the APR from 925 to 930 and they may raise core course grades and also SAT/ACT scores needed to get into school. As for rules, they want to set new presidents by upping enforcement and upping consequences.

Coach Jones, like many others, would like to see more streamlined rules and be able to keep a level playing field, which is keyed off of enforcement.

Lee asked about social networking and Coach Jones said he has cautioned his players to be very careful how they portray themselves and the program. They want to have a first class program so they have to portray themselves in a first class way. Dr. Erdmann said that the institutions are supposed to monitor social media like Facebook, twitter and others. So they have to spot check so they can intervene if unethical interaction of athletes may be occurring.

Speaking towards the problems that have surfaced down in Miami. Coach Jones said that he tells his staff to recruit the player and the family and not to get involved with any third parties. Dr. Erdmann also said that rules help to ease pressure on recruits.

Speaking directly about the Miami problems, Dr. Erdmann said that it was said to hear and that it was not the right way to do things. He also added that if the allegations are true, that parts of the program could be on the chopping block. Erdmann also said that the kids are 18-22 years old and are old enough to know better and are told to avoid over and over.

Lee asked about the 10 game schedule and why the Jags could not get more games than that. Dr. Erdmann said it was their intent to have more games but early in the year, around February or March, they were informed that UC Davis wanted to opt-out of their contract with USA. USA and Edward-Waters mutually agreed to drop their contract. But the UC Davis game was scheduled later in the season and was able to find a replacement game with Mississippi Valley State.

After adding the 10th game back, they made sure they were fulfilling their requirements for their two-year transition to FBS. Then after looking at what teams were out there available for a game, they decided that the possible games out there weren’t the best fits for the school and decided to stay with 10 games. Additionally they have some off weeks that may be very advantageous during this season.

Coach Jones made sure to stress that Division I-A and Division I-AA are still Division I school. They still have 63 scholarships, which isn’t the I-A number of 85, but they are still very good programs.

Taylor Noon and Lawson McGlon line up for a field goal attempt while Demetre Baker lines up to block.

South Alabama wrapped up preseason camp with a scrimmage lasting about one and a half hours focusing on game-like situations. They will then have the weekend off before returning to the practice field on Monday as well as beginning fall classes.

The scrimmage featured the first and second team offense and defense versus scout teams including special teams. The coaches had them refrane from tackling although they were in full pads.

They began the scrimmage with special teams work on kickoff coverage. That was followed by the first team defense facing the offense with them beginning at the offense’s one-yard line. Later possessions begain at the 20 and 30 yard lines.

The first team offense began at their own 30-yard line and drove down the field to set up a Jordan Means 37 yard field goal.

The punt team came on for some work before the first team offense and defense retured to the field for another series. They worked on second and long, third and long situations for the defense. Then the offense worked on first down, second and long and third and short situations. The final play of the first half of the scrimmage saw Lawson McGlon make a 40-yard field goal.

After the mid-scrimmage break, the first and second team defenses faced short field situations. The second team offense started with a short field and also starting on their own one-yard line.

The second half of the scrimmage saw more special teams work on kickoff and punt returns. Lawson McGlon also notched another 40-yard field goal as well as a 22-yard field goal to end the scrimmage.

The coaches will review the film from the situational scrimmage over the weekend to develop a depth chart as they go into preparation for their September 1 game against West Alabama.

“We exposed our team to a couple of things; sideline organization of the game, which I thought was pretty good for the most part though there are a couple of things we need to talk about as a staff to fix, and situational things on the field,” said head coach Joey Jones. “We didn’t tackle today, which I thought was good. We had a pretty good tempo, sometimes they tend to back off too much when you do that. We got all the special teams covered, we had three reps with each; we’ll watch the film and see what corrections we need to make there.”

Coach Jones then spoke about what the coaches will be doing over the weekend. “Number one, we’re going to evaluate the film and our players, what we need to do offensively and defensively and any corrections we need to make. Then we’ll talk about sideline organization, the things I noticed that we need to go over and get fixed for next week. And we’ll plan next week, how we’re going to attack it with a game a week from Thursday; how we are going to handle those three days before we get into game week. We know we’re going to have a situational scrimmage Thursday as well, bring them in Friday to watch the film and then it will be game week at that point.”

