MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama’s athletic director search has drawn 23 applications, with more expected, as the university works to name a successor to retiring athletic director Joe Gottfried before the Jaguars play their first football season this fall.
Gottfried is scheduled to retire on Aug. 1. The university has not publicly identified finalists, but the search committee is expected to reconvene in early July to review candidates. University President Gordon Moulton has set a target date of Sept. 1 to have the position filled.
Candidates Confirm Interest
Dr. John Smith, the university’s vice president for student affairs and faculty athletics representative, is chairing the search committee. Smith said 23 applications had been received as of late June.
Two candidates with previous ties to the university and to Mobile have confirmed their interest, according to the Mobile Press-Register: John Hartwell, executive associate athletic director at Ole Miss, and Joel Erdmann, athletic director at Southeastern Louisiana.
Johnny Williams, the former athletic director at Troy, has also expressed interest. People close to Birmingham-Southern athletic director Joe Dean Jr. have indicated he could be interested as well.
Both Erdmann and Hartwell have spoken about the potential of South Alabama’s athletic program with the addition of football, comparing the opportunity to South Florida’s rise after that school started football.
Football Roster Arrives on Campus
Head coach Joey Jones said about 95 percent of the Jaguars’ scholarship players enrolled for the first summer session, which began in May. With the start of the second summer session in late June, all of the team’s scholarship players are on campus, along with most of its walk-ons.
Most of the signees have qualified academically, with a few awaiting the results of summer coursework. Matt Autry is expected to enroll at Jones County Junior College with the hope of rejoining the Jaguars once he becomes eligible.
Grayshirts and Departures
To get to the 30-scholarship limit for the 2009 class, several signees will grayshirt. Those named so far are linebacker Mytez Madden, safety Zach Brownell, defensive lineman Will Thompson and athlete Mardavian Martin. Wide receiver Jared Palmer of Tuscaloosa will either grayshirt or attend junior college depending on his academics.
Quarterback Early James and offensive lineman Chris Payne, both mid-year junior college signees, have left the program.
Preseason Schedule
The team’s first official meetings are set for Aug. 2, and practice is scheduled to begin Aug. 4. Jones said he expects a mostly healthy roster when camp opens, with only a few players involved in minor rehabilitation. Receiver Christopher Pugh has a torn meniscus but is working out and rehabbing in hopes of being ready when practice begins.
Open Quarterback Race
The quarterback position will be a focus when camp opens. Matt Saucier, who took the top snaps during spring practice, has moved to safety. Oregon State transfer Brennan Sim brings the most college experience to the group, with Nic Owens, Myles Gibbon and Kyle Stewart also competing for the job.
“We have four good candidates coming in,” Jones said. “The hard part of that is that we’re going to have to give reps to someone and get them ready. People don’t realize that when you are starting a new program you have to make a decision on a quarterback fairly quick because if you fool around for two weeks and give four people all the reps then they won’t know many of the plays.”
Jones said the evaluation will move quickly. “We’re going to have to do a great job of evaluating those kids in the first week,” he said. “I think at the end of the first week we need to decide who is one, two and three, not that it will be etched in stone.”
Season Ticket Sales
South Alabama has sold about 6,000 season tickets for the inaugural season, with a goal of 10,000. Season tickets for the seven-game home schedule at Ladd-Peebles Stadium are priced at $85.
The Jaguars’ first game is about 60 days away, on Sept. 5.
