Coach Jones Adds Freddie Roach And Travis Pearson To Staff
Head Coach Joey Jones speaks to his team after the conclusion of the Jaguars first practice of preseason camp. Chase Smith looks on behind Jones.
Head coach Joey Jones announced additions to his staff to fill open positions. Freddie Roach and Travis Pearson have joined the program and were in the football field house on Friday hitting the ground running.
Former University of Alabama linebacker Freddie Roach will join Brian Turner in coaching the defensive linemen. Roach was a four-year letterman for the Crimson Tide from 2002-2005. He was an assistant on the Alabama staff with the strength and conditioning program and was on the staff for the 2009 national championship team.
Roach was on the Murray State staff last season as defensive line coach. Prior to joining the Murry State staff, he helped the East Mississippi Community College team to a 12-0 record and the National Junior College Athletic Association national championship.
He ended his collegiate career as Alabama’s 10th all-time leading tackler and signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2006 but was released during the preseason due to injury. Travis Pearson was hired to coach the linebackers for the Jaguars.
Pearson was the defensive coordinator at Colquitt County High school the last two seasons where they had back-to-back semifinal appearances in the state 5A playoffs. He was also the head coach and athletic director at Jefferson Davis High School in Montgomery for two years prior to Colquitt County HS. In 2002-2004 he was the head coach at Elmore County High School. His final year at Elmore, he was selected the Metro 4A Coach of the Year after finishing the season 12-1 and an appearance in the quarterfinals.
He also served as director of football operations at Iowa State for the 2007 and 2008 seasons.
“You can tell when you meet Freddie Roach how hungry he is to be a great coach. He has that look in his eyes that I’m sure he had when he played,” Coach Joey Jones said. “He is going to demand a lot out of our players. And he is very technical, when I interviewed him he knew everything about playing defensive line. He understood it inside and out, from hand placement to the steps and how to attack offensive linemen. He’s a great coach now, and is going to be a tremendous coach as he gets some maturity about him.”
“I’ve known coach Pearson over the years going back to meeting him when he was the defensive coordinator at Oxford High, I’ve always been real impressed with the presence he had around the players,” Jones said. “He is one of the best coaches that I’ve seen: he is a motivator, he knows football and kids will do anything for him. When you’re coaching linebackers, you need a guy like that.”
“Everything is on the rise here,” Roach said. “It’s a new program with great facilities, the administration has done a great job of helping to get it going, and there are great coaches including a lot of Alabama guys. There are just a lot of great things going on, and I wanted to be a part of it and help this program be successful. I am in this business to help kids mature and become men, and also teach them how to play football. I was fortunate to play for and work with a bunch of great coaches, I’ve been fortunate all my life, so I would like to take what I’ve been given to help guys learn and accomplish what I have and more. And, there’s nothing like being back home.”
“First, I’ve known coach Jones, what he is about and the vision he has for this program, and that excited me,” Pearson said. “The opportunity to coach at South Alabama is also exciting to me, especially since I am from Southern Choctaw an hour and 45 minutes up the road. I want to win, particularly a conference championship, and get this program where coach Jones wants it to be. I think coach Sherrer is going to do an outstanding job and it is going to be a pleasure working with him as well.”
Sources have indicated that that’s not quite the end of the staff changes however. First year director of football operations, Chase Smith, may get a promotion to running backs coach to replace Tommy Perry who left for a position at North Texas. Prior to being named director of football operations before last season, Smith served as an offensive graduate assistant. He received his bachelor’s degree in 2005 and masters degree in 2008, both in physical education, from Jacksonville State University.
He also served as assistant coach at Spanish Fort High School from 2007-2010.
That would move Brendt Bedsole off the field and back into the position of director of football operations. Bedsole has performed that job since the beginning of the program until he was promoted to linebackers coach last season.
It is unknown who will take on the position of special teams coordinator that Coach Tommy Perry also held.
It’s a very opportune time to announce the hire as the Jags have their big recruiting weekend this weekend with about 21 recruits on-campus for visits.
Goldstein Out For Remainder Of Season
A Report on WNSP this morning by Lee Shirvanian said that Senior Freddie Goldstein will miss the remainder of the season after sufferring a broken collarbone against Western Kentucky last night.
