February 15th Vanguard Poll Question
[poll id=”6″]
Your vote can now be heard by by posting below with the best comment appearing in the February 8th issue of The Vanguard.
If you wish to be published in the paper, please leave your first name and which class year you represent.
Thanks for voting and please continue reading the Vanguard and Thunderjags.com.
South Alabama’s 2010 Signing Class
Coach Jones, as always, gave lots of credit to his assistant coaches on the excellent job they have done, both last year and in recruiting since the season ended. He said that recruiting is the lifeblood of a program. Either your program will improve or your program will flounder depending on how well your coaches can recruit players to your school.
Coach Jones continued by saying that last year they had to recruit players by selling them a dream. They had plans for a field house and a practice field, but nothing had been built yet. Now they have a state-of-the-art football field house that is among the nicest in the nation. They have a very nice artificial practice surface. They have an undefeated inaugural season and thousands of season ticket holders filling the stands. They have something concrete to show the players now.
The fans were obviously a big part of the recruiting process. When players attended games for their visit and saw the South Alabama fans come out like they did for each game it really helps the recruiting process by showing the players that the fans truly support the team.
The players they recruited had to meet two criteria. They had to be as good or better than their previous signing class and they had to be good academically. Their previous signing class was quite good and if these guys are better, watch out Sun Belt. The Jags are coming.
Here are the signees for the 2010 class at the University of South Alabama with notes based on the highlight video shown at the National Signing Day Announcement held this evening at the Mitchell Center.
Davin Hawkins a defensive back listed as 6’2″ weighing 215-lbs from Etowah High. Hawkins video showed his speed breaking on the ball and as a kick returner.
Melvin Meggs offensive lineman listed at 6’2″ weighing 320-lbs from Petal High School in Mississippi. Meggs is a big, wide guy who can dominate his opponent.
Rush Hendricks who played full back and inside linebacker listed as 6’2″ weighing 225-lbs from Jay High school in Florida. His highlight video showed him at inside linebacker. It showed that his time at full back helped him develop vision to get to the ball and make the stop.
T.J. Glover listed as an athlete at 5’9″ weighing 170-lbs from Plant High in Tampa, Florida. Glover had good speed, good vision and he made very good cuts.
Trey Sims a defensive back listed at 6’2″ weighing 185-lbs from North Gwinnett High in Buford, Georgia. Sims seemed to have great instincts for the ball.
Drew Dearman an offensive lineman listed at 6’3″ weighing 280-lbs from Vestavia Hills High School. Dearman had very good blocking ability and comes from a school that produces alot of good talent.
Shawn Artz is an offensive lineman listed at 6’6″ weighing 265-lbs from Buford High School in Georgia as well. Artz is very tall but could probably use some more weight (that’s coach Schwind’s job).
Vondre Jackson a defensive back listed at 5’11” weighing 190-lbs from Troup County High in West Point, Georgia. He looks to be another hard hitter with a good nose for the ball. He should make a good compliment to Jerron Mitchell at corner.
David Crumitie a defensive back listed at 5’10” and weighing 170-lbs from Jefferson County High in Monticello, Florida. His video showcased his speed and agility.
Johnny Lockett a running back listed at 5’9″ and weighing 185-lbs from Sweet Water High. He is big and had decent speed. He comes from a perinial powerhouse at Sweet Water in 1A.
Rodney Thomas a defensive lineman listed at 6’1″ weighing 300-lbs from Auburn High School. Thomas is big and can move lineman. Defintely a run stopper.
Ucambre Williams an offensive lineman listed at 6’3″ weighing 250-lbs from Central-Phenix City. Ucambre is one of those dominating offensive linemen. He is going to be in control.
Terrell Brigham a defensive back listed at 6′ and weighing 185-lbs from Burke County High School in Waynesboro, Georgia. In his highlight video he played both quarterback and safety. It accentuated his speed over his throwing ability. I would expect him to play safety for the Jags.
Shane Doty an offensive lineman listed at 6’4″ weighing 255-lbs from Fork Union [Va.] Military Academy. Doty is another one of those big players. He has experience playing since he was at Fork Union and he also faced the Jags.
Colby Harper is a wide receiver listed at 6’1″ weighing 180-lbs from Wylie High in Texas. He ran good routes and is a good possession receiver. He is probably not as fast as some receivers, but his catching ability and work to make people miss makes him a good recruit.
