MOBILE, Ala. – Whether it’s the prospects of learning a new offensive system or the ability to erase the memory of its 2011 season finale, University of South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones can feel the excitement within the program as it begins spring practice this week.
“I think there is a ton of excitement over what we are doing offensively, not only from the players but the staff,” he said. “Any time you bring a new coordinator in you pretty much have to start all over again, especially with terminology. Kids are coming in, studying and watching video on their own. Coaches are meeting constantly — hours upon hours — starting all over again.
“Any time you end a season that way, you never want to say you wanted something like that to happen; but our coaches have talked about it, it could have been one of the best things to ever happen to us. It really shook our staff and our players — even though they were a really good football team — and made us refocus on what we are doing. They’re ready, we really challenged them after that game, and that has permeated in their work ethic from that day through now.”
The opening week of spring practice will include 6:30 a.m. workouts in shorts on Wednesday and Thursday, and a 9 a.m. session Saturday that is slated to be conducted in shells.
All practices during the spring will take place at the fields on campus, although the annual Red & White Game — which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 24 — is slated to be held at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Following the conclusion of Mardi Gras, the Jags will practice twice in full pads — at 6:30 a.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. Saturday. The final workout this month will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 6:30 a.m., which will also be conducted in full pads.
USA will work out in shells on Thursday, March 1, prior to the first scrimmage of the spring, which will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 3. The Jaguars will not be in full pads again until the next scrimmage takes place on Thursday, March 8 — which is slated to begin at 6:30 a.m. — practicing in shorts on March 4 at 4 p.m. and in shells March 6 at 6:30 a.m.
The second scrimmage will be held prior to the start of the school’s spring break. USA will conduct practices on March 20 (full pads) and March 22 (shells), with both beginning at 6:30 a.m., prior to the spring game, while spring drills will conclude with a 4 p.m. workout in shorts on Sunday, March 25.
The biggest change facing the Jaguars this spring is Jones’ decision to switch to a spread offense, which he believes will allow the unit to do a lot as well as take some pressure off the offensive line because it won't have to knock someone off ball or protect on every play. Jones thinks the switch will allow the staff to take advantage of the different running types of running backs on the roster, and help a younger group up front — which lost three starters from last year’s squad — that has bigger individuals except at center, but needs to get experience in the spring and summer in order to know what the group is doing in the fall.
“It’s a good bit different because it’s a spread offense and we’re going to be in the [shot]gun, which is really what I have run most of my years in coaching,” explained Jones. “I decided three years ago to run the power [offense] and be a physical football team, but the spread is what I really feel comfortable with and I think we’ve got the people to do it. Sometimes you need some change, I think it excites you.”
Adding to the pressure of learning a new offense this spring is the opponents the Jags will face in the fall. As part of the second of a two-year transition to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-A) level, USA will play eight contests against Sun Belt Conference schools; the non-league slate includes trips to Mississippi State, North Carolina State and Hawai’i as well as dates at home with Texas-San Antonio and Nicholls State.
“We understand that we are going to have to get it done quickly, because of the schedule we’re playing,” stated Jones. “We’ve got to be as good as we can be, so there is a sense of urgency to getting this done and getting it done right. It’s probably the biggest thing this spring that we’ve got to concentrate on. People are wondering if we are going to win a game next year — I have no clue what will happen from a win-loss standpoint, but I do know that will be competing at the highest level of college football in the country. We’ve gotten there pretty fast, but we have got to elevate our play and become much better at what we do.”
One way Jones and the staff have gone about accomplishing that goal in the offseason has been to create constant competition for the program. By competing every day — “Not only on the practice field this spring, but going to class , study hall, in the weight room,” he said — he believes that if its second nature the Jaguars will do it when on field. “There are consequences now, because there will be in the fall if we don’t play well,” stated Jones.
The process began with meetings following USA’s finale against Cal Poly on Nov. 19.
“We meet after every season as a staff and we meet as a team. The thing I challenged the team with was that I felt that leadership is something we have got to concentrate on this year,” Jones commented. “We have broken down into 13 different teams within the team, and each one has a captain. Everything they do in the offseason program is done by that team; there is peer pressure, things they have to do every day. And if they do anything the wrong way or just miss, they pay for it.
“We were a pretty disciplined team, but we are going to take it to the highest level. We’re not trying to punish them, we’re trying to create great discipline.”
Jones also announced changes in responsibilities for assistants on both sides of the ball prior to practice opening. Offensively, first-year coordinator Robert Matthews will work with the line, while John Turner will shift to tight ends and Bryant Vincent is now in charge of quarterbacks. On defense, assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Bill Clark will now oversee all linebackers, shifting associate head coach Kurt Crain to defensive tackles and allowing Brian Turner to focus on defensive ends.
“After bringing coach Matthews in, he knew exactly what he wanted with the offensive line and had coached tackles. Rather than training somebody else and creating a learning curve there, I just felt like we would move him in and let him coach them,” observed Jones. “John was extremely happy about it, tight ends are a different dimension but he really liked the idea, and Bryant has been coaching quarterbacks his whole life and is really comfortable with them.
“Bill wasn’t really coaching a position, which I wanted him to, and he is comfortable with linebackers. Kurt had coached defensive linemen at Auburn — that’s really what he has always coached — and is excited about the move.”
There are a couple of individuals who will not be able to take part in spring drills, with a few others who will but not at full speed. Kendall Houston and Enrique Williams are not scheduled to practice at all while recovering from offseason surgical procedures, Bryson James won’t be able to return — if he does at all — until late in spring drills, while Brandon Ross and B.J. Scott will take part in a limited role.
Despite coming off a season that included the program’s first-ever losses and a facing complete overhaul of the offense, Jones is not worried about how the team will respond in the coming weeks.
“I have never seen our team quite this motivated because they realize the challenges ahead. But they’re also excited about those,” he said. “This is where they all wanted to be, they’ve dreamed about playing these kind of teams every week. There’s no doubt there is a difference.”
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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