Coach Jones then went over their plan, beginning next week. “We’re going to go ahead and start working on the first ball game — we’ve done a little bit here and there before now, but it will give us an extra three days to work on West Alabama and put our game plan in, then go back and make corrections. There may be a scheme we don’t like or a blitz we don’t like that we will throw out. We’ll whittle it down and get ready for game week.”

Coach Greg Gregory, the Jaguar offensive coordinator, has been pretty pleased with the progression of the offense. “I think our first offense is good. I think the question mark that the so-called experts had about our football team — our offensive line — might be the strength of our offense,” he said. “I think those guys know how to play, they’re not the biggest but they don’t have to be; they block, they run, they’re athletic and they are competitors.”

“I think we’re really good at quarterback with our starter, though we’re thin at receiver right now because we have guys hurt; the guys that are here are having to take every rep, it’s wearing them out and their legs are getting tired,” Continued Coach Gregory. “We’re strong at running back, tight end and fullback. I’m really pleased other than I think we need our backups to make a huge jump. You don’t always need them right away in the first game, but somewhere in the season somebody’s going to have to play. Overall, we are about where I thought we’d be right now, we just have to polish things up between now and Sept. 1. Our kids are chomping at the bit, they’re ready to play.”

Defensive coordinator Bill Clark also spoke well of his unit. “The first thing as far as our guys go is we feel good. We’ve started developing some depth. We’re starting to see those twos, though some of it is due to injury. We’ve been able to see some freshmen and other guys that you wouldn’t see as much, we’ve gotten to throw them into the fire so we feel better about that. Obviously now our focus will start changing next week where we really start concentrating on West Alabama where we’ve been a little more general to start with. Overall we’re pleased with where we are, and we hope we’ll get everybody back well Monday.”

Probably the most encouraging words were spoke by Coach Gregory about the offensive line. If the starting five are solid with three or four really good second string backups ready at any time, then the team will be ready the tests they will face during the season.

The players will have the weekend off to rest and recover before beginning their preparations for the first game against West Alabama and classes starting on Monday.

Reflecting on the scrimmage, coach Jones thought it wasn’t very good. Actually he said, “I think that our practice today was marginal at best. It was our fifth day of practice in a row, we had a heavy lifting session yesterday afternoon so there legs were tired, it was our first day in full pads, it was hot and we had a scrimmage. We didn’t have a good energy level today for the first time this camp. Our first four days were great, but today we hit a wall.”

He continued, “Is that okay? It will be if we come back tomorrow and work our tails off. I’m okay with having a bad day because sometimes I think it shakes you up. You rattle the tree, shake out all the bad apples and then you continue. I don’t want every practice to be happy, sometimes you have to struggle to succeed.”

In the press conference on Tuesday, Coach Jones talked about looking into the future of the program and their goal to be a big-time Division I program. He spoke about how the kids understand the process they are going through and how they have to work hard to get there. He said from day one they have taken a Division I mentality and that they will continue to do so, from the classroom to the weight room and to the practice field.

Coach Jones himself and the players are all excited to move up in competition by facing all four year institutions, including several Division I-AA schools.

Coach Jones went on to mention some of the differences between last year and this year. They tried to get the best player they could get and get them out on the field. Last year they didn’t have any standards, they went out and did their best. Now they can use last season as a standard to improve upon.

During recruiting, they had higher standards. They only went for players better than what they had on the roster. I’m sure this was a time consuming task as they brought in some really good players last year.

My favorite segment was about the character of this seasons team. He said, “It’s probably as good as I’ve ever been around, and I’ve had some great teams with tremendous character. We preach that and believe in it, it’s something we can control. We can’t control how big they are, if we have a 6-foot-3, 270-pound lineman that’s what he is. But we can do something about character and the choices we make, and we really harp on that. I think our edge is doing things that are intangible. By that I mean, the work ethic and commitment to the team. We stress that every day.”

In the state of Alabama their are two teams which everyone compares every other team against. Nick Saban’s philosophy is character and work ethic. Coach Jones philosophy, similarly, is to outwork their opponent. But unlike other programs, South Alabama is not where they want to be yet and that gives them a fire to work harder than the team on the other sideline.

However, he still stressed that they are taking great strides but that they are not ready to face a Division I opponent yet. Having North Carolina State scheduled for next season, the Jags have work to do and a target to meet.