Chris May an offensive lineman listed at 6’3″ weighing 275-lbs from Deshler High School. He is a solid blocker for the offenive line.
Cassius Bradley a defensive back listed at 5’10” and weighing 190-lbs from Blinn Junior College in Caldwell, Texas. He had very good speed off the edge in blitzing plays.
Antwan Williams a defensive back listed at 5’10” and weighing 175-lbs from Hoover High School. He had good ball sense and comes from school known for good players.
C.J. Bennett a quarterback listed at 6′ weighing 200-lbs from Alonso High School in Tampa, Florida. His video showcased his strong arm. His accuracy seemed good, however most of his receivers were well open most of the time.
Jonathan Cameron is a defensive back listed at 6’1″ and weighing 190-lbs from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. A good cover corner with two years of experience which will help the young secondary of the Jags.
Calvin Jenkins is a quarterback listed at 5’11” and weighing 175-lbs from Auburn High School. His video showcased his scrambling ability which highlighted his speed.
Audoniss Madison an offensive lineman listed at 6’5″ and weighing 290-lbs Karr High School in New Orleans, Louisiana. Another tall, large offensive lineman that was a solid blocker.
First Official Signee Of The Incoming 2010 Class
Drew Dearman, a 6’4″ 270-lb offensive guard from Vestavia Hills High School, who was being recruited by Arkansas, Duke, Louisiana-Monroe, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Samford, Southern Miss and UAB, posted on his twitter account just a few minutes ago that he was on his way into his school to fax in his National Letter-of-Intent to South Alabama. This makes him the first signee of the 2010 freshmen class for the Jaguars.
On top of his physical attributes, he scored a 25 on his ACT and maintained a 3.75 GPA at Vestavia Hills High School. We will try to keep you up to date with official signees the best we can. If you have an account on Twitter, you can follow us at http://twitter.com/USAThunderjags
Recruiting Update For Monday, February 1st
Some updates on recruiting as we near National Signing Day on Wednesday.
Audoniss Madison, a 295-lb, 6’6″ offensive lineman from Edna Karr High School in New Orleans has given his verbal commitment to the South Alabama coaching staff. He received interest from Virginia, Memphis, Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois.
Madison was all-metro, all-district and all-state. He provides size with agility that the Jags need to continue to improve.
Antwan Williams who is a 5’11” 175-lb corner from Hoover High School verbally committed to the Jags. He had received interest from UAB, Memphis, Kentucky and Louisiana Tech. Hoover has been a perinial power in the 6A ranks.
Terrell Brigham, a 6’1″ 185-lb corner from Burke County High School in Georgia. He played both quarterback and cornerback in High School but will play cornerback for South Alabama.
C.J. Bennett a 6′ quarterback from Hillsborough County verbally committed to South Alabama last week. He made a visit to South Florida but did not receive an offer from new coach Skip Holtz. Just before former coach Jim Leavitt was fired, Bennett received an offer for an official visit and was hoping to receive a scholarship offer when he visited.
Bennett had committed to Wyoming back in the summer but then decommitted about halfway through the high school season. He blamed the distance from home as his main reason. Offensive Coordinator Coach Gregory had a long relationship with Bennett during his time at South Florida which helped the Jags land Bennett.
Another player that is reportedly ready to publically commit is Trey Sims from North Gwinnett High School. He is a 205-lb 6’3″ Safety who has a reported time of 4.39 40. He is projected as an outside linebacker. Other schools that showed interest in Sims was Akron, Indiana, Toledo, Lousiana-Monroe and Western Michigan.
Shaun Artz of Buford High School in Georgia also committed as reported in the last Thunderjags.com recruiting update. He is listed as a 6’6″ 246-lb offensive tackle. He comes from a football powerhouse in Georgia and will have a chance to earn a spot quickly. Artz can play either guard or tackle and will have a chance to play either. He received interest from Samford, Eastern Michigan among other schools.
But note, that these are only verbal commitments and can change at any moment. Wednesday, February 3rd is the first day that players can sign National Letter-of-Intent’s which make their decisions official.
South Alabama will be hosting a National Signing Day event at the Mitchell Center. Coach Joey Jones and his staff will be showing a brief video of the incoming freshman class and they will speak about the upcoming 2010 schedule. Attendees will also have the opportunity to get autographs from teh current Jags roster and coaching staff.