Goldstein was averaging 8.1 points per game and averaging over 29 minutes per game of playing time for the Jags. He had also hit 31 three-pointers on the season.
The Jags are now down two guards on the team with the loss of Goldstein and Xavier Roberson. Roberson was suspended indefinitely for breaking team and athletic department policy.
Jags Down Conference Rival WKU 65-57
Augustine Rubit earned his 10th double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds against the Hilltoppers. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
The South Alabama men’s basketball team used a strong second half performance to defeat longtime conference rival Western Kentucky 65-57 Thursday night at the Mitchell Center. The Jags broke open the game with a 14-2 run midway through the second half to take control for good.
The Jags inprove to 10-8 overall on the season and 7-3 in Conference play and was the schools first back-to-back win since December 22. The Hilltoppers fall to 11-10 on the season and 5-5 in conference play. The Jags stay one game ahead of FIU for second place in the Eastern Division and continue to trail Middle Tennessee by two games for first place. WKU is tied with FAU for fourth place in the Eastern Division.
At halftime the Jag led 28-23 but early in the second half the Hilltoppers would catch up and take a 33-30 lead with 16:46 left in the game. But neither team would lead by more than three points until Augustine Rubit put in two free throws and Antoine Allen hit a three-pointer with 11:10 left in the game.
Hilltopper’s Aleksejs Rostov would answer with a layup but Allen would answer it with another three-pointer to begin a 9-0 run where the Jags would push out to their largest lead of the game, 51-39, with 8:36 left in the game.
“…right around that 12-, 13-minute mark we had a timeout and said, ‘Let’s just get this done guys and finish strong.’ As soon as I said that, it’s like they looked at each other and finished strong,” Price said after the game. “We just finished the game very strong.”
However the Jags struggles from the foul line allowed the Hilltoppers to work their way back into the game late. Brandon Harris would hit a three-pointer to cut the Jaguar lead to 60-54 with 53.7 seconds left. Jaguar players would only manage to hit two of their next four attempts from the foul line for an eight point lead.
Harris would be fouled while shooting a three-pointer by Javier Carter and he would pour in all three shots to cut the lead to 62-57 with 38.0 seconds left in the game, their closest margin since the 10:09 mark. Allen would sink both of his free throws and the Jaguar defense would tighten up and force two misses.
“Obviously just a really hard fought game,” interim head coach Jeff Price said after the game. “I thought our guys were tremendous. At a stretch at the 12-minute mark in the second half where we just turned it on and got that thing up to 10 points, mostly based out of the intensity of our defense. We keep stressing creating an offense out of our defense and getting stops and we’re going to have nights where we aren’t shooting the ball well and continue to defend and be intense and help each other. We were great helping each other.”
“Aug’s huge,” Price continued. “I’m so pleased with his effort. (He had) 19 (points), 11 (rebounds) with another double-double. Not that as much as just his will to win has been so good. And want the ball and finish plays and make things happen. He’s just been so good at that. His effort has just been tremendous and he’s willing this team to win right now. He’s been great. His motor has been great. He’s been playing heavy minutes. We try to give him rest as much as we can in practice. He comes to games ready to play. He’s running the floor great and he’s demanding the ball. He gets pushed off his spot a lot but comes back and gets it. He takes a beating and he keeps on ticking. He just has been tremendous.”
Augustine Rubit would earn his 10th double-double of the season with 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. He complimented that with four blocks, two steals and two assists.
Antoine Allen went 3-of-6 from outside the arc to chip in 19 points and seven rebounds. Mychal Ammons would add 10 points and seven rebounds.
Javier Carter added seven points and two blocks to extend his streak to 12 consecutive games with a blocked shot and is one block behind Reginald Poole for 16th place on the Sun Belt’s career list with 168 blocks.
Freddie Goldstein would score three points before leaving the game in the first half with a shoulder injury. He did not return for the remainder of the game.
The Jags will host their third and final game of this three-game homestand when they host FIU on Sunday for a 4:05pm tipoff.
Jags Receive Verbal From Georgia Running Back
The South Alabama football team received another verbal commitment following a recruiting visit over this past weekend. Terrence Upshaw gave his verbal commitment to the Jaguars following an official visit to the university over the weekend of January 18th.
