Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-11-15
Coach Joey Jones and Lee Shirvanian are joined by Jinni Frisbey, Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Medicine.
The outgoing seniors will be missed, they came into this program and knew they would not be playing for bowl games or conference championships but still came in and worked hard. They showed the young players how to practice and how to prepare.
Orthopedic Group injury report: Jereme Jones has been recovering well and could be ready to play on Saturday. B.J. Scott injured his knee against Georgia State and will not play due to a partially torn ligament in his knee. Bryson James has a lower back injury from the weight room and the will miss the game due to precautionary reasons. Demetre Baker dislocated his shoulder against MVSU and has rehabbed very well and will be able to play some this weekend.
Lee asked if this has been a better than average year for injuries which she agreed with. The players have played through some injuries but overall the injury list has been shorter than others and they hope it will continue this way.
Fuego Restaurant’s Who’s Hot segment: Coach Jones was a little off guard by Lee’s question for a most valuable player on offense and defense for the Jags. He said that would be hard to say but he would have to go with the tight ends because their play is so critical for the offense. Defensively he mentioned team leader in tackles Jake Johnson and Romelle Jones as two players. He also mentioned Charles Harris but said that they have many possible MVP’s on both sides of the ball.
Caller asked about an update on Brandon Ross again and since Coach Jones said that the triple option is the best offense, why isn’t South Alabama running that offense. Jinni started with an update on Brandon and his ACL tear. He also had to have another surgery on his MCL which is unusual. He has been out practicing and is looking good but will not play this year.
As for the triple offense question, Coach Jones answered. He said it was the best designed offense because you don’t have to block two people and have double teams on some the other players. Coach Jones said they want to get to some of elements of that offense. Some teams have changed it up some to run it from the shotgun. Jones also said he has run the shotgun variation of it some at the high school level. But right now they have a throwing quarterback who can still run some but were scared to get him hurt this year and will look at adding some elements of it to the offense next year.
Another caller asked if Kendall Houston is a senior, which he is not. He is a redshirt freshman this year and will still has three years of eligibility left.
Jinni spoke on the radio show later that USA has 11 certified trainers which is the most in the conference. Plus they have five athletic training facilities where most schools only have one or two. Also Jinni spoke about what happens on gameday. When a player comes off the field and needs to see a trainer, she lets the position coach know and keeps them well informed about what is going on. If they are getting evaluated, taped or need to go to the locker room, she is finding the position coaches and letting them know the status of that player.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-11-01
One of Kendall Houston's three rushing attempts versus Henderson State.
Joey Jones and Lee Shirvanian joined by strength and conditioning coach Justin Schwind for this week’s Joey Jones Radio show at Baumhower’s Restaurant on Airport Boulevard.
Lee started by mentioning that the Jags got off to a good first half, but that it looked like they just wanted to get the game over with as quickly as possible in the second half since it’s a short week. Coach Jones said that they got players out of the game to rest and give other players some time to play.
They immediately went into the Fuego hot players of the game. Lee and Coach Jones mentioned linebacker Desmond LaVelle is a great player, hard worker. The coaches love his attitude and nose for the football. He was actually named linebacker of the week by the coaching staff. Then Coach Jones mentioned offensive lineman Melvin Meggs, a redshirt freshman that really played well, probably his best game of the year. Very effective on Bakers 7 yard run for a touchdown in the game. Getting really good with the technique for an offensive lineman. They further mentioned Demetre Baker with first 100 yard game of the year even after not practicing much during the week due to a bum knee and another defensive player was Gabe Loper who is becoming a good force in the secondary with good man-to-man skills and his zone technique is getting better.
Next they went into the Orthopedic Group injury update. Coach Jones mentioned Jereme Jones hurt his shoulder in that 65 yard run against Henderson State and will not be playing against MVSU on Thursday. Jereme was the only player he mentioned.
The PAT was a fake that was preplanned that didn’t work. The blocked was wrong and caused him to get stopped, but if they had picked up the correct guy to block, then he would have walked into the end zone Coach Jones said.
Lee asked about being up 16-0 and deciding to go for the two point conversion instead of kicking the PAT to make it 17-0 and not have to “chase points.” Coach Jones said that it was to be a surprise when they may not be expecting it plus doing that tells the other teams that you are willing to fake it any time which helps with the rush. He also mentioned that they probably should have done it earlier in the year and that Coach Perry is on him all the time about faking it to keep teams honest.
Lee mentioned Keels first start, CJJ said it was mainly because of injuries. Kendall has been nursing a knee injury for a while now, but he indicated that today was the first time he looked close to 100% in the last two weeks. Also it was mentioned earlier that Baker had been nursing a knee injury as well. At one point they weren’t sure either Baker or Houston would even play in the game.
Lee mentioned that you could never have too many running backs since the Jags have a good stable of backs. Coach Jones agreed and said that Brandon Ross could possibly play in the final game of the season, but they are not going to do that but rather wait for him to come back next season instead. Jones said he’s probably 90-95% right now but they don’t want to risk it.
Caller asked Coach Jones thinks that the team is ahead of schedule? The caller remarked that, looking at other teams in the conference, he thinks the Jags could be in the “upper echelon” of the conference right now. Coach Jones said he does not know where they would be and said that they are not at their full scholarship level yet, but they will be after this recruiting class. They want to be competitive in the Sun Belt but knows it will be tough with teams like Troy and FIU with teams like Western Kentucky and Arkansas State getting better. But the biggest difference and the toughest thing will be facing good FBS teams week after week.
The next caller to the show asked about the problems Trey Clark had snapping the ball to the quarterback in the shotgun. Coach Jones said that Trey was complaining about his hands being dry from the cold air and wind. So they put a glove on him and his snaps improved. Plus with the wind and his style of snapping can cause problems because it’s not like a spiral so it can be affected by gusty winds at times.
Lee asked about the strategy at the coin toss and if the wind was the major factor in choice after winning the toss. Coach Jones said it was, they wanted the wind at their back in the first quarter and more importantly in the fourth quarter. Around 4:00 the wind is pretty strong but by 7:00 it has died down. So after looking at weather forecasts they wanted it at their back when it is at it’s strongest.
When asked by Lee about concern about not being able to run the ball consistently inside the five yard line Coach Jones said he was very concerned. It has kind of snuck up on them, it was something they were very good at early in the year but now it has been clamped down on. The coaches have looked at it and changed some things. He also said that they should have picked up on that a week or more ago. They have some changes they are making that they think will get them back in gear again.
