MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama head coach Joey Jones has hired former Alabama linebacker Freddie Roach and veteran high school coach Travis Pearson to fill open positions on the Jaguars’ football staff. Roach will coach the defensive line alongside Brian Turner, and Pearson will coach the linebackers. Both new assistants were at the football fieldhouse Friday and began work immediately.
The hires come as South Alabama hosts its major recruiting weekend, with about 21 prospects on campus for official visits.
Freddie Roach
Roach was a four-year letterman at Alabama from 2002 to 2005 and finished his career as the Crimson Tide’s 10th all-time leading tackler. He signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2006 but was released during the preseason because of an injury.
Roach later returned to Alabama as a member of the strength and conditioning staff and was part of the program’s 2009 national championship team. He then helped East Mississippi Community College to a 12-0 record and the National Junior College Athletic Association national championship before spending last season as the defensive line coach at Murray State.
“You can tell when you meet Freddie Roach how hungry he is to be a great coach. He has that look in his eyes that I’m sure he had when he played,” Jones said. “He is going to demand a lot out of our players. And he is very technical, when I interviewed him he knew everything about playing defensive line. He understood it inside and out, from hand placement to the steps and how to attack offensive linemen. He’s a great coach now, and is going to be a tremendous coach as he gets some maturity about him.”
Roach said he was drawn by the program’s momentum.
“Everything is on the rise here,” Roach said. “It’s a new program with great facilities, the administration has done a great job of helping to get it going, and there are great coaches including a lot of Alabama guys. There are just a lot of great things going on, and I wanted to be a part of it and help this program be successful.”
He added that he is in coaching to help young players mature and to teach them the game. “I was fortunate to play for and work with a bunch of great coaches,” he said. “And, there’s nothing like being back home.”
Travis Pearson
Pearson spent the past two seasons as defensive coordinator at Colquitt County High School, which reached the state Class 5A semifinals in both years. Before that, he was head coach and athletic director at Jefferson Davis High School in Montgomery for two years.
Pearson was head coach at Elmore County High School from 2002 to 2004. In his final season there, the team went 12-1 and reached the quarterfinals, and Pearson was named Metro 4A Coach of the Year. He also served as director of football operations at Iowa State during the 2007 and 2008 seasons.
Jones said he first met Pearson when Pearson was defensive coordinator at Oxford High School.
“I’ve always been real impressed with the presence he had around the players,” Jones said. “He is one of the best coaches that I’ve seen: he is a motivator, he knows football and kids will do anything for him. When you’re coaching linebackers, you need a guy like that.”
Pearson, a native of Southern Choctaw, about an hour and 45 minutes north of Mobile, said Jones’ vision for the program appealed to him.
“First, I’ve known coach Jones, what he is about and the vision he has for this program, and that excited me,” Pearson said. “I want to win, particularly a conference championship, and get this program where coach Jones wants it to be. I think coach Sherrer is going to do an outstanding job and it is going to be a pleasure working with him as well.”
Other Staff Openings
South Alabama also has a vacancy following the departure of Tommy Perry, who coached the running backs and coordinated special teams, for a position at North Texas. The program has not announced replacements for those roles.
Brendt Bedsole, who served as director of football operations from the start of the program until his promotion last season, coached the linebackers in 2012. Chase Smith, a former offensive graduate assistant, was named director of football operations before last season. Smith earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physical education from Jacksonville State University and was an assistant coach at Spanish Fort High School from 2007 to 2010.
South Alabama competes in the Sun Belt Conference and plays its home games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
