MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama enters the 2020 football season, its third under head coach Steve Campbell, coming off a 2-10 campaign and preparing to open the year at Southern Miss amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Jaguars’ only win over a Football Bowl Subdivision and Sun Belt Conference opponent last season came in the finale against Arkansas State. That victory kept South Alabama from finishing without a conference win for the first time in program history.
South Alabama returns much of its offensive production, including seven of its top eight receivers and an offensive line with 42 combined career starts. The defense, which posted statistical improvement in 2019, must replace significant experience on the defensive line and at cornerback.
Offense
Offensive line
South Alabama lost three letterwinners up front and returns 10, including three players who started all 12 games last season. Four other returners are redshirts or non-letterwinners. The staff added nine newcomers, eight of them true freshmen and one from the junior college ranks.
Center Brian Ankerson owns the longest active starting streak on the team at 24 consecutive games. Hadon Merchant has started 22 of his 23 appearances over the past two seasons. Jacob Shoemaker, an honorable mention all-Sun Belt selection in his first season with the Jaguars, is moving from tackle to guard.
Quarterbacks
Desmond Trotter returns after taking over as the starter in the middle of last season. Trotter appeared in eight games and started the final four, leading the team with eight touchdowns. In the season-ending win over Arkansas State, he tied a school record with four touchdown passes and posted a career-high 337 yards of total offense.
Cephus Johnson, who started the first eight games of 2019, transferred after the season. Tylan Morton, who played in the first four games before sitting out the rest of the year to preserve a redshirt, and Tanner McGee, who redshirted, also return.
The Jaguars added Chance Lovertich from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, along with true freshmen Elijah Gainey and Brian Garcia. Lovertich was a second-team NJCAA All-American, a first-team all-MACJC selection and the South Division’s Most Valuable Offensive Back after helping Mississippi Gulf Coast to a 12-0 record and the national championship as a sophomore. He did not go through spring practice with South Alabama.
Gainey, rated a three-star prospect by 247Sports, started two seasons in high school before missing his senior year with a knee injury.
Lovertich has challenged Trotter for the job, but Campbell expects Trotter to start the opener at Southern Miss.
Johnson, Trotter and Morton combined to throw 14 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions last season while completing 52.8 percent of their attempts.
Running backs
South Alabama returns four letterwinners at running back and lost two, along with two returning redshirt freshmen and a junior college addition.
The biggest departure is Tra Minter, who last season became the first running back in program history to rush for more than 1,000 yards. Minter was the second All-American in program history and the Jaguars’ only first-team all-Sun Belt selection.
Carlos Davis, one of four sophomores in the group, had a career-best 122 yards on 10 carries against Sun Belt West Division champion Louisiana-Lafayette. The coaching staff plans to use a committee approach until a lead back emerges, with the sophomores entering their third year in the offensive system.
Wide receivers
The Jaguars return their top two receivers from 2019. Kawaan Baker led the team with 35 catches, 574 yards and 47.8 receiving yards per game. He also ran for 82 yards and had 35 yards on kickoff returns, finishing second on the team with 692 all-purpose yards. Baker is on the Reese’s Senior Bowl Top 250 list.
Jalen Tolbert led the team with six touchdown receptions, four of them in the win over Arkansas State, when he caught five passes for 144 yards. That performance earned him honorable mention National Performer of the Week recognition from the College Football Performance Awards and Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week honors from College Sports Madness.
Davyn Flenord, who caught 14 passes for 127 yards last season, is moving to cornerback. Tre’Veon Hamilton, who had three catches for 43 yards, left the program. Two redshirt freshmen and two juniors return, and the staff signed seven true freshmen. Baker, Tolbert and Jalen Wayne each have three years in the program.
Tight ends
Brandon Crum is the only returning letterwinner at tight end after playing in all 12 games and catching six passes for 65 yards. One redshirt freshman and two sophomores also return, and the staff added a junior college player and three freshmen. Junior college transfer Trent Tyre joins the group, and Cameron Hatcher-Owens is moving from the defensive line.
Departed tight ends Zac Crosby, Khameron Taylor and Nick Thompson combined for five receptions, 61 yards and the position’s only touchdown, by Taylor. Tight ends caught 11 passes in total last season.
Defense
Defensive line
Four letterwinners return on the defensive line: Gi’Narious Johnson, a junior; Jeremiah Littles, a senior; Maurice Strong, a sophomore; and Charles Coleman III. Strong had 15 tackles, the most among returning linemen.
