MOBILE, Ala. — EA Sports has informed the University of South Alabama that the Jaguars will be included in NCAA Football 14 along with a list of additional features, after the publisher left South Alabama out of the upcoming NCAA Football 13 video game.
EA Sports officials contacted South Alabama officials and administrators to outline the plans, which include on-site recording at a Jaguars game this season and work with the football staff on the team’s playbook.
Left Out of NCAA Football 13
The omission came to light about two weeks ago, when EA Sports released a preview of NCAA Football 13 that did not include South Alabama. The university had announced in 2009 that it intended to move its new football program to the Football Bowl Subdivision as quickly as possible. Texas-San Antonio, Texas State and Massachusetts, which announced their own moves to FBS after South Alabama, were all included in the 2013 edition.
South Alabama fans responded with an online campaign on websites and social media using the hashtag #FreeSouthAlabama, and the effort was picked up by a number of other websites.
An EA Sports communications manager initially said in a statement that South Alabama “was a provisional member of FBS last year and did not play a full FBS schedule,” adding that the company “did not receive confirmation that they were changing to a full FBS schedule this year until it was too late for inclusion in NCAA Football 13.” The statement said South Alabama would be part of NCAA Football 14.
What EA Sports Has Pledged
According to the plans EA Sports shared with the university, the company intends to:
- Film the Jaguars and the South Alabama cheerleaders running onto the field and recreate the entrance in the game.
- Record crowd noise at a South Alabama home game this season to reproduce the stadium sounds and fan chants.
- Work with the South Alabama athletic department on the team introductions voiced by ESPN announcers Brad Nessler, Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit at the start of each Jaguars game.
- Add South Paw, the South Alabama mascot, to the game, both on the sideline and in the “Mascot Mash-Up” game mode.
- Meet with the Jaguars football coaching staff to replicate the team’s playbook.
- Pursue licensing rights for Ladd-Peebles Stadium so a “stadium scan” can be performed to recreate the Jaguars’ home venue.
Jaguars Enter Full FBS Play
South Alabama began playing football in 2009 under head coach Joey Jones and played a transitional schedule in 2011. The Jaguars are set to compete as a member of the Sun Belt Conference in football this fall, playing home games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile.
Features such as stadium scans, crowd audio and customized team entrances are typically reserved for the most prominent programs in the game.
Update: National Attention
South Alabama’s omission from NCAA Football 13 drew coverage from several national college football writers, including Kevin McGuire of Examiner.com, Jason Kirk of SB Nation, Graham Watson of Yahoo! Sports’ Dr. Saturday blog and Holly Anderson of Sports Illustrated.
South Alabama’s trustees voted on Dec. 6, 2007, to add football, and the university hired Joey Jones as the program’s first head coach on Feb. 15, 2008.