Lee and Coach Jones introduced Coach Schwind by saying that he has been with Coach Jones for about five years. He is very good at his job, is a great person and is a great motivator for the players.
Coach Schwind answered the question about how he motivates the players to work out and get stronger is by showing them the purpose of why they do it. How it translates into better performance in the game on the field. When asked who was the hardest worker in the weight room, Justin immediately said Paul Bennett.
Lee said that the jags are a very physical team and asked Justin if they meet his expectations for a physical team. Coach Schwind’s answer was yes, they are a very physical team and coaches from other teams tell them that the Jags are the most physical team they have played.
Talking about the Kent State game, Lee mentioned how the Jags were being pushed around by their defense and how physical they were with us. Coach Jones agreed and said that their defense was the most physical team they have played so far. He gave them credit for their play.
Lee also asked about the difference between workouts during the season and during the off season. Coach Schwind said that the off season is about getting bigger and stronger. In-season, the idea is recovery. Your emphasis is recovery and to maintain what they have.
A follow-up question by Lee was asking if there was such a thing as too much weight training. Justin answered with a “yes and no”. If you are doing the same thing every day then that is not good. You are going to hit a wall and over train an area while under training other areas. You have to plan the regimen to meet the needs of the kids and how they recover so you do not cause injury.
Later Lee asked about changes to their workouts as they go into an FBS schedule next season. Coach Schwind said that he has already talked to Coach Jones about this and that they have mainly discussed emphasizing discipline. Justin’s job in the off season is to focus on this in every thing they do. Strive for perfection and hope that continues into the season and onto the field.
Another follow-up question from Lee was about the possibility of strength and conditioning helping to prevent injury. Coach Schwind said that there is no doubt about it, it helps to avoid injury. If you are in a perfect anatomical position of the body to do something, your susceptibility to injury is greatly reduced. They train for a complete balance of the body, if you do not have a sound weight training regimen then you are opening yourself up to possible injury.
Coach Jones also chimed in to help explain. He said that if you only did benchpress without any Lat pulls to strengthen your back, you will have shoulder injury. He said Herchel Walker always talked about pushups, but he had shoulder injuries, possibly because he wasn’t balanced that way.
Turning towards Mississippi Valley State, Coach Jones said that they are very athletic. Defensively they very dynamic, they have a very big number of different blitz’s that they can run. They have lots of different coverages and different types of fronts they can use. Which is a lot to go through in a short week.
Offensively, they have quarterback who can throw and who can run some. They try to get him to the edge a good bit so they have to keep him contained and to watch down field for the big pass.
Talking about last Saturday’s game some more, Coach Jones liked the blue uniforms and said that they would wear them again. But he wanted to get some input from the fans about them. He said the players and President Moulton both liked them.
Free tickets to the game for high school kids with $5 companion tickets for the parents. These are end zone tickets.
A caller asked about designing plays. When the Jags play a team do they try to use plays that they see and like and put it into their offensive system. Coach Jones said not really, they don’t want to be what he called a “Monday football” team. Where they play a game and add plays that they see on Monday morning. First off, different teams have different personnel which factors into a play being fit for one team and not another.
Coach Jones used an example of a team using a speed sweep against the Jags. He said that, with T.J. Glover out, they are not a speed sweep team because they lack that speed to get out to the edge quick enough to make it work.
The previous question lead to Lee’s next question to Justin about developing speed in the weight room. Justin said that it can be done by technique. They can work on how to run and how to run fluidly. He said that fundamentally there are two ways to run faster; by improving frequency and by increasing stride. Improving frequency is about getting their legs and feet to get up and down faster to take more steps. Stride length is how many yards they cover in each step. Lots of times, when players get to college, they find out no one has emphasized to them these things.
The next caller asked about recruiting Junior College players to help the team as they begin their transition to FBS with a much tougher schedule next season. Coach Jones said they are probably looking at four to five JuCo players to add to the team. Mainly in the secondary the offensive line. They also want to find a rush type defensive end to rush off the edge and get after the quarterback.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-09-20
Head Coach Joey Jones oversees the Jaguars pre-game warm-ups at N.C. State.
Coach Joey Jones and Lee Shirvanian were joined by defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Coach Brian Turner at Baumhower’s Restaurant on Airport Boulevard in Mobile.
They immediately started reflecting on the NC State game with an overview of how the team played. Coach Jones said that he thought the team played an very, very good game. He pointed to some basic tenets that coaches look to in order to get their team into a position to win the game. Things such as stopping the run, be able to run the ball yourself and possess the ball more than your opponent, all of which the Jags did in the game. However another area that you need to do well in is turnovers. While the Jags did recover a few turnovers, they also turned the ball over a few times themselves.
But he pointed out Kendall Houston’s performance on the ground as he rushed 18 times for 117 yards against the NC State defense. His was a large majority of the teams 139 yards rushing (minus sack yardage). Defensively the Jags were worried about stopping the NC State run because they were so big, however they were able to stop their running game. They knew their quarterback was good and he had a great night going 17-of-20 for 297 yards, but the two deep post routes were what really hurt the team.
Overall, Coach Jones said that the Jags were very physically tough and played extremely well. They got after them on every play and were not intimidated nor did they back down. He said that lots of great things happened, but that it was one of those games that you have three or four plays in the game you have to make but the Jags didn’t make them. Coach Jones said he has been on both sides of the field in these types of games and they just didn’t get those plays to go their way.
Lee said he had picked out three plays that were key. First was the on-sides kick fumble. Second was the open receiver around the 30 yard line but the ball wasn’t thrown well to him which would have easily been a touchdown. The third play was when Jake Johnson forced the fumbled at the 5 yard line when the Wolfpack was driving which Graphenreed recovered but fumbled back to them. Lee said you could also point to the play deep in the Wolfpack territory when Bennett lobbed a pass to an open Kevin Helms but was picked off at the 5 yard line.
Coach Jones pointed out another one where the Jags scored but the play was called back on a procedure penalty which he also pointed out was not there on film. Coach Jones was quick to follow that up by saying things like that happen and that the bottom line is you have to make plays. He ended that by saying that the core of the game, he thought the team played very well and put themselves in a position to win the game.