South Alabama lost Jordon Beaton, Sean Brown, Rocel McWilliams, Tyree Turner and Jeffery Whatley. Four of the five earned all-Sun Belt honors during their careers. Two redshirt freshmen return, and the staff added three junior college players, including Jamie Sheriff and Markes Johnson, and two true freshmen who were all-state and all-region selections in high school.
Inside linebackers
Defensive coordinator Greg Stewart returns four letterwinners at inside linebacker and lost only Kade Koler. A sophomore and a freshman also return, and a junior college player and two true freshmen were added.
Riley Cole, who has played outside linebacker the past two seasons, is moving inside. Cole was a preseason second-team all-Sun Belt pick by Phil Steele and a third-team selection by Athlon, and he is the second Jaguar on the Reese’s Senior Bowl Top 250 list.
Nick Mobley led the team with 91 tackles, which ranked among the top 10 in the conference. Roy Yancey, who redshirted in 2018 because of an injury, started six games and played in all 12 last season. Stewart said he has the depth he needs at the position for the first time during his tenure at South Alabama.
Outside linebackers
AJ DeShazor, Chris Henderson, Shawn Jennings and Kelvin Johnson return as letterwinners, while Khalil McDonald and Taji Stewart departed. Two redshirt freshmen also return. Newcomers include freshman Zach Jones, junior college sophomore Zivaiishe Smith and Christian Bell, a senior transfer from Wisconsin.
DeShazor started all 12 games and ranked third on the team in total tackles. Johnson finished in the top five in tackles while playing primarily inside and is moving outside. Bell played in 24 games over three seasons at Wisconsin and was a four-star recruit by ESPN out of Hoover. Henderson and Bell are expected to be leaders of the group, with DeShazor and Doug Sullivan also expected to contribute.
Cornerbacks
South Alabama must replace Travis Reed, Jalen Thompson, Gus Nave, Jay Woods and Tyrone Leggette. Thompson graduated as the program’s career leader in interceptions with nine and interception returns for touchdowns with two. Reed led the cornerbacks with 41 tackles and three tackles for loss and earned second-team all-Sun Belt honors.
Returning letterwinners are Devin Rockette, Ryan Melton, Jaden Voisin and Flenord, and Dallas Gamble returns after redshirting. Rockette had the second-most pass breakups on the team last season, along with two fumble recoveries and an interception. The staff added two junior college cornerbacks and a true freshman. Darrell Luter Jr., a three-star junior college recruit ranked among the top 40 cornerbacks nationally, was a second-team all-Mississippi ACJC selection.
Safeties
DJ Daniels and Sterrling Fisher are gone, while Keith Gallmon, Tre Young, Keon Voisin, senior Kwameh Lewis and redshirt freshman Nic Brunkosky return. Three newcomers joined the group: two from junior colleges and a senior transfer.
Gallmon, a preseason third-team all-Sun Belt pick by Athlon and fourth-team choice by Phil Steele, started all 12 games last season and made 59 tackles, 43 of them solo, with two tackles for loss.
DJ Exilhomme was a second-team all-Northeast Conference selection after recording 72 tackles, three tackles for loss, five pass breakups, three fumble recoveries, an interception and a blocked kick. CJ Thompson was the top junior college recruit in Oklahoma and the No. 15 safety nationally according to 247Sports, and he was a second-team NJCAA All-American and second-team all-Southwest Junior College Football Conference selection.
Special Teams
All of South Alabama’s special teams letterwinners and its lone redshirt return, joined by incoming freshman Cooper Charlton.
Punter Jack Brooks, a native of Australia, was a fourth-team preseason all-Sun Belt pick by Athlon. As a freshman, his punting average ranked sixth in the conference and among the top 60 nationally. Brooks arrived on campus only a few weeks before last season began.
Frankie Onate led the team in scoring last season. Diego Guajardo, who is expected to handle kickoffs, became the first South Alabama kicker since Aleem Sunanon in 2014 to record double-digit touchbacks in a season. Field goal duties could be shared.
Baker will continue returning kickoffs, and Tolbert will take over the other kickoff return spot from Minter. Tolbert and Wayne are competing to be the primary punt returner.
Season Opener
South Alabama opens the 2020 season at Southern Miss. The Jaguars compete in the Sun Belt Conference’s West Division.
