MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama football coach Joey Jones said Tuesday that the U.S. Military Academy Prep School is more disciplined than Hargrave Military Academy, the Jaguars’ first opponent, as his team prepared for Army Prep’s triple-option offense.
Jones and defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Brian Turner appeared on the Joey Jones Show with host Lee Shirvanian.
Preparing for the Triple Option
Jones said Army Prep is probably not as athletic as Hargrave but is more disciplined. He said the prep school mirrors the Army varsity team in its offense, defense and special teams, and that his team must match that discipline. Jones said he felt comfortable with where the Jaguars stood.
Explaining the triple option, Jones said the quarterback can hand the ball to the fullback up the middle, keep it around the end or pitch it to a trailing back. He said it works like the wishbone offense, but Army Prep lines up in a double-split formation, with two split ends positioned about a yard outside the tackles.
Jones said game experience is invaluable for a young team. He said players can practice for weeks, but seeing plays unfold in a game helps them understand why they repeated them so many times in practice.
Shirvanian said an Army Prep athletic official told him South Alabama cannot recruit the school’s players, all of whom are designated for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and that the school declined to share information about its roster. Jones said he had heard conflicting answers on whether the players could be recruited, but decided not to recruit any Army Prep players to be safe.
Defensive Line Rotation and Injuries
Shirvanian congratulated Turner on the defensive line’s performance against Hargrave. Turner said the Jaguars use a nine-man rotation on the defensive line. The team used 10 linemen against Hargrave, but one will miss the Army Prep game with a knee injury. Turner said being able to rotate a large number of linemen is an advantage for a young team.
Jones said the team is healthy other than John Mark Patrick, who injured a knee late in the Hargrave game. Jones said the staff expects Patrick back this season and hopes to have him for the Georgia Military College game.
Recruiting Board and Scholarships
Turner said NCAA rules allow 42 evaluations, so South Alabama’s six recruiting coaches each travel seven times during the year. He said the staff’s board includes about 100 players who are being evaluated or have been offered scholarships.
Jones said the staff regularly re-evaluates and re-ranks prospects, as it did during the past week, to make the best use of limited scholarships at each position. He said South Alabama has about 25 scholarships to award but has some grayshirt commitments, so it will likely sign about 20 players in February.
Asked about an early signing period, Turner said he would oppose one in December, saying it would hurt schools like South Alabama, but would support one in May and possibly one in September.
On transfers, Turner said a player must initiate contact and South Alabama must receive a release from his current school before coaches can recruit him. Jones noted that players who transfer within the same conference must sit out a year.
Scheduling and Sportsmanship
Asked whether South Alabama could play Sun Belt Conference opponents before becoming a full Division I member, Jones said it could. He noted that South Alabama would still be a Division I-AA program in 2012 and that Division I-A schools can schedule only one such opponent per year. He said most schools already have that game scheduled, and South Alabama is still working on schedules for those years.
Jones said he does not want his players to showboat. He said South Alabama, which runs an up-tempo offense, teaches players to hand the ball to officials after plays, particularly in hurry-up situations.
Pep Rallies Scheduled
Jones was scheduled to sign autographs at a pep rally at Bel Air Mall on Tuesday from 6 to 7 p.m. Another pep rally is planned on campus Friday, likely at the Mitchell Center.
Update: Jones, Players Look Ahead at Media Day
South Alabama returns to the field Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium after three weeks between games. Jones said at the team’s media day Monday that the long layoff has given the matchup the feel of another opener.
“This almost seems like our first game again because we’ve had two off weeks and there’s that kind of anticipation,” Jones said. “We practiced four or five weeks for the first game, and now we’re practicing three weeks for the second ballgame. The anticipation is there, and I know our kids have really worked hard the last two weeks.”
Recapping the Opener
South Alabama beat Hargrave Military Academy 30-13 in the program’s first game, building a 20-0 lead before Hargrave rallied. The Jaguars gained 429 yards of total offense, including 265 on the ground. Brandon Ross ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Courtney Smith caught five passes for 104 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown from Myles Gibbon late in the first quarter that produced the first points in program history.
Army Prep’s Season So Far
The Black Knights of the U.S. Military Academy Prep School enter at 1-2. They opened with a 21-14 loss to Army’s junior varsity, beat Hudson Valley Community College of New York 46-44 and lost 13-8 to Nassau Community College of New York last Friday. Army Prep runs the triple option on offense and a 3-5-3 alignment on defense.
“Army Prep is a very disciplined program,” Jones said. “Their offense is very hard to defend from a mental standpoint, you’ve got to be in the right places at the right times – we’ve been working on that for the last week or so. Defensively, they run a flex front, and it’s a little bit of a different front. Most people run a 4-3 or a 3-4, but they run a different front that we’re having to work on a little bit. They’ve got some good players, and we recruited some of the players on their team.”
Cornerback Jerron Mitchell said, “It’s all about being disciplined. Army’s coaching staff has done a great job with preparing their kids, making everything fundamentally sound.”
Offensive lineman Chris Brunson compared the two opponents. “Their players are smaller but quicker, while Hargrave was bigger but more physical,” Brunson said. “But, we can still duplicate what we did against Hargrave.”
Game Day Information
- Parking lots at Ladd-Peebles Stadium open at 8 a.m., and gates open at 2 p.m.
- Tickets are available through the USA Ticket Office and at the Mitchell Center ticket office until 5 p.m. Friday, then at Ladd-Peebles beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday.
- Shuttles will run from the south parking lot at Bel Air Mall, behind Target and JCPenney, beginning at noon and continuing until 90 minutes after the game. Round-trip fare is $2.50.
- Buses will run from campus to the stadium at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. The ride is free for students and $5 round trip for others.