They had themselves in a position to win the game if they made some or all of those key plays against a team that beat Florida State the previous year. And this was only the 20th game in the schools history. Coach Jones said he does not like losing but he still considers the game a success for the program. None of them enjoy losing so he talked to the team that they can continue to look back at this game and play the what-if game or they can turn around and concentrate on making themselves better this week. They can correct those things that they did wrong and get ready to play the next game and then they can say that they beat someone.
He’s proud of where the team is but they have to do better.
The first caller said that South Alabama’s “ones” seemed to matched up well with the NC State “ones”, but he asked Coach Jones how different the Jags “two’s” were from the NC State “two’s”. Coach Jones said that there were probably some difference there, but he said he didn’t notice it much. He continued by saying that the Jags are fairly deep at some positions like defensive line, linebackers, receivers and running backs. But they lost Ken Barefield which hurt their secondary depth some. But Coach Jones did not think that personnel was as much of a factor in the game as missed opportunities were in the game.
Lee then turned to Coach Brian Turner and asked him how he felt the Jaguar defensive line did against NC State. He started off saying that it’s never as good as it seems and it’s never as bad as it seems either. He thought that they played well up front and did not get pushed off of the ball as much as they feared they would earlier in the week due to their size. The defensive line did a great job holding their gaps and doing their job.
Lee asked if the Jags had a good pass rush on Glennon even though he completed 17-of-20 passes. Coach Turner said that their gameplan was to blitz them alot but play coverage, however when you do that you tend to only rush three or four guys and when the opponent has five or six guys protecting the quarterback, your rushers are getting double-teamed often. They didn’t get alot of pressure on Glennon, but they did get to him. Romelle Jones came away with two of the Jags four sacks on Glennon. He also said that they should have gotten to him more often.
Lee then introduced the Fuego “Who’s hot” segment. Offensively, Coach Jones said that Kendall Houston was the hot guy for them this week but he also pointed out the offensive line for their work blocking against NC State. Defensively he pointed out Romelle Jones for having probably his best game of his career, he is quick and is also learning the game very well. Also Coach Jones pointed out B.J. Scott and Charles Harris for playing a very good game defensively at the safety positions.
Lee then introduced the Orthopedic Group’s Injury Update. Coach Jones said that the Jags came out of this with some bruises. Ken Barefield got hurt and missed the end of the game but will be able to play against Kent State this weekend. Rush Kendricks has an injured ankle and will not be able to play this weekend. He said that it looks like everyone else will be back, he mentioned Jake Johnson has a small injury with his quad but will be okay.
Lee asked how Johnson played in the game. Coach Jones said he played very well, like the whole defense did. He said for the “who’s Hot” segment it’s hard not to just list out all of the defensive players because of how well they played.
Lee asked Coach Turner about one of the concerns going into the game about intimidation as they went in to play against an ACC team. He asked if he caught any of the intimidation factor early on from the team. Coach Turner said that he did not see any intimidation in their eyes before the game, they were focused and ready to play the game.
They next caller to the show expressed how proud of the program the fans are for how hard they played and how composed they were. Lee asked a few email questions to both coaches. The first asked if NC State showed anything that was unexpected and if they thought the Jag players were in better shape than them. Coach Jones said that they did not show anything that was unexpected and he also said that he thought both teams were conditioned pretty well. Coach Jones didn’t notice anyone out of shape on either team. Coach Turner agreed to both statements by Coach Jones. Nothing surprising and he didn’t notice anyone out of shape either.
Lee then asked about Coach Crain and how he is doing. Coach Jones said that he is doing better, he’s been in the hospital since Friday. They finally found out that he had a staph infection and have him on antibiotics to help that. He has actually been dealing with that for the last month or so Coach Jones said.
The next email quested asked how coach Jones thought about how well Jag Nation traveled to NC State for the game. He said it was incredible. He said that after the Jags would get a big play he would sneak a look up at the Jaguar section going crazy. He said it was probably between 700 and 800 people strong in that section. After the game, the players went over to the Jag section and held up their helmets and thanked the fans for coming to the game to support them.
The next email question asked Coach Jones what the thought about the officiating and if there were any bad calls in the game by the ACC officials. Coach Jones said that there are rules where Coaches will get fined for speaking badly of officiating. Lee then chimed in saying that sometimes a no answer speaks more loudly than an actual answer which Coach Jones agreed with. He also told Lee that things happen and you have to deal with it and move on.
Lee followed up by asking if Coach Jones called the officials over anytime during the game. Coach Jones laughed and said “calling them over” is a good way to put it. Coach Jones then said that he will send in game film and call someone at the conference office to help educate the referees because, as Coach Jones said, everyone makes mistakes (except coaches with a laugh). So they send that film in so help the refs educate themselves and continue to get better.
The next email question asked if there were mismatches or communication problems in the secondary allowing for some big pass plays by NC State. On one big pass play for a touchdown, corner back Damond Smith fell down and the other one was some miscommunication in the secondary. He praised how well the secondary played the whole game, especially against #6 T.J. Graham who was really quick.
Lee followed that up by asking if there was an effort to keep the punts and kickoffs away from Graham. To which Coach Jones said yes, because NC State actually leads the nation in kickoff returns. So they tried to kick some sky kicks. The first kickoff return they got out to around the 42 yard line which was their only long kickoff return of the game.
Lee then asked who was covering T. J. Graham. Coach Turner answered that it depended on where he lined up as to who was covering him. They didn’t assign a specific person to cover him.
Another email question asked about conference realignment and if South Alabama could benefit from it. Coach Jones said that as a fan he doesn’t like it so much but for the school it could be good. While they like the Sun Belt, it could be an opportunity for something good to happen. He said it’s going to happen sometime in the future, you can see it and there will be some big shake-ups on the horizon in the next couple years.
Loyd Meyers joined the show to talk about the homecoming game against Tennessee-Martin on October 15th. On Thursday night October 13th there will be a pep rally at the Bell Tower followed by a volleyball game vs Troy. Friday night there will be a homecoming parade and luck worked out for a moonlight madness where the Jags basketball team can begin practicing for their upcoming season. The soccer team will be playing at The Cage as well.
Lee brought up that they have not talked about C.J. Bennett’s play against NC State yet during the show. Coach Jones said that if you look at the whole game, he played a very good game and made some unbelievable throws. It was great to see that out of a redshirt freshman to go into that type of environment and play that well. He is doing a great job understanding secondary coverages and going to the right place with the ball. He also mentioned that he got the team out of third down many times. Coach Jones did mention that he did have a high throw across the middle that was intercepted. He also mentioned about the throw the Kevin Helms where he floated it behind the safety but he didn’t see the backside corner. Coach Jones also mentioned that they did not show him that coverage in practice so there were some things they could have done to prepare him for that situation a little better.
