South Alabama Opens 2010 Preseason Camp; Justin Dunn to Wear No. 5 in Honor of Anthony Mostella

MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama opened preseason camp for its second football season Friday morning with a practice of a little more than two hours, as a larger and more experienced roster began preparing to follow last year’s undefeated inaugural season.

Head coach Joey Jones also announced that senior linebacker Justin Dunn, chosen by a team vote, will wear the No. 5 jersey in honor of the late running back Anthony Mostella.

Practice Breakdown

Practice began with about 15 minutes of special teams work on punt coverage before the offense and defense split to opposite ends of the field. The quarterbacks worked through passing plays with the wide receivers, then the running backs and finally the tight ends, while the defense worked on pursuing ball carriers toward the sideline.

About 50 minutes into the session, the linebackers and defensive backs grouped together for pass coverage work, while the offense added running plays to its passing work. The next 15 minutes featured 7-on-7 skeleton passing drills, with defensive linemen and outside linebackers working against the offensive line on pass rush at the same time.

The units then separated again, with the offense running through its plays and the defense focusing on formations, coverages and rushing the passer.

A 10-minute 11-on-11 period closed the work. The offense completed three of 10 pass attempts, including the final two throws by Brennan Sim. Raymond Cotton accounted for the other completion on a screen pass to Erling Riis.

Bigger and Stronger

Jones credited the summer strength and conditioning program for the visible physical change in returning players. During the summer, only the strength and conditioning staff may work directly with players.

“One thing I noticed in walking around with the other coaches is that we look a lot better than we did last year physically on the field,” Jones said. “Now, we have to translate that into playing well. Just because we look good doesn’t mean we’re going to play good. The challenge for the guys is that they have to transfer some of that weight they’ve gained into being great players.”

Dunn, one of 10 returning defensive starters, said, “The talent level has improved, and so has our depth.” In addition to an incoming freshman class, the Jaguars added five transfers from Football Bowl Subdivision programs.

Newcomers React

Cotton, a quarterback and one of the most prominent of the transfers, said of his first practice, “They bring it out here, harder than I thought they would.”

Linebacker Jake Johnson, a transfer from Virginia Tech, offered a similar assessment. “It was intense, especially compared to what I was used to at Virginia Tech,” Johnson said. “This is the hardest practice I have been a part of since high school two-a-days. It was non-stop, which made it tough, but it was a fun practice.”

Offseason Review

Jones said his staff spent the offseason reviewing the program’s first season and studying other programs.

“We spent the whole off-season trying to get better,” Jones said. “The staff has done a great job of looking at what we did last year, seeing what people are doing around the country and trying to learn. We’re not going to make wholesale changes, but would like to add things that fit with us.”

Honoring Anthony Mostella

Following the death of running back Anthony Mostella, Jones said a distinguished senior would wear Mostella’s jersey number in his memory. Players voted Wednesday when they reported to campus, and Jones announced that Dunn would wear No. 5.

“I’m excited about it,” Dunn said. “Mo was a close friend of mine, my next-door neighbor actually, and we played together at Birmingham-Southern for three years. It’s an honor, because he’s one of the best people I know, a great athlete, a great student and a good person. More people like him would make the world a better place.”

Schedule Ahead

The Jaguars return to the field at 7:10 a.m. Saturday for a two-hour practice in shorts and helmets. They are scheduled to practice in shells Sunday and Monday mornings before putting on full pads for the first time Tuesday.