Talking about preseason camp, coach Jones said he stressed to his team that they are going to win games this week. The Jags are in the middle of a nine consecutive day stretch of practice. With heat indices of around 108 degrees, he stressed that the one who fight through these workouts will be on top in the fall.

Coach Jones spoke about the ghosts of an undefeated season. “We’re fighting our success last year a little bit. Just because we were 7-0 doesn’t mean anything. If we had been 0-7 it wouldn’t have meant anything to me either. I think that as coaches and players we need to look at it through regular glasses rather than rose-colored glasses because we all get comfortable and think everything is okay. We have to keep looking to be critical of ourselves no matter what the circumstance.”

When he spoke about offseason transfers, he said “Sometimes they fall into your lap, it just kind of works out.” The excitement of a new program and opportunity for early playing time is quite alluring. They can also see how they are doing thing right from the coaching staff to the facilities. Those kind of things are quite compelling to very good players at big schools where they don’t see much playing time.

Coach Jones addressed South Alabama’s quarterback talk by saying, “We are trying to get every one of our quarterbacks reps now, I’m not going to rank them one through four because they all have good qualities. We have a good problem. It will filter out as time goes, and we will have to make a decision in three weeks.”

Then he spoke about Brennan Sim specificly, “Brennan’s a leader. When I talked to [head strength and conditioning coach] Justin Schwind last summer when Brennan came, he told me that he was one of the best leaders we had in the weight room, and he had just gotten there. He is one of those guys who is just a born leader. I haven’t known him since he was growing up, but when he walks into a room there is a presence he has. Brennan has a calming effect on our young players, he has an experience factor that a lot of guys on the team don’t have right now.”

Defensive Coordinator Bill Clark spoke next about the defense. He spoke about how he could not think of how last season could have gone any better from a team standpoint. But that they will have a larger challenge to tackle this season with back to back weeks of games. Last season they had several breaks between games. His list of positives was that they have lots of veterans returning from last season. Last year they were trying to find out who could play, this season they will have to step up.

Players have returned bigger and stronger and they are working on developing depth. One position that he feels that they have developed depth is at cornerback. A position of concern is safety and that the coaches are working on that. He is said that the coaches were very excited about linebacker position with a lot of depth. Defensive end, however, is a position he is looking for players to step up in.

He has a goal of getting three players at each position for depth. They want the defense to be dynamic, which means they need the new players to come in, get the scheme down and play at the level they expect them to. It will take some time in order to progress to that point.

Offensive coordinator Greg Gregory said that he expects the offense to be a good football team since they have so many players returning with experience. The continued by saying that they are fostering as much competition at every position as they can. Returning players know that they have pressure on them from the new guys.

However, the Jaguars are returning a good core of skill players in addition to the entire offensive line from last season. Add into the mix the “exceptional” group of freshmen and incoming players and he thinks the pressure and competition will drive them to be even better.

They know that they need to improve since every team on the schedule this season is better than any team they faced last season.

The hot question, again, was about the quarterback position. Coach Gregory said he thought Sim was a little better than Gibbon in the spring, but only slightly. But C.J. Bennett has picked things up quickly since he was there all summer. The newest addition, Raymond Cotton, is in a position where he is playing catch up since he wasn’t on campus during the summer. He was quick to point out that he was very talented. But he ended the QB talk by saying, “The bottom line is we’re going to play whoever gives us the best chance to win games.”

There was no hesitation from Coach Gregory when he spoke about what the offense needed to get better. “The key to getting better offensively is the line. I think a great quarterback deflects praise to the offensive line, because it’s not going to happen if we don’t have an offensive line. I think that’s where we have to make the biggest step in our football program. We’re a little bit undersized with our returning guys, but they are athletic and we need them to step up and play at a high level. Our freshman are just young, but they have size. We’re trying to find out who can provide us depth at each position, but I think we have some young guys who are going to help us out up front.”

He spoke similarly about the freshman running backs as he did about the quarterbacks saying, “The best players will be out there, and if they’re capable of playing, we’ll get them out there. They all have a chance.”

For a more in depth read and quotes from players, check out www.usajaguars.com.

Lousiburg Junior College from North Carolina will enter the game with a 5-1 record and ranked #18 in this weeks NJCA poll. They are quite similar to Georgia Military by running multiple sets on offense and utilizing the 3-3 stack on defense.