Upshaw is a 5’10”, 190-pound running back from Northview High School in Duluth, GA. He is ranked a two-star recruit by some of the recruiting sites. He rushed for 1,267 yards and 27 touchdowns last season and gained over 1,600 yards of total offense. He also added two touchdowns on pass receptions and a touchdown on a kickoff return and punt return.
In a phone interview with AL.com, Upshaw had the following to say. “I like that it is a new, upcoming program and I like what (head) coach (Joey) Jones is doing with the team. The dorms and facilities and the football facility is really nice… They run the same offense that my high school does. Coach (Robert) Matthews (offensive coordinator) said I should be able to come in and play early.”
Upshaw had a scholarship offer from Vanderbilt but when South Alabama came to recruit him, he really liked the coaches and his visit to the campus.
Upshaw’s high school coach considers Terrance “one of the most overlooked kids in our Metro Atlanta area.”
Upshaw is a two-time all-region player and broke the single-season rushing record and single-season touchdown record in two seasons at his high school. In two seasons he totalled 45 touchdowns.
National Signing Day is Wednesday, February 6th. Verbal commitments are non-binding.
Jags Host Western Kentucky After Week Off
The South Alabama’s men’s basketball team have had a week off to rest and prepare for their run towards the end of the regular season and into the Conference tournament. To begin that run they will host their longtime rival Western Kentucky Thursday night at the Mitchell Center at 7:05pm.
South Alabama are coming off of a 71-56 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Thursday of last week to improve their record to 9-8 overall on the season and 6-3 in Sun Belt play. That SBC record has the Jags in sole possession of second place in the eastern division.
“The break has been good for us,” interim head coach Jeff Price said. “It’s a little different not playing on Saturday, but it gave us a chance to regroup and work on some things in practice that we haven’t been able to do, and be able to tweak some things on both ends of the floor, so it’s been good for us there. It’s been good for us to get some rest as well.”
“We broke up our off days so we weren’t off too much in a row,” Price continued. “You always have that concern that Western played on Saturday and we have to play after not playing for a week. Hopefully once the game starts we’ll get that out of the way.”
The Jags are 2-1 this season coming off of a break of a week or more. The last one was a 63-54 loss to Arkansas State on December 29th.
Western Kentucky comes in after losing four of their last five games and twice during a three-game homestand prior to their trip to Mobile. After starting the season 8-2 they have gone 3-7 since then for an overall record of 11-9 (5-4 SBC).
The Hilltoppers will be without the team’s leading scorer in Jamal Crook who has not been able to play since December 16 due to an injury. Last season he scored 24 points against the Jags at WKU and was averaging 14.5 points per game this season.
“Their obviously a good team and losing Jamal Crook really hurt them,” Price observed. “They’ve had to get their chemistry back together and find the answer at the point (guard position) and I think they’ve found that now. They’re certainly a capable basketball team and a well-coached team that has guys that are very worthy, all-conference type players.”
“They’re not quite as quick and athletic (without him),” Price noted. “He’s tremendous with the ball, pushing the ball in transition and very athletic so it makes them a little bit different.”
T.J. Price is now the leading scorer on the team with an average of 14.1 points per game. Brandon Harris averaged 19 points per game last week with 22 points against UALR was selected the Sun Belt Player of the Week earlier this week.
“Harris is a very capable shooter. He’s a streaky shooter, but when he shoots it well he’s really good,” Price obverved. “He takes care of the ball well and T.J. Price is a go-to guy that shoots the ball well from the outside and gets to the basket well. George Fant has been tremendous for them around the paint.”
Augustine Rubit scored 23 points against ULM in the teams last outing last Thursday. That was his sixth 20+ point game in his last nine games and is ranking second in the conference in scoring with an average of 19.3 points per game while also ranking first in rebounding with an average of 10.9 rebounds per game.
The Jags and the Hilltoppers tipoff at 7:05pm at the Mitchell Center.
B.J. Scott Added To Senior Bowl Roster
B.J. Scott will be playing in the 2013 Senior Bowl representing South Alabama on Saturday. Scott joins Courtney Smith (2011) and Jake Johnson as the only the third Jaguar in South Alabama’s four year history to be invited to play in the post-season All-Star game for NFL prospects.