Lee then turned to ask Coach Turner about their defensive line rotation during a game. Coach Turner said that they rotate defensive linemen every three plays no matter what. They want two fresh guys every play pretty much, so they are rotating their interior linemen, their inside linebackers and outside linebackers.
Lee asked about the play of Romelle Jones and if he has been playing better lately. Coach Turner said that the last two games he has been really playing well. He has been the defensive lineman of the week the last two weeks for his play against Lamar and against NC State. Lee asked to clarify if it is the same rotation all the time. Coach Turner answered that it is the same rotation all the time, they are not rotating based on match-ups but every three plays they are getting fresh guys on the field.
Lee then asked about recruiting and stated that he knows that they cannot comment about specific recruits, but asked if they are getting top notch athletes now. Coach Turner said they are definitely getting very good talent. He also said that they currently have 11 verbal commitments on their recruiting board right now. He also said that they are recruiting against schools from the Big East, Conference USA and the Sun Belt. They may be losing some, but they are also winning some battles against those schools. He praised the coaches for their hard work recruiting and staying on the best players for the South Alabama program.
Lee asked that, aside from the verbals, what positions are being recruited this year. Coach Jones said that he says this every year, but it’s true, they are recruiting offensive linemen. They are probably going to lose four seniors on the offensive line so they have quite a bit to fill. Two tight ends with Paul Bennett and Kevin Helms being seniors will need replacing. Offensively they are pretty good, they will always look out to pick up a player here or there for a backup role if they are a really good player.
Coach Jones said defensively they need a defensive end, that they kind of refer to as their outside linebacker who is very athletic to rush the quarterback. Also they need to continue to shore up the secondary. They have some good players back there, but they don’t have depth.
Lee asked about C.J. Bennett being a redshirt freshman and if that would be detrimental to trying to bring in other quarterbacks to the program the next four years. Coach Jones said that they do not want a player who does not think they cannot come in and beat out C.J.
Lee then asked about popular spots for South Alabama to recruit. Coach Turner said that when the program started, they were not recruiting the entire state of Georgia. They are now. He indicated that obviously Alabama is their home state, but they are also recruiting Florida all the way down to Miami, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Coach Turner also mentioned that Myles Gibbon is from Canada so they are willing to go anywhere to get good players to find players that fit into the program and fills their needs.
Lee then transitioned to previewing the Kent State game. Lee said that this is a little different than the schools other 2-for-1 series. We travel to Kent State, then they travel here before we visit them again. Coach Jones said that they are a very good defensive team but they have struggled on offense but they have played Alabama so it’s hard to tell how good they really are because how strong the Alabama defense is this season.
Lee flashed back to the NC State game again by asking about Scott Garber and the special teams play. Coach Jones said that the special teams play was very good. He thought the kicking game was much improved against NC State. He said Jordan went 2-of-3 hitting a 46 yard attempt and missing a 44 yarder. He also thought that Scott’s punted was very good too. They changed and went to a rugby punt style.
Following up on that, Lee asked who and why they decided to go with the rugby style punt. Coach Jones said it’s hard to return a rugby style punt because it’s a low punt but it takes time for the punter to move out and kick it that it gives the coverage team time to get down and cover the returner. So you can get 40 and 50 yard punts pretty easy without a return because of that.
Lee asked about Garber being run into during one of his punts, he said that he thought that it was an automatic 15 yard penalty and a first down. Coach Jones said that it’s a judgement call, that they have bumping the kicker and hitting the kicker with two different penalties and that it’s a judgement call. He indicated that Coach Perry read the rules once they returned back to Mobile and that is how it is written, it’s a judgement call.
Lee said that they talked last week about trick plays. Wake Forest burned NC State with a couple of them and he asked if the Jags ran any. Coach Jones said that they tried a reverse but the defense caught it for a loss. The play-action pass on 3rd and one to Kevin Helms he thought was a good call at the time. Then there was a play at the five yard line where the tight end was wide open at the corner of the end zone but Bennett didn’t see him and went down for a sack. They weren’t trick plays he said, but they were different plays to call at those times and they didn’t execute them very well.
Coach Turner previewed what the defense sees in Kent State coming up this weekend. He said that they started the season throwing the ball much more, but now they have settled in running with a 260 lb running back. He said that it was going to be a good match-up between the two teams.They have a very good defensive lineman who game Alabama some problems blocking and Alabama has some very good offensive linemen. They round out the program saying that the team definitely has a different attitude going up to Kent State and that it should be a very good and competitive game.
Additionally it was announced during the WNSP morning show and reiterated again during the radio show that South Alabama picked up another verbal commitment from Georgia. Lamar Counties Fredrick Walker is a six foot two inch, 320 pound nose tackle. He wasn’t interested in any big programs so he turned down Central Florida and South Florida. He chose South Alabama over Georgia Southern to make the 12th verbal for the Jags 2012 recruiting class.
South Alabama and Kent State kick off on Saturday October 24th at 2:30pm. The game will not be televised, however Kent State will be broadcasting the game online at KentStateSports.com for free for the first time.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-09-06
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 Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-08-23
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.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2010-11-09
Head Coach Joey Jones greeting fans during Jaguar Prowl before South Alabama took the field against Henderson State.
Lee Shirvanian and Coach Joey Jones were joined by strength and conditioning coach Justin Schwind at Baumhower’s Restaurant on Airport Boulevard. Lee opened up by asking Coach Jones about his confidence in Lawson McGlon in the kicking game. Coach Jones said that he is very confident in McGlon, but he doesn’t have the leg strength. His range is about 42 yards but we do have guys who are capable of making a 50+ yard field goal. However McGlon is the most accurate of the kickers.
Then Lee transitioned and asked about the fumble in the endzone by Henderson State, coach Jones said that we recovered the ball but it was a missed call on the field. The video they shot showed that USA recovered the fumble. The reason it wasn’t a safety was because the Henderson State player never had control of the ball, if he had and then fumbled and recovered it in the end-zone, it would have been a safety.
Coach does not think the players took him serious about how good Henderson state was. He thinks it may have been a case where he has been saying that all season and this time they didn’t quite take him serious.