The results of the last game versus Georgia Military was a 31-3 win for the Jags while limiting the Bulldogs to 234 yards of total offense.

Offensive coordinator Greg Gregory mentioned that the similarities is a definite benefit for the Jags. “What really was a blessing for us is that Louisburg’s defensive scheme is the exact same as Georgia Military’s,” he said. “All we had to do this week was tweak some things – maybe we want to use some plays we didn’t last week or vice versa, we have taken out plays that we ran against Georgia Military that we didn’t like.

Defensive coordinator Bill Clark said something quite similar about the defense. “Obviously we won’t do all the same things as last week, but it will help us,” he said. “If we went from Army Prep running the option to more of a traditional offense it would’ve been harder.” Coach Clark also mentioned that their workouts through the season has helped the defense to get to this point where they can adjust to playing back-to-back games. “It’s a little bit different, everything is compacted, but we’ve handled it well,” he said. “On defense, we are so focused on adjusting to what the other offense does – the formations, the plays, the tendencies – so we’ve been lucky to have extended amounts of time prior to this week. Of course, Saturday will be the test to see how well we’ve handled it.”

The Jags are approaching this week like it was any other. Their goal is to be a better football team by weeks end than they were at the beginning of the week. “One of the ways we have approached this is to say that we are going to work to improve,” Coach Gregory said. “Sure, we have to work against the scheme of the opponent, but we are really focusing more on ourselves. We want to win every game this year but we are trying to build a football program and lay a foundation, so half of our practice is based on improving fundamentals like throwing, catching and tackling rather than the opposition.”

Even though the Jags are 3-0, the coaches are quick to point out there are improvements to be made. “Right now we don’t throw the ball as well as I would like to throw it,” Coach Gregory said. “That’s a combination of not being good enough at quarterback yet and that we’re not a great pass protection football team yet. That always takes the longest amount of time. We’d like to work on that more in some of these ball games if we get the opportunity, but we’re playing to win.”

Through the first three games the Jaguars have been clearly dominant in the ground game, gaining an average of 257.7 yards per game while only averaging 135.7 yards per game through the air. The coaches are pleased with the performances, however they want a more balanced attack. “The one thing we are trying to do is build a tough, hard-nosed, attacking football team,” Gregory explained. “We’re doing that, but we have to become a more balanced football team not in how much we throw but just having more confidence in our ability to throw.”

On defense the Jags are doing good as well. They have allowed an average of 268 yards per game and only surrendered 16 points in the process. In addition to the yards, the defense has held strong on third down by only allowing seven of 38 attempts to be converted into first downs, which is an 18% success rate.

“Our guys know tackling and takeaways, and when you talk to them and they shoot it back you feel like they are getting it,” stated Clark. “We want to get better fundamentally, we want to be better tacklers. There are things in the last game we saw that we believe we can improve on. We had their quarterback trapped four or five times and couldn’t get him down – he’s a great athlete, but we should be able to do that. The way the players have bought in has been excellent. When you’re a coach they are going to do what you say, but to really get them to believe has been important because we have a really high standard. We feel like we are about excellence, and one of our goals is a shutout. That’s a tough goal when you play four 15-minute quarters, but that’s what we’re looking for. Every week is a chance to improve, we’re only as good as our last game. I’m pleased at this point, but know we have work to do.”

The Jaguars kick off against Louisburg JC on Saturday, October 24 at 4pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

GO JAGS!

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.

But the extra time may be needed most for their upcoming contest on October 10th. Georgia Military JC utilizes a number of formations on offense, but defensive coordinator Bill Clark the extra time will give them plenty of time to learn and prepare for the different offensive looks they may see.

While Coach Clark has been pleased with their progress through the first week of preparations, he stressed that the Jags must be able to adapt to anything Georgia Military JC might through at them. “You’re going to get two-back I, or a tight end and three wide receivers, or four wide receivers, or a bunch formation,” Clark said. “They’re very multiple, with great players, and we’ve talked about the history of that program and what a good job they do, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

“We’ve had a good week. Any time you’re talking about a formation change almost every snap, there’s a lot of learning,” Clark continued. “Luckily, we’ve got an extra week, but then again so do they. We don’t know what wrinkle they’re going to add and we’re going to have to be ready for that. We’ve had a good week, had a few guys bummed up, but hopefully we can get them back healthy and ready to go next week.”

