MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama held its first full-contact practice of the spring on Tuesday, closing the early-morning session with an extended period of goal-line work as the Jaguars continued preparing for their second football season.
The workout followed the team’s first practice in full pads on Saturday.
Pads Go On Early
Head coach Joey Jones said the improvement his staff saw between the first and second practices of the spring reminded the coaches of the jump the team made between its first and second games last season, which the staff considered the biggest improvement of the year. After the second practice, Jones decided Friday to put the team in full pads for Saturday’s session.
Saturday’s practice lasted nearly three hours. After warmups, the punt team worked on maintaining coverage lanes while the quarterbacks and receivers ran throwing drills at the other end of the field. The offense and defense then split into three groups for fundamental drills, including a blocker-on-tackler drill in which a defender had to shed a block to reach a ball carrier.
After a team huddle, the units ran skeleton passing drills while the interior offensive and defensive linemen worked on inside running plays. The session moved into full offense-versus-defense work on first-down plays from the 35-yard line, first-and-10 situations and third-and-8 blitz pickup, before ending with kickoffs and kickoff returns.
Coaches limited players to two-hand tag for most of the session.
Jones said the players need more time learning their assignments after committing a number of mental mistakes. “We’re going to strive to be perfect, so mental mistakes aren’t accepted around here,” Jones said.
Jones singled out quarterback Brennan Sims’ passing, along with defensive players Tim Harvey and Charlie Higgenbotham.
Tuesday’s Full-Contact Session
Tuesday’s practice began at 7:30 a.m. with position-specific agility drills, special teams work and fundamentals by position. At about 8:45 a.m., the team moved into 11-on-11 drills with full contact for every player except the quarterbacks.
The first and second units ran about 20 plays. The offensive and defensive linemen then worked on skeleton pass rush while the secondary practiced against the receivers and backs in skeleton passing drills.
The final 30 minutes were devoted to 11-on-11 work, with half of that period spent on plays near the goal line.
Lessons From Huntingdon
Goal-line defense played a key role in the Jaguars’ 2009 season finale against Huntingdon College. With the offense struggling early, Huntingdon moved to within about three yards of scoring what would have been the first deficit South Alabama faced all season. The Jaguars’ defense held and forced a fumble, and the offense followed with a 98-yard drive for the game’s first points on the way to the final win of an undefeated inaugural season.
“I think the defense has stepped up against the run compared to last fall,” Jones said. “Coach Schwind and coach Dunn have done a great job with them in the weight room during the off season. They’ve gained weight, gotten faster and stronger and are playing more physical. Offensively, we’re trying to concentrate a little more on throwing the ball well, and running it. We know one of the biggest areas we have to improve upon is throwing the ball well.”
Jones said the goal-line period is designed to identify players who perform under pressure.
“I thought we had a real spirited end of practice today,” Jones said. “Really, what you’re looking for is competitors and guys who are going to come through in the clutch, when it’s fourth-and-one, on offense and defense. What you’re looking for is those guys who are going to step it up and not back down. That’s why we put them in those situations in practice as much as we can. You can’t do it too much. You don’t want to get people hurt. But it was good to see that at the end of practice.”
South Alabama returns to the practice field Thursday.
