MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama is one contract away from releasing its inaugural 2009 football schedule, coach Joey Jones said Wednesday, and all spring practices, including the first week, will now be open to the public.
Jones appeared on the Joey Jones Show at Wings Sports Grill with host Lee Shirvanian and Travis Toth. Athletic director Joe Gottfried also joined the program.
Schedule Close to Completion
Jones said the program is waiting on one final contract before announcing the schedule. He explained that game contracts take time because each school’s attorneys review them, and the staff must also find opponents whose open dates match South Alabama’s.
The Jaguars are looking at seven or eight games in 2009, all of them expected to be played at home.
Gottfried on Scheduling
Gottfried said scheduling is difficult because South Alabama is an unclassified program, making it hard to find other unclassified schools or opponents willing to schedule the Jaguars, and to persuade teams to travel to Mobile.
He said the athletic department is also working on schedules for 2012 through 2016, with an eye toward balance, such as avoiding another major opponent the week after the game at Tennessee.
Gottfried said South Alabama remains on Notre Dame’s list of potential future opponents, possibly four to five years from now, based on his conversations with contacts at the school. Notre Dame’s home games are nationally televised by NBC.
Sun Belt Timeline
Asked whether South Alabama will play in the Sun Belt Conference this fall, Jones said the Jaguars will compete as an independent until 2012, when they will play their first full Sun Belt schedule.
Spring Practice Opens Monday
Spring practice begins Monday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The staff reversed its earlier plan to close the first week, and all practices will be open to the public.
Practices will run from 2:30 to 4:45 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, with occasional Wednesday sessions. Jones said close to 100 players will be on the field.
Jones said the staff must evaluate every player and give each a chance, while also teaching fundamentals. He said the team will scrimmage during the spring but will not rush into scrimmages before establishing the basics.
Jones said the staff is still looking to add at least one more quarterback, who, like the other quarterbacks in the class, must be able to both run and throw to fit the offense.
Rapid Growth
Shirvanian noted how quickly South Alabama is moving from no program to Division I football. Gottfried said South Florida took three to four years to accomplish what South Alabama is on track to do in one or two, crediting the staff and administration.
Gottfried said the possibility of an on-campus football stadium comes up regularly, but that any decision is well in the future. He pointed to current construction on campus, including the football field house and practice fields near the intramural fields, and a new student recreation center at Old Shell Road and Stadium Drive next to Stanky Field.
