MOBILE, Ala. — The NCAA has granted South Alabama football players who have not used a redshirt year the ability to count the Jaguars’ inaugural season as one, head coach Joey Jones said on his radio show this week. Because South Alabama did not play varsity-level opponents this fall, the NCAA ruled the season can serve as a redshirt year for eligible players.
How the Redshirt Ruling Applies
The effect varies from player to player. Running back Brandon Ross, who used one year of eligibility at Memphis, will count this season as his redshirt year, leaving him three more seasons to play for South Alabama.
Players who have already used a redshirt season are not affected in the same way. Courtney Smith, who redshirted and played two seasons at UAB, will have one season of eligibility remaining next year. Charlie Higgenbotham and Justin Dunn are in the same situation.
All but one of the Jaguars’ offensive linemen, who are junior college transfers, have used two years of eligibility and will have two seasons left at South Alabama.
Jones Reflects on 7-0 Debut
Speaking at Monday’s media day, Jones reflected on a first season in which the Jaguars won all seven of their games.
“This weekend I was emotionally and physically drained from a year and a half of putting this thing together, but at the same time I’m just really excited for where our program is at this point,” Jones said. “So much hard work has gone into putting this together, and I’m just really pleased with where we are in the process of moving into Division I.”
Jones said the unbeaten season sends a message about the program’s direction.
“Number one it makes a statement that South Alabama is here to build a Division I football program,” he said. “The 7-0 thing is a confidence builder. Success breeds success and losing breeds losing, so I would much rather be 7-0, because I think that carries over. It’s not that if we had lost a bunch of games that we wouldn’t have had a chance to have a great program, but any time you win kids get used to it and it’s harder for them to lose down the road.”
Asked what he will remember most, Jones pointed to how everyone involved with the program came together, including players, staff, trainers, equipment staff, graduate assistants and strength and conditioning coaches. “Everybody that was involved with the program seemed like they were all on the same page,” he said.
Raising the Bar
Jones said the team’s message moving forward is to keep raising expectations.
“We’ve got to continually raise the bar every day, because we’re by no means a good Division I program right now,” he said. “We’re going to be there, but we know that we’ve got a lot of work to do to get to that point.”
He identified strength and conditioning as the first priority, saying the Jaguars must become bigger and faster, followed by recruiting.
“We’re hitting the recruiting trail this week,” Jones said. “We’ve got to make decisions along the way that we’re going to sign better players than we’ve got, or we’re not going to sign them. We don’t need numbers anymore. We need higher quality players as we go, so we’ve got to focus on that and not get caught up in trying to sign numbers.”
Football Team to Be Honored at Basketball Home Opener
The football team will be recognized for its inaugural season at halftime of Thursday’s men’s basketball home opener against Spring Hill College, set for 7:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.
The men’s basketball team enters its home debut at 3-1. The Jaguars have defeated West Florida 79-63, Houston Baptist 76-64 and Sacramento State 70-58, with their only loss a 71-69 decision against Rice.