So come out and on Wednesday for the 5pm event and support the Jags!
Quick Update On The Recruiting Front
With national signing day closing in quickly, it was a good time to look over the current list of verbal commits for the Jags.
Ones who have given South Alabama verbal commitments include Terrell Brigham Quarterback from Waynesboro GA, Calvin Jenkins Quarterback from Auburn AL, Johnny Lockett Running Back from Sweet Water AL, Jeremy McCrae Wide Receiver from Prattville AL, Aram Wynn Offensive Lineman from Saint Petersburg FL, Drew Dearman Offensive Lineman from Vestavia Hills AL, Chris May Offensive Lineman from Tuscumbia AL, Melvin Meggs Offensive Lineman from Petal MS, Ucambre Williams Offensive Lineman from Phoenix City AL, Rodney Thomas Defensive Tackle from Auburn AL, Josh Stinson Defensive End from Prattville AL, Dustin Lane Linebacker from Lithonia GA, Vondree Jackson Safety from LaGrange GA, Jameel Douse Cornerback from Saint Petersburg FL and Shane Doty Offensive Lineman from Fork Union Military Academy.
The latest commit is Shawn Artz Offensive Lineman from Gwinnett GA.
The Jags have also lost a couple recruits. Justin Sorrell, a Junior College defensive back who just signed with South Alabama, has asked for his release because SMU is interested in signing him. Also the new staff at Tennessee has grabbed one of the Jags best commitments in Martaze Jackson. He went to Knoxville recently and gave them his verbal commitment.
Top 5 Stories Of 2009
[EDIT] I had left out my original #2 that I had planned back at the beginning of December when I was mentally planning this article.
Its time for a quick look back as we let go of 2009 and start 2010. Also, since the Mobile Press-Register did not see fit to include South Alabama in their Top 10 stories in the area, here are my top 5 stories from the past year.
Leave comments if you think another story should have been included. Or if it were a top 10 list, what other stories would you include.
Top 5 of 2009
1) Kickoff of Jaguars football
South Alabama completed its first season in college football with an undefeated inaugural season. With games in coming season against Kent State, NC State, Mississippi State, Navy and Tennessee, it shows that the school is committed to this program.
A four game home-and-home series with Navy. Two-for-One series with NC State, Kent and Mississippi State where the Jags will visit the teams twice in return for a home game against each. Which mean some big time home games against NC State and Mississippi State in Mobile.
The Staff that Coach Joey Jones assembled and the players they have recruiting has this team much farther ahead than coaches, players and observers thought. With that, they had to retool the schedule for 2010 to include more competition as they march their way to Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A).
[EDIT] 2a) Announcement Of Joe Gottfried’s Retirement And Hiring Of Joel Erdmann As Athletic Director
On June 2, Joe Gottfried announced in the Mitchell Center that he was retiring effective August 1. Gottfried, who was the Athletic Director for South Alabama for 25 years said the time was right. He was instrumental in getting first class sports buildings on campus such as the $30 Million Mitchell Center, a $3.5 Million renovation to Stanky Field, a 4,000 clubhouse, intramural fields and the football field house among many others.
Then in July, South Alabama announced the hiring of Joel Erdmann as the new Athletic Director for the University of South Alabama. Erdmann held several positions at South Alabama previously and served as AD at the University of North Alabama and at his hiring he was AD at Southeastern Louisiana University.
2b) USA defeats two SEC Schools in basketball
Back in late November the Jags had two loses to good opponents in Rice and Tulsa and traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas to take on the Jags former coach John Pelphrey and the SEC. Many people just wrote it off as a typical loss to a big program, but Coach Arrow and the Jags took a page from Lee Corso’s book and said “Not so fast!” They stunned the Razorbacks on their own court with an impressive victory by a large margin, 74-61.
Then after losses to Southern Miss and UAB, the Jags made a trip to yet another SEC school. But this time it was a Top 25 ranked team. The Jags were facing #18 Florida in Gainesville, Florida where the Gator had not lost a home game since December 2004.