Scott confirmed over twitter that he will be back in Mobile in the morning to practice with the team for Saturday’s Senior Bowl. Carson Tinker, a teammate of Scott’s during his time at the University of Alabama was one of the early people breaking the story via social media and congratulating Scott.
Scott, a 5’11″ 205-pound Prichard Alabama native, was chosen for honorable mention all-Sun Belt after collecting 84 tackles, six tackles for loss, two interceptions, three passes broken up and two forced fumbles. He notched a career high 12 unassistend tackles in Hawaii. He was credited with double-digit tackles four times in the 2012 season and seven times as a Jaguar. One of those double-digit games came against Mississippi State and in the Jags first-ever FBS and SBC win over Florida Atlantic.
In two seasons at South Alabama Scott collected 132 tackles, nine pass break ups, three forced fumbles and averaged 29 yards per kick return. He also missed the final three contests in the 2011 season with a knee injury.
Last weekend Scott participated in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, along with fellow Jaguar Jake Johnson, and was credited with two tackles and one punt return for no gain. Johnson was added to the Senior Bowl roster on Tuesday, however in his first practice on Wednesday he ruptured his Achilles tendon and will miss the game.
Good luck B.J.! Jaguar Nation will be behind you all the way!
Jake Johnson’s Senior Bowl Experience Unfortunately Ends Too Soon
South Alabama’s second invitee to participate in the Senior Bowl ended about 15 minutes into his first practice with the team. Jake Johnson ruptured his Achilles tendon very early in his first practice on the field at Ladd-Peebles Stadium and was carted off the field.
Johnson got the news yesterday that he was being invited to the Senior Bowl. So he drove down from Atlanta where he has been living and working out preparing for NFL workouts. Then just about 15 minutes into his first practice, the worst happened. A ruptured Achilles.
The Achilles tendon is the strongest and thickest tendon in the body and also the most commonly injured one as well. A rupture can occur while performing actions requiring explosive acceleration such as pushing off or jumping. The usual time for recovery is about 11 months.
Good luck Jake! Jaguar Nation will be pulling for you during your recovery!
MTSU And FAU To Pay $700k Early Exit Fee
Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson announced that Middle Tennessee State and Florida Atlantic will both leave the Sun Belt Conference effective June 30, 2013.
After previously announcing that they would remain in the Sun Belt Conference through June 2014. However, the schools and the conference office came to a settlement that allows FAU and MTSU to pay a “slightly reduced” early exit fee. The Sun Belt Executive Committee voted on and offered a $700,000 exit fee which both schools opted to accept.
Middle Tennessee and the Sun Belt had argued over the previous long-standing exit fee of $500,000 and the new penalty of $1 million, which was voted in by the executive committee last spring.
“Our desire to aid our athletic directors in finalizing the 2013 football schedule was the reason for allowing a reduced exit fee,” Benson said. “While the seven-game conference schedule is not perfect, the understanding is that this would only be for one season.”
Now that the date of withdrawl has been finalized, the Sun Belt conference will have eight football members and 10 total members for the 2013-2014 year. The schools with football will play a seven-game conference schedule and a double round-robin 18-game schedule for men’s and women’s basketball.
“We will shift our attention back towards the future of the league and what our membership should consist of,” Benson said. “As of now there are no pending invitations to the Sun Belt for membership, however, we know that there are a number of teams interested in joining our league.”
The Sun Belt is coming off of it’s most successful season in it’s 12-year history. Four teams were invited to bowl games and all four of them will return to the Sun Belt Conference for the 2013 season.
Next season the Sun Belt’s football membership will consist of Arkansas State, Georgia State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, South Alabama, Texas State, Troy and Western Kentucky. Arkansas-Little Rock and Texas-Arlington are non-football members.
Benson said that the conference is competitive in all sports and that it’s position as one of only 10 BCS conferences along with its geographical footprint are attractive to the schools who have expressed interest in joining the Sun Belt.
Troy University Chancellor Jack Hawkins, also president of the Sun Belt Conference Executive Committee, said that the conference’s chief executives “appreciate the contributions Florida Atlantic and Middle Tennessee have made to the Sun Belt Conference. We wish FAU and MTSU well.”