Coach Schwind joined the program and Coach Jones introduced him and told some of his background about how he has payed his dues and worked hard to get where he is now. He would drive across the nation to go to something that might make him a better strength and conditioning coach even when he was barely making ends meet. He worked with him at Birmingham Southern and brought him down here to continue working together.
Coach Jones stressed how, as a head coach, he must have someone that he can trust and someone who knows what they are doing because the coaches can only work with the kids for a certain period of time during the year, but the strength coach works with them all year round.
Coach Schwind said that during the season they lift two days a week, but in the off-season they work out five days a week. He believes as athletes, they have to keep working and moving but he does not run them into the ground. Working out five days a week does not mean they are lifting weights every day, they could be doing other workouts that do not involve lifting.
Lee asked, using the quarterbacks as an example, if he does certain things with different position players so as to keep them from being “musclebound” or something. Coach Schwind answered by saying that with the quarterbacks they do not do any overhead lifts and with bench presses they put a board on their chest to prevent them from doing the full range of motion so as not to impinge on their range of motion in the shoulder. Beyond that, they work on shoulder flexibility and shoulder strength with exercises throughout the season and off-season. Coach Schwind also mentioned that he does not devise a workout for every individual player, but he has workouts for every position.
When asked who lifted the most, Coach Schwind said that Paul Bennett was definitely the one to work out the hardest and best overall athlete. He benches around 490, squats around 650 and runs a 4.65 in the 40.
Coach Jones said that Brandon Ross is doing well after surgery. He is such a good kid, he has been texting with Coach Jones about what they should do. He can’t wait to get back and coach Jones said he cannot wait to have him back as well. But they are very fortunate to have two running backs in Ross and Houston that they can turn to in order to pound the ball.
Lee then asked if there could be a situation next year when they may put Houston and Ross in at the same time during a game. Coach Jones said yes, they could put the quarterback in the shotgun with both of them on either side of the quarterback. Then he said, no doubt about it you want to put your best players on the field. Lee said it was not usual to see teams to put both of their best running backs on the field at the same time and indicated that it would be interesting.
Lee asked Coach Jones if they were going to try to get more pressure on Arkansas-Monticello which they did not do a very good job of against Henderson State. Coach Jones answered that they are a different team from Arkansas-Monticello in that they are more balanced and are actually more of a running team than a passing team. They can also run the option, so they have to have plans to cover the option as well. Coach Jones thinks they match up better than they did against Henderson State because they have smart linebackers who make sure to get into good positions.
Lee asked about the deal with players transferring into the program and not having to sit out. Coach Jones said that any player who transfers up to next summer, they will be able to play immediately, but if they transfer after next fall, they will have to sit out a year. This is due to the program beginning the transition into Division I.
Coach Jones went over some stats from the team such as the rushing yards per game and 3rd down conversion percentage for the opponents (26%). But overall, Coach Jones says he is not really a big numbers person, but some numbers do give you an insight into your team.
Lee brought up some current news about head injuries and concussions and asked about what they can do to prevent such injuries from occurring. Coach Schwind said that there has been lots of research about this and that quite a bit of it has pointed to working out those muscles. So they work on them quite extensively such that when they take one of those big hits, they are less likely to have a concussion or serious injury.
Next week is the last episode of the Coach Joey Jones show on the radio. They will have a recap of the Arkansas-Monticello game and hopefully a recap of another undefeated season.
Just as a reminder, they will kick-off at 6pm for the game and the Jaguar Prowl will be at 3:45pm.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2010-10-26
I picked up a little late into the show and Coach Jones was already talking about how Kendall Houston is a big bruiser in the middle, but Santuan McGee is a little faster and can attack the perimeter. They felt that the game was going towards being a perimeter running game because they were stacking the box more so they decided to play McGee more.
Lee then asked Coach Jones about the fumble that occurred with 2:15 left in the game at the South Alabama 36 yard line when they had about a yard to go for the first down. Coach Jones said that Trey Clark and CJ Bennett had a miscommunication on the snap which lead to the fumble. They were trying to get them to jump offsides and if that did not work, they were going to run a quarterback sneak.
Lee brought up an instance that happened in the Kentucky Wesleyan game about headsets. Coach Jones explained that the opponents headsets went out. Well, in most conferences, they have rules or contracts that if one sides headsets go out, then the other side has to take theirs off. In this case, this was not written into the contract for them to play, so USA did not have to do that but they went ahead and took their headsets off. But it was noticed that they were using cell phones to communicate, so Coach Jones called a time out and talked to the head referee and stated if they are going to use a cell phone that USA could use their headsets. Which was allowed.
Lee brought up the old football adage that “if you have two quarterbacks, you have none,” and asked coach Jones if he had ever heard of that. Then he followed up by asking about how that works with three, clearly meaning Gibbon, Sim and Bennett. Coach Jones jokingly said that then you have three quarterbacks. But more seriously, Lee asked how they determine who is going to play a series. Coach Jones answered by saying that it’s mostly by feel. Certain quarterbacks bring certain qualities to the table so determine what they want to do in the game and work on that throughout the week and see how the players react and how they look throughout the week.
Offensive line coach John Turner joined Lee and Joey on the radio show and immediately started talking about the offensive line. Lee remarked that people have told him that putting together an offensive line is the “toughest, most difficult thing to do in football.” Coach Turner agreed that it has been tough, but he never completely agreed that it fits his description. He mentioned that if you go back to look at the game film from their first scrimmage it was, as he said, a “borderline fiasco.” He then went on to praise them for working really hard to become some great offensive linemen. However, he cautioned that they are not there yet, but they are working every day to get better.
Lee followed up by asking what Coach Turner meant by “borderline fiasco.” To which Coach Turner answered by saying that they weren’t quick and coach Gregory had just gotten there and was just installed his new offense. So they had to change all of their calls and all of their communication on the fly. Then Coach Clark’s defense was coming out with multiple blitz’s and everything which put a lot of pressure on the offensive line.
Coach Jones was quick to praise the offensive line because, without them, the offense would not be able to do anything. He then spoke highly of his offensive line unit and how hard they have worked to improve and help this team win each week.
Lee then mentioned Cam Newton and the Auburn offensive line and how it has improved. Coach Turner agreed that it was quite evident that the Auburn offensive line has worked hard to get better and it is evident. But Lee followed up talking about how, in most cases, the player like Cam Newton who is making the plays get so much praise while the offensive line is basically a second thought. Coach Turner said that it goes with the territory, when a player decides to play that position, they understand it. They don’t worry about seeing their names in the paper, they are proud of the plays they make and the success the team has when they do a good job.