Again the Jags were written off from the beginning but stunned the Gators and made a huge splash on ESPN, ESPN News and ESPN.com. Although it was won on a last second put back, it was a huge win. It is only the second time in school history USA has defeated two SEC teams in the same season and the first since 1983-84. Plus it was the first time to knock off a ranked opponent since 2005 when they defeated #25 Houston.
3) Loss of Dameyune Craig to FSU
Many people thought it was just a matter of time for this coach who has quite a rising status in college football. But nontheless, it was the second assistant in less than a year that was hired away from Coach Jones’ staff to a major Division-I program. This time it was Florida State.
Jimbo Fisher was beginning to prepare taking over the reigns to the Seminole program from Bobby Bowden and one of his first hires was Dameyune Craig. A very good recruiter in the Mobile area that the Jags will definitely be recruiting against to keep local talent.
4) All Jaguar Football Players Who Are Eligible Receive A Redshirt
Just before the final football game against Huntingdon College, Coach Jones announced that all of the eligible players on the team would get an extra year of eligibility.
Those players who had not already taken a redshirt year, will take the 2009 season as their redshirt year. Unfortunately some players had already used their redshirt year and will not be able to have an extra season with the Jaguars.
5) Hiring of Gregory (also leaving of Koenning)
In December 2008, before the Jags even took the field for their first game, Coach Joey Jones loss his first assistant to an SEC school. Dan Mullen, who was just hired to replace Sylvester Croom, tapped him to be his offensive coordinator for the Bulldogs program.
Coach Joey Jones then began a search for a replacement that fit Koennings’ profile and the players that they were recruiting. In came Greg Gregory from South Florida, another new program in recent years. South Florida rose through the ranks and has the NCAA record to achieve its first Top 25 ranking faster than other Division I-A school in the modern era and eventually rising to #2 in the polls in 2007.
Florida State Hires Dameyune Craig To Coach Quarterbacks
It was announced today by Pat Greenwood that Dameyune Craig had accepted an offer from Jimbo Fisher and Florida State to coach quarterbacks for the Seminoles.
Fisher recruited, signed and coached Craig at Auburn in the 90s. This is a tough loss by Coach Jones and the Jags because Craig was a very talented recruiter in the area. He will likely recruit here for the Seminoles because of his strong ties with the area.
Craig was on WNSP with Pat Greenwood and they spoke about his ties with Fisher and his time with the Jags. He spoke about meeting in the basement of the Mitchell Center early on in the program. How they had to sell the program to kids with only a wood covered hill to show and designs in their minds for the field house and practice fields.
He said that the Jags program was in very good hands with Coach Jones. He knew it from the beginning and he continues to the Jags improving as they march towards FBS play.
This is the second coach to be picked off from Coach Jones staff since he was hired to start the program. Les Koenning was hired by Dan Mullen and Mississippi State after Mullen was hired to take over the Bulldogs program last year. Hailed as one of the top young coaches in the country, Craig will be missed by the Jag Nation.
We at Thunderjags wish Dameyune the best at Florida State and hope he will help South Alabama land a couple good games against the Seminoles in the coming years.
Jags Sign Two Defensive Back Transfers In As Many Days
In two day the Jags have signed two Junior College transfers to help bolster their defensive secondary. On Wednesday they signed Safety Jonathan Cameron to a National Letter-of-Intent to join the Jaguars.
Cameron played the last two seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and will have two season of eligibility left to play for the Jaguars. MGCCC finished in the top 10 in the final NJCAA rankings for 2009.
Cameron is listed at 6’1″ 190-lb and is a native of Puckett, Mississippi. His stats for last season included 39 tackles, two for a loss and one being a sack.
Before his stint with MGCCC he played in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic.
He chose South Alabama over an offer from East Carolina.
On Thursday, South Alabama announced the second JC transfer to sign with the Jaguars. Justin Sorrell signed a National Letter-of-Intent to join the Jags program with two years of eligibility to play.
Sorrell played the last two seasons with Blinn Junior College in Texas. They won the National Junior College Athletic Association National Championship this year.
Sorrell is listed as a 5’10” 190-lb defensive back who finished the 2009 season with 77 tackles (second most on the team) and two interceptions in helping the Buccaneers to their 11-1 record and the National Championship. A second experience defensive back in as many days to help the Jags secondary as they will be seeing a marked increase in strength of schedule.
Sorrell chose South Alabama over recruiting efforts by UTEP, McNeese State and Lamar. Lamar is on the Jags schedule for 2010.