Benson also said that the Sun Belt’s bylaws need to be changed to more clearly restrict a school’s early exit because current rules requiring a notification date of departure are incomplete. Benson also indicated that pressure was put on the remaining schools to determine a reduced exit fee for the two schools in order to adjust their football schedules. Thus the Sun Belt executive committee “reluctantly settled.”
Benson said that the departures of MTSU and FAU along with North Texas and FIU might delay the Sun Belt’s progress, but it will not deter it.
“We were on our way,” said Benson. “… We were hoping we had time to build the conference to the point where we could stand alongside Conference USA with a comparable name. But we will eventually get there.”
Jake Johnson Added To Senior Bowl Squad
Senior linebacker Jake Johnson zeroes in on a NC State runner for one of his 14 tackles in Raleigh, NC.
University of South Alabama linebacker Jake Johnson has been added to the Senior Bowl according to sources and social media reports.
Johnson, a 6’1″ 240-pound Fredericksburg Virginia native, was the only Sun Belt player to average more than 10 tackles per game and was a first-team all-conference selection after finishing the season with a school record 131 tackles and 15 tackles for loss. He was the leading tackler for the Jags in seven of their 13 games and notched double-digits in tackles on five seperate occasions. He had a season-high of 15 tackles against Florida International and Middle Tennessee. He also collected 14 tackles against NC State and 10 against Mississippi State.
Johnson collected 245 total tackles and 25.5 stops for loss and nine sacks with two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two pass break-ups during his three seasons with South Alabama.
He participated in the NFLPA Collegiate bowl on Saturday where he recorded two solo tackles and two assists.
Jake Johnson becomes the second Jaguar in the schools short history of football to be invited to participate in the Senior Bowl hosted in Mobile, Alabama.
From the SeniorBowl website:
The Senior Bowl is home to a one-of-a-kind NFL Convention. In addition to the two NFL coaching staffs who coach the two Senior Bowl teams each year, over 800 NFL general managers, head coaches, assistant coaches, personnel directors, scouts and other front office personnel from the 32 NFL teams annually attend Senior Bowl Week in Mobile.
Coaching staffs for the game each year are selected by the NFL office. In addition to the coaches, each NFL team chosen by the league to coach the Senior Bowl teams also brings its training, video and equipment staffs to the contest to work with the Senior Bowl players and maximize the many benefits that the players will receive by playing in the contest.
The Senior Bowl has been played in Mobile every year since 1951. It’s first year in 1950, it was played in Jacksonville, Florida.
Congratulations Jake!
MTSU And FAU To Join CUSA In July
Early speculation and a recent report by Brett McMurphy of ESPN.com has been confirmed by AL.com. Middle Tennessee State and Florida Atlantic have negotiated their buyout and will be joining Conference USA on July 1.
They will follow North Texas and Florida International who announced plans to join CUSA for the 2013 season prior to the 2012 football season. This will affect the 2013 football schedule for all Sun Belt members.
An official announcement is expected to be released on Tueday concerning MTSU and FAU’s early exit from the conference.
Originally MTSU and FAU would have joined CUSA on July 1, 2014, however with the early exit this will leave the conference with eight football-sponsoring schools. The Sun Belt currently provides an eight game conference schedule for each team, however with eight teams they will only be able to provide a seven-game conference schedule.
Now the remaining schools will have time to seek another game to fill their schedule with another non-conference game.
South Alabama’s non-conference schedule next season has trips to Tennessee, Navy and Tulane with a home game against GoDaddy.com Bowl participant Kent State.
A letter was released by the South Alabama Ticket Office about 2013 season tickets concerning a delay about renewal letters being released. Since the number of home games is currently unknown, they are working with the conference office and the football program to see how many home games will be on the schedule this season for pricing and such.
It may be difficult to schedule a FBS program for the 2013 season and may have to turn to the FCS ranks to fill the open date on the scedule. The Jags currently do not have a FCS program on the schedule this upcoming season so it would not affect the number of wins needed to be eligible for a bowl game. FBS programs can only use one win over an FCS team towards bowl eligibility unless there are not enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all of the bowl slots.