Coach Jones also spoke about Georgia Military JC and the challenge they will present to the Jaguars. “The coaching staff has been together, they’ve run this system for a while, and they’re very well coached,” coach Jones said. “Offensively, they’ve got some great athletes. Their quarterback is a tremendous athlete who can throw it and run it, and they’ve got one of the best running backs we’ll face this year – he’s a very fast running back. We’ve got a great challenge.”

Also their size and talent may make them the best team South Alabama will play in their first season on the field. “Their offensive linemen have the same size of some of the guys from Hargrave,” Jones said. “Some of them are 340 or 350 pounds, so we’ve got a great challenge, but I’m glad for the challenge. I’m looking forward to it because it’s good for our kids to have to step up and play a team like this. They’re very athletic. They’re by far the best defense of the teams we’ve played thus far.”

“They were 9-2 last year and at one point they were the No. 6 junior college in the country,” Coach Jones continued. “They’ve got great players, great coaching, and they’re really similar to Hargrave except that they’ve been around for another year and the guys are a little bit more mature.” On top of going 9-2, they also have won two national championships in the last 10 years.

Over the next five weeks the Jags will have four games, which is quite different from the past five weeks where they only had two games. Coach Jones said, “We’ve worked on some of our fundaments, and we worked offense and defense against each other to see the speed of the game. Defense ran their stuff, offense ran their stuff just to see speed because we’re going to see a lot of speed out there next Saturday. They were 9-2 last year and at one point they were the No. 6 junior college in the country. They’ve got great players, great coaching, and they’re really similar to Hargrave except that they’ve been around for another year and the guys are a little bit more mature.”

The coaches decided to give the players two days off this weekend after practicing for four days this week. But they will return to the practice field Sunday evening, hopefully refreshed and ready for game week preparations.

During Monday’s media day, coach Jones did have this to say about when asked if the team was farther along that he thought they would be. “We’re probably further along than I thought we would be. Our kids have really come together. There’s a chemistry part to a football team that nobody in the stands can see, and sometimes people on the team can’t even see it, but as a coaching staff we’re really noticing how these kids are coming together. That’s really pleasing. Some of the things we’re doing offensively, defensively and on special teams are great on the field, but I think a lot of it has to do with the chemistry of this team; that’s been a real key factor.”

Then following up on that question he was asked if he was concerned about the team chemistry going into this season. “(I had) extreme concern. I had done it before in my job at Birmingham-Southern, but that was a deal where we brought in all freshman. I knew bringing in some older guys who had been around and played in other programs would be a key to bringing us together. We did that, but I still wasn’t sure if it would work, but the plan has worked. The older guys have done a good job leading, and the younger guys have done a good job of listening and doing what they’re supposed to do, so it’s been good.”

The Jags will take the field against Georgia Military Junior College at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday, October 10th with kickoff scheduled for 11:30am. This will be the Jags earliest kickoff of the season.

GO JAGS!!

A very crude diagram of the triple option. It gives the quarterback three options: hand off to the fullback, pitch to the tailback or keep it himself to run.

The Jags will start preparing this week for their game against Army Prep on September 26. Army Prep, like Army, runs the triple option offense. In both teams first game of the season, Army gave Ohio State a handful before the Buckeyes sealed the win when an Army two-point conversion attempt to tie the game was intercepted and returned for two points for the Buckeyes, for the final score 31-27.

The triple option is a very tough offense to prepare for and defend from a mental standpoint. Blitzing and stunting can easily be punished by an observant and well run offense by taking advantage of personnel being out of position. Its pretty easy to rack up yardage on the ground playing sound triple option football.

The best philosophy, which is really what any defense wants to do against any offense, is to limit production on first down and to try to keep the offense in third-and-long situations. Basically against the triple option, keep things vanilla and play assignment-sound football.

One popular way to defend the triple option is by modifying the base 3-4 defense into a 5-3 type defense using the 5 technique for the defensive tackles and the 0 technique for the nose guard. The 5 technique aligns the defensive tackle at the outside eye of the offensive tackle, keying first the tight end then the offensive tackle. Typically this technique has four duties or uses: 1) keep the offensive tackles off of the linebackers, 2) the defensive tackle cannot be blocked singularly by the offensive tackle, 3) to check for the trap, and 4) rush the pass. The 0 technique has the nose guard line up directly in front of the center and he will read and react to both of the offensive guards and the center.