The Jags played the 2009 season with some converted players in the secondary. Matt Saucier moved from Quarterback and Ken Barefield moved from receiver to help give more depth at the position after some injuries early thinned out the ranks.
Coach Joey Jones has this to say about Cameron. “We feel great about Jonathan, he’s tall, rangy and has great speed. He is a really good athlete who can play either cornerback or safety. On his visit, you could tell that Jonathan is an individual with great character. We knew that we wanted him here at USA.”
“Justin is a very athletic safety who is a great tackler. He also has the ability to play man coverage as well. Justin is a great combination player, he is exactly what we are looking for in a safety,” Coach Jones said about Sorrell.
Go Jags!
Jags Pick Up Verbal Commitment From Offensive Lineman
South Alabama picked up a verbal commitment from Vestavia Hills HS offensive lineman Drew Dearman. He is a 6’4″ 280-lb guard who played in the Alabama Mississippi All-Star Classic on Saturday. He had interest from Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State, Tennessee and UAB but he finally made a verbal commitment for the Jags after the game in Mobile.
In addition to being selected among the best Senior players in the state of Alabama, he is also doing well in class. Back in October he was named Scholar-Athlete of the week by the Birmingham News for his 3.86 GPA, being a member of National Honor Society as well as playing football and basketball.
South Alabama Releases 2010 Football Schedule
South Alabama released their 2010 football schedule on Monday and its a definite step up in competition. The Jags will play 10 games next season against four year institutions with four of them already at or transitioning to FCS or Division I-AA.
Seven of the ten games will be in Mobile with trips to Edward Waters, Lamar and University of California-Davis as their away games.
The Jaguars second season will kickoff on Saturday September 4 against Pikeville (Kentucky) who is an NAIA school that went 3-8 last year. The following an open week, the Jags will host Nocholls State on September 18. Nicholls State finished 3-8 (2-5 in the Southland Conference) last season.
Then the Jaguars first ever away game will have them Traveling to Jacksonville, Florida on September 25 to play Edward Waters, another NAIA school. Last year they returned to football in 2001 after a 34 year break. They went 1-10 although their head coach has been named conference coach of the year twice in the last three seasons.
October will begin by hosting Kentucky Wesleyan (October 2) followed by Missouri Tech (October 9), both from the Great Lakes Football Conference.
The schedule will toughen with back to back road games against formitable opponents. October 16 the Jags will travel to Lamar. This will be their first season back in football since 1989 as they will be transitioning to FCS. Then the Jags will travel all the way out to UC-Davis on October 23. Davis finished 6-5 last season and won the Great West Conference in 2009. Davis played Boise State close for most of the game which is not indicitive by the final score of 34-16.
October 30 the Jags will host upstart football program Georgia State who will begin the transition to FCS play. Head Coach Bill Curry should be familiar with many with his previous work at Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia Tech plus his stint with ESPN covering college football.
November will see two more games in Mobile. Henderson State (Arkansas) will be the Jags opponent on November 6 for homecoming. They lost 27-24 at Southland Conference co-champion McNeese State last season. Then the final game of the season will be against Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday, November 11. They finished 4-4 last season in the Gulf South Conference.
“Our coaches and players want to move up the ladder from a competitive standpoint,” Coach Joey Jones commented. “This schedule is a good one as we continue to transition to the NCAA Division I level. It will be a challenge for the kids, but it is one big step in that process.”
Coach Jones commented about the away games by saying, “We would’ve liked to have played a road game this year, so we’re excited about the opportunity to be able to do that next season. It’s exciting not just playing in someone else’s stadium, but in getting used to the travel process.”
“We believe the 2010 football schedule is one which is appropriate for the maturing process of the program and will provide tremendous college football contests, both home and away, for our Jaguar fans,” said Joel Erdmann, South Alabama Athletics Director.
Game times will be announced at a later date.
Season tickets are still on sale for the 2010 season through December 31 for $85. Also the 2010 season will be the second season and the last season for the Jags football team as an unclassified program. They will then being the two year transition process to FBS (Division I-A) football in 2011. In 2013 they will be full members of the Sun Belt Conference, competing for the conference championship and will be eligible for a bowl bid.
Here is a link to the PDF of the schedule from South Alabama Football website.
Go Jags!