Lee paraphrased an email question about, when the Jags get to the FBS level, how many of the current players will still be with them. Coach Jones said that the team will lose seven seniors this season and many six to nine next season. So most of the players will be here in 2012. They will have 85 scholarships and probably will not lose but about 18 players up to then.
Going back to the offensive line, Lee asked how the Jaguar offensive line will stack up against opponents next year like Kent State and NC State. Coach Turner said that if you look at them on paper, you would say no. But he said that you cannot measure what is inside these players. Coach Turner then emphasized that he knows these guys are going to be ready, they are going to get after it and will play hard when the time comes.
A caller asked about Georgia state, which lost their previous game against Old Dominion 34-20. Coach Jones said that they were close at halftime but the score got stretched out in the second half. Ole Dominion went and got more junior college players so they are fairly mature. They went 9-2 last season in their first season of football.
Another email question came in asking if the players, after two road wins including the one in California, are up for this game. Coach Jones said that there is no doubt that they are ready. This team is closer to us and feels more like a rival type game. Probably the closest thing they have to one right now. The players are looking forward to playing at home again as well.
Coach Jones said he cannot wait to see the crowd and neither can the players. They know its going to be a bigger crowd, that they are coming home and that it’s going to be a big game against a good team.
Lee asked Coach Turner how they prepare for Georgia State. Coach Turner said that they line up in multiple fronts and bring multiple blitz’s against opposing teams. So he anticipates a big time challenge for the guys on the offensive line. They will have to be able to recognize all the different looks and be able to make adjustments within their schemes.
When asking about recruiting linemen, it was obvious that they want to recruit size, strength, smarts and good foot speed, just like anyone else. But Coach Turner said that their offense likes to move, that they like to pull linemen and move them around on each play, so they like athletic offensive linemen. But Coach Jones has said from day one that they want “tough, tough football players.” Coach Jones also said that when other teams look at their game film, they are impressed by how tough and how hard these guys play. It’s a real testament to the South Alabama players.
Georgia State likes to pass the ball, similar to UC-Davis. However they like to run the ball a bit more than UC-Davis does. UC-Davis seems to throw the ball, then run to try to do something a little different. While Georgia State is a bit more balanced between the two.
Lee then pointed out that Coach Turner was a coach at UT-Chatanooga which is a Division I-AA team. He asked if the Jags would match up well against them. Which Coach Turner replied that the thought that they would when he was trying to answer someone just the other day. He went through a mental list of the players they had up there and said that he believed USA would be a strong contender against them and in that division of football.
Coach Jones cautioned that while many football fans expect us to play teams like Alabama, but he said his guys are not experienced enough to play against Alabama. He praised how well his staff has done and that they will let teams like Georgia State go play Alabama while they work on getting better and building a program step-by-step.
Travis Toth came on to preview the upcoming game against Georgia State. He said from a marketing standpoint it’s their biggest game since the inaugural game. Plus other factors like Alabama and LSU having their bye weeks, former Alabama coach Bill Curry coaching the other team and the Jags returning after a very successful two game road stretch. Also another measuring stick because they go to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama on November 18. This is the weekend for those people to come to the stadium and check it out.
Travis also stressed that it is a “white-out” as the team will be wearing their white uniform from head to toe. This should be the largest crowd to date, Coach Jones said that Kendall broke the record rushing, Courtney broke the record receiving and that it’s time to break and attendance record.
South Alabama kicks off against Georgia State on Saturday at 4pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. GO JAGS! Beat those panthers.!
UC-Davis By The Numbers
The Jaguar defense lines up against the Lamar offense early in the first quarter of the Jags 26-0 win.
It seems like this keeps being said week after week, but when building a program from scratch and gradually increasing the strengths of your opponents in measured steps, it becomes repetitive. However the schedule was thought over and debated by the coaches and administration as to how to continually progress this program. So when you hear or read that the upcoming opponents of the Jaguars is the their biggest challenge, it’s true.
This week is no different. UC-Davis presents the next step in South Alabama’s progression and will be their biggest test to date. So, lets break the numbers down.
UC-Davis, as a team, averages 19 points per game while giving up 27.2 points per game to their opponents. The Aggies have 86 first downs on the season and is average 14.3 per game with about 65% of their first downs coming through the air. Their opponents have 117 first down on the season, which is an average of 19.5 per game and only 10 more first downs through the air than on the ground.
The Aggies have given up 1028 yards rushing on the season for an average of just over 171 yards per game while only rushing for 447 yards themselves for an average of 74.5 yards per game. However, through the air, the numbers are more even. The Aggies have 1207 yards with an average of just over 201 yards per game while their defense has given up 1,292 yards with an average just over 215 yards per game.
So, the Aggies average 275.7 yards of total offense while giving up 386.7 yards per game. The Aggies average 4.7 yards per play whiel the opponents average just over a yard more with 5.8 yards per play.
The Aggies handle the ball pretty well by only fumbling the ball nine times and losing only six of them. Defensively they have forced 13 fumbles while recovering six of them as well for a 0 turnover differential in fumbles.
Aggies quarterbacks are 108-for-189 for a completion average of just over 57% with seven touchdowns and four interceptions. The opposing quarterbacks are 102-for-176 for a completion average just under 58% with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. Thus the Aggies have a -1 turnover differential passing and a -1 in overall turnover differential.
Time of possession between the Aggies and their opponents is also pretty equal with 28:21 for the Aggies and 31:39 for their opponents.
UC-Davis has a 3rd down conversion percentage of 29% going 22-of-75 and a 4th down conversion percentage of 43% going 3-of-7 on the season. Their opponents has a 3rd down conversion percentage of 39% going 35-of-90 while also having a 4th down conversion percentage of 62% on 5-of-8 attempts.
The Aggies offensive line gives up an average of just over one sack per game with a total of eight sacks on the season for 51 yards. The Aggie defense has sacked the quarterback an average just under two a game wiht 11 for the season for 85 yards.
UC-Davis has been in the red zone 17 times and scored 15 times for an average of 88% of the time, 59% of the time they score touchdowns. Their opponents have been in the red zone 24 times and have scored 20 times for an 83% average with 45% of them being touchdowns.
In the Aggies two home games, they have averaged 9,294 fans.