In this scheme, the five defensive linemen line up against the five offensive linemen with their assignment being to tackle the fullback in the dive play and to keep the offensive linemen from getting to the linebackers. The two linebackers line up about five yards off the line with their outside leg splitting the crotch of the 5 technique linemen, basically lining up half a body to the inside. This way they can play the B-Gap and the fullback on the dive play or they can scrape and play the quarterback on the pitch. The outside linebackers, if a tight end is present, will use a heads-up technique on the tight end, which will allow them to play the quarterback or the pitch.

That only accounts for seven of the eight players in the box. The biggest adjustment is moving the strong safety into the box seven yards behind the nose guard. This allows him to scrape inside out on most plays. His deeper alignment allows him to move without running into the linebackers. His job to pursue from the dive play to the quarterback rolling out to the pitch.

Obviously, this puts a lot of pressure on the cornerbacks who will be in man-to-man coverage most of the time. They will normally line up about seven yards off the line and either straight on with the receiver or one to two yards inside so they can use the sidelines as an extra defender. The free safety plays the deep middle with his job to get depth and play the ball on the pass or give run support once the ball has passed the line of scrimmage.

Obviously, with the free safety playing deep middle with eight in the box, the seven yard cushion by the corners is to protect from a receiver engaging the corner and getting the inside position for a quick pass with a long run for a big gain or touchdown.

I do not know if this is what the South Alabama defense will employ for this game. It will be interesting to see what Coach Jones and Coach Clark put together to defend Army Prep’s triple option.

Here are some videos demonstrating the triple option in use.

Nebraska running the triple option in the 1995 Orange Bowl. Quarterback keeps the ball.

Florida running the triple option with Tebow pitching to Harvin.

Highlight video of Navy running the option.

The morning practice began with special teams with the place kickers getting in some field goal work. Next was about 35 minutes of position drills. Then cornerbacks and receivers in some passing drills while the offense practiced running the ball against the defense’s front seven. Next the full offense and defense worked on third-and-long drills. Finally, the morning practice concluded with 3rd-and-10 drills.

Coach Jones said the team had a great practice this morning with lots of hitting and a couple scuffles.

The afternoon practice added more new wrinkles to the team by having the defense working on the grass field while the offense worked on the field turf. They both started with position drills then moved into special teams by focusing on punt coverage. Then back to position drills again before lightning would end the practice early around 4:30pm.

Speaking after the practice session was cut short, Coach Jones said, “We had backed off of the afternoon session anyway. Their legs are pretty tired right now. We got in most of the practice. We missed one period of defense and an offense-only period at the end, but we were only going to go about an hour-and-a-half. We’re going to get another one Thursday.”

Coach Jones also spoke about injuries. Despite such a high level of intensity, the team has remained relatively healthy. “Nothing major right now, but just some slight pulls, hip flexors, thigh bruises and those types of things,” Coach Jones said. “I think we’re fine. We’ll get most everybody back in the next three or four days.”

Defensive coordinator Bill Clark spoke about the effort and enthusiasm the players are putting in so far in preparation to the Jaguars first season. “We say it starts with effort, and then it’s enthusiasm and then it’s playing smart,” Coach Clark said. “First we’ve got to get the effort, and we’re getting some good strides there. It’s been exciting so far to see these guys taking steps to get better because a lot of them were in high school not long ago.”

Again speaking about preparation, Coach Jones had more praise for the team. “There hasn’t been a day that our kids haven’t come prepared to work,” he said. “They got a little tired toward the end of practice, but they followed through. Some of the receivers are running a good bit, and when you’re running routes all day long it kind of gets to you, but they’re learning to fight through the last part of practice.”

By the end of the week, Coach Jones wants to have a depth chart. “At the end of this week we’re going to make our decision on the ones and twos,” he said. “Of course it’s not over at that point, but you get more reps, so you have a better chance to keep it. If you’re a number three after this week you’re going to have to really fight to get reps to prove yourself.”

The Jags will hit the practice field again on Wednesday with a 7:30am start time. They will have another two-a-day on Thursday before an off day on Friday in preparation to Saturday’s scrimmage and “Fan Day.”