MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama spring football practice opened Monday, the first of 15 sessions the Jaguars will hold this spring under head coach Joey Jones.
Practice Structure
The offense and defense each spent the first 45 minutes working separately on one of the two practice fields. The offense moved through a series of drills in five-minute segments, while the defense used a 35-minute block to work on coverages and blitz packages.
The two units then came together for 7-on-7 skeleton passing drills, working against each other on both fields, one artificial turf and one natural grass. A second 15-minute 7-on-7 period followed.
Practice ended with a 15-minute 11-on-11 period focused on normal down-and-distance situations.
First Look at the Depth Chart
Brandon Bridge took the first-team snaps at quarterback, with Trey Fetner working as the No. 2.
Jereme Jones, Shavarez Smith and Marvin Shinn lined up as the first-team receivers. Danny Woodson Jr. is still recovering from the ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered last season. Tight ends Wes Saxton and Braedon Bowman both worked with the first team.
On the offensive line, Joseph Scelfo started at center and Harrison Louden played left tackle. Daniel Aust worked at center with the second team, and Melvin Meggs practiced at left guard with the second unit, taking full part after tearing his ACL before fall camp last year.
The staff moved many players among several positions throughout the session.
Jones Stresses Leadership, Fundamentals
“I liked the energy out there today, I thought it was really good. We are challenging our guys to come out every day and get better,” Jones said. “And I thought we had great leadership today. That’s something that we have to continue over time. If we’re going to have a great football team we need to have great leadership. That starts with our senior class and has to work its way down.”
“I know it sounds like a broken record every spring, but we have to focus on fundamentals,” Jones said. “I told the staff we can’t get ahead of ourselves, we’ve got to perfect something and build on it and not get so far ahead where we are trying to compete and worry about who is winning in the spring as opposed to getting better fundamentally.”
Competition at Several Positions
Jones said competition helped the team last season and expects even more this spring, pointing to the offensive line, receiver, quarterback and defensive line.
“After these 15 practices we have to know who our ones and twos are going to be because once the summer gets here it’s hard to get the other guys a lot of reps,” Jones said.
South Alabama went 6-6 last season, its first as a full Football Bowl Subdivision member, and plays its home games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in the Sun Belt Conference.
The Jaguars were off Tuesday and return to the practice fields Wednesday.