Scoring wise, UC-Davis has started out and ended games on the slow side and only scoring 35% of their points in those two quarters. The second and third quarter scoring is almost dead even. Defensively, the Aggies come out the opposite. They are strong in the first and last quarters but give up most of their points in the second and third quarters. Opponents have scored 33% of their points in the first and last quarters.
Individually the Aggies leading rusher is Josh Reese with 268 yards on 67 attempts for two touchdowns and an average of 44.7 yards per game. Nick Aprile is thier only other back in double digits with 188 yards on 47 carries for four touchdowns and averaging 37.6 yards per game.
The Aggies top receiver is Sean Creadick with 34 receptions for 429 yards and one touchdown while averaging 71.5 yards per game. Dean Rogers has 18 receptions for 247 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 41.2 yards per game. Anthony Soto has 16 catches for 154 yards and no touchdowns while Josh Reese also has 16 catches for 108 yards and a touchdown. The other receivers each have less than 10 receptions each and less than 100 yards on the season.
Aggie kickers have attempted nine field goals and have made eight of them. The kick returners average under 20 yards per return, none have gone for a touchdown. Punt returners have had only three attempts, one has returned two for an average of six yards while the other has returned once for 24 yards. However the Aggie punt team has allowed a punt return for a touchdown.
The Aggies schedule started out with a lopsided loss to Cal 52-3 followed by another loss against Portland State 41-33 but they rebounded at U of San Diego for the 38-24 win then lost again on the road at Weber State 20-9, but have since reeled off two consecutive wins again Division I-A San Jose State on the road (14-13) and South Dakota (17-13) for homecoming.
On the other hand, the Jags have some pretty big numbers to throw around. But the most concerning number right now is that they are 18-of-61 on third down conversions which averages out to be 30%. While in the last two games, against Lamar and Missouri S&T, they combined to go 7-of-32 or a mere 21.8% on 3rd down conversions. Obviously, they have faced stiffer opponents in these two games but this is still a bit of a concerning statistic going into a big game for the program.
The team flies out of Mobile at 9am on Friday morning with kickoff against UC-Davis is 2pm Pacific time which is their normal 4pm central time here in Mobile. You can listen to the game on 105.5FM WNSP with the pregame starting at 3pm with Lee Shirvanian and Pat Greenwood. Also don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for score updates. You can follow us at http://www.twitter.com/usathunderjags
GO JAGS!
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2010-09-28
Ray Cotton takes a knee to run the final seconds off the clock against against Pikeville.
With Coach Jones and Lee Shirvanian they had defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Coach Brian Turner on the show. Coach Jones called an audible so to speak, instead of his normal “Joey Jones Special” of black and white chicken, he went with something else.
Lee opened up talking about the road trip to Dothan to play Edward Waters. The win was great but Lee praised how well the trip itself went. Coach Jones said that many people, especially the players, did not realize how much time and effort went into planning this trip. They want to make the trip as similar to a home game as possible. Coach Jones estimated about 2,000 fans for the Jags and about 300 or so for Edward Waters.
Lee asked Coach Jones what the players got out of the game on Saturday. His answer was that they got several things out of it. The big thing was they got lots of players in the game to help build some depth. This is something that will be crucial for the team, not only going down the stretch, but also in coming years as the Jags will be playing better opponents. Also, it’s hard to get your subs time to play when you are playing very good teams where you not only want your best players on the field, but you need them on the field to help you win the game.
One position that Coach Jones mentioned where they want to continue to build more depth is the offensive line. This is something that all teams want to build and it seems that all teams continually feel that they are not deep enough on the offensive line.
Coach Jones said that the two’s got anywhere between 36-44 plays each on Saturday which is a good number for subs. Plus they got scout team players into the game. One name that was mentioned by Lee was Michael Nevels who scored two touchdowns late in the game. Lee said he was glad to be on the trip just to be able to hear about his story. Nevels was about 6th or 7th on the depth chart and he got in to play and scored twice.
Lee started talking about the Jags game plan where they wanted to throw the ball early. Lee remarked that the Jags could have just run the ball down the throat of Edward Waters without even throwing the ball and won the game easily. But Coach Jones said that they wanted to throw early because when you get ahead by about four touchdowns you don’t want to continue throwing the ball and be perceived as running up the score on the other team. After they scored the first touchdown in two plays, which were both passing plays, they decided then to starting reining it back some and start to mix it up.
Lee mentioned that in the second half he noticed that the clock continued to run. Coach Jones mentioned that he and the EWC coach agreed to let the clock run.
Brian Turner came on and spoke about the recruiting front. He said that they meet every week specifically about recruiting. They start many of their meeting speaking about recruiting and spend lots of their time reviewing video and evaluating players. Lee asked how many players they were looking at and Brian answered that they currently have 125 players on their recruiting board. Among them, some have offers from Alabama or Auburn while others do not have an offer as of yet.
Lee asked of that number that they have on their board, how many they are looking to sign. Coach Turner said they are looking to sign from 20-22 players. It’s based on their needs at certain positions and if they hit that number that’s great. If they don’t they will save them for the next year.
Lee then turned his attention to Coach Jones in asking where their emphasis is this year in recruiting. Coach Jones answered that the secondary needs depth. Next he mentioned offensive lineman which he also said that he believes that you cannot have enough offensive lineman. He estimates that a team needs to have anywhere from 16-18 scholarships in offensive lineman.
Lee mentioned special teams, in particular kickoff’s. Coach Jones said that is a real concern for the team right now. Lee asked what they can do about it and Coach Jones said that he thinks, that right now, its a mental issue. That the mind controls the body. Obviously they know how to kick the ball because they have gotten to this point. They know the steps, they know the routine. They just have to get their minds back on track. He likened it to a baseball player going through a slump, they just have to keep working through it until they work out the issue causing the problem.
Lee had a few email questions for Coach Jones. The first was asking when the first Sun Belt Conference opponent appear on the Jags schedule. Coach Jones answered that it will be 2012 when they will be playing a full Sun Belt schedule. He does not know who they will be playing yet, but they have eight games slotted for Sun Belt teams. This will be a year before they are eligible for the Sun Belt championship in 2013.
Next question asked about the policy for South Alabama in scheduling FCS teams once they become full members at the FBS level (IE Division I-A). Teams can play one a year, the rest will be FBS teams. But they may be some years when we won’t play any FCS teams. For the four non-conference games a year, they want to shoot for three FBS teams and maybe one FCS teams per year. A qualification to that was that two of the games will be “big games.” Like upcoming games against Tennessee, LSU or Ohio State which are also referred to as “money games.” It doesn’t matter who they play, they will look for the team who pays the most money to help with recruiting and give the players experience as well.
The next question was about Edward Waters. South Alabama currently has them scheduled for a game in 2011 but the person emailed asking if Coach Jones may be looking into buying them out for next year in order to schedule a better opponent. Coach Jones declined to say anything about this since they most likely have a contract for a two game series. But he did confirm that they have had some talks about that.
The next email was from someone asking about several players specifically so here are their names and what the coaches had to say about them. Terrell Brigham, defensive back, a really good athlete and a true freshman who is progressing well. Ryan Onkka, tight end, who Coach Jones thinks he is really talented but that he needs to put on about 30 pounds. Rush Hendricks, tight end, a tough, physical kid who is also very smart with a good ACT score and is picking up the offensive pretty well. Will Thompson, defensive end, he came in to the team in January but is a true freshman on the field and has made it into every game thus far. Davin Hawkins, defensive back, good size freshman that has helped out on special teams. Desmond Jones, linebacker, a walk on that is doing a great job and coach Crain his pretty high on him. But Coach Jones added that all of these players are freshman who are in the process and need to learn their positions and their side of the ball.
Lee then moved on to recap injuries. Myles Gibbon and Richard Ross did not play due to injury while C.J. Bennett did not play due to discipline reasons. Myles practiced today though his knee bothered him a little bit, but Coach Jones expects him to play on Saturday. Richard Ross did not practice today and thinks he is a 50/50 chance to play on Saturday.
The Jags came out of the game with EWC pretty healthy. Bryson James came out with an injured shoulder but he will be okay.
Coach Jones reiterated his stance that he will not take away a players starting job because of an injury, but they do still have to compete. He will continue to be the starter until someone beats them out.
Brian Turner breaks down Kentucky-Wesleyan (3-1) a bit by saying that they have a very good offense. Their offensive line protects the quarterback well. The quarterback is a lefty with good accuracy. Overall the offense is good. They spread the ball around. Coach Jones thinks they are well coached and could score on the Jags. But they will prepare for them and see what happens on Saturday.
After the second break, Lee came back and spoke with Coach Jones about Justin Dunn who intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touchdown in the first quarter against EWC. But then he moved on to talking about linebackers and, in particular, he mentioned Ray Lewis, an NFL player who was interviewed on the Colin Cowherd show. Lewis said that it’s not about speed with linebackers, it’s about angles. Coach Jones completely agreed. He said the entire game of football is about angles, from offensive line to linebackers to receivers. It all hinges around angles. A guy who understands that can play faster on the field.
The first caller to the show asked how her cousin, who plays football in Louisiana and loves South Alabama, could get recruited by the Jags. Brian Turner answered that first they need to send their video in to the program so they can evaluate him on film. Also they need to include their information so they can get materials out to them and, if they are a senior, start calling and talking with and recruiting them.
Travis Toth spoke about Saturdays game encouraging fans to wear their red to help them with the “red out” the stadium. The team will be wearing red from head to toe which is a departure from their normal home attire of red jersey’s over white pants. The weather forecast is 0% chance of rain with a high of about 82 degrees. He then touted how affordable it is to go to a South Alabama game, from parking at Bel Air Mall and riding the Wave to Ladd-Peebles Stadium to the ticket prices and good seating with affordable concessions. It’s just a great deal all around to come out and support South Alabama on a beautiful football weekend.
Lee also noted that the Auburn game is an early one and the Alabama game doesn’t kick off until 7pm so you can still catch both of them as well as get out to the Jags game and have one heck of a day.
Coach Jones mentioned that they have had about 23,000 people out to the two home games thus far this season and that they have a great crowd travel to Dothan for the game. He also mentioned that they have a great core group of fans that are going to be there for the team and he appreciates every single person who makes it out to the games.
Travis said that he was shocked to arrive at around noon, which he thought was going to be early for the day, and see the visitor side full of tailgaters already cooking it up and enjoying the day.
Lee asked Coach Turner about recruiting again, this time to see if they are expanding outside of the immediate area and the south east. Coach Turner said that they are getting interest and video from every state in the Union. The main difference between what they are recruiting now and what they were recruiting when they started is the caliber of player. Coach Turner was unsure the type of player they were going to be able to get but they have been amazing at what they are getting now. They are going head to head with Conference-USA, the Big East and whomever they have to go against for players and they are winning those battles.
Lee asked what kind of players Coach Jones will have to get to compete with NC State, who the Jags play next year. Coach Jones said that they are going to get more players that USA is going to get right now, they are an established Division I team for a while. But what South Alabama has to do is to evaluate better. Everyone knows who the blue chip guys are and many will go after them. What South Alabama has to do is to find the guys who may be an inch too short for these top level programs but who play like those players and bring them into the program. Where the top programs will get a defensive end who is 6’5” and weighing 250 or more, the Jags need to find that 6’4” or maybe a little shorter player who is only about 210 but that they think can be 250 pounds and get them there.
The difference when South plays NC State will be depth. When USA starts to bring in their second string guys against NC State’s second string guys who are the same size just a bit younger, that’s going to be the difference.
Lee asked if USA subscribes to recruiting services who rank players with the familiar stars rating. Coach Turner answered that yes, they do use those services and that it helps of course. Coach Turner says that some of the 5 star ratings could be overrating players. What Coach Jones tells them is that they are going to go after players who fit their need. If they can play, fit their system and they think that they will do well then they will recruit them and bring them in if they can. Pretty much Coach Jones summed it up as if the recruiting services are picking up the players and ranking them, then they are pretty good players. Some will be overrated some will be underrated, but that the majority of them will be pretty good players. If other schools like them are recruiting players then they feel that they are right trying to recruit them also.
Sorry, but I missed the final segment of the show but this recap is also getting quite lengthy. So wear your red out to Ladd-Peebles on Saturday at 4pm to cheer on the Jags as they try to go 4-0 on the season and 11-0 all time in school history thus far.
Also visit http://coachoftheyear.com/ and vote for Coach Joey Jones for Division I-A coach of the year. Currently he is still sitting nicely in 3rd place behind Gene Chizik of Auburn and Nick Saban of Alabama and ahead of Bo Pelini of Nebraska and Dabo Swinney of Clemson.
Go Jags!!
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.
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