MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama opened spring football practice Wednesday with significant changes on both sides of the ball, most notably a move from a pro-style attack to a spread offense under new offensive coordinator Robert Matthews.
The South Alabama spring football practice period comes as the Jaguars prepare for a sharply tougher 2012 schedule, the final year of the program’s two-year transition to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision. Head coach Joey Jones also announced a reshuffling of position responsibilities among his assistant coaches and a new emphasis on competition and leadership throughout the roster.
A New Offensive Direction
The hiring of Matthews brings a spread offense to South Alabama. Jones said the change is intended to give the Jaguars the best chance to score points and to take some pressure off an offensive line that no longer must sustain blocks for as long on every play. The staff also believes the scheme will better use the varied running styles of the backs on the roster.
“It’s a good bit different because it’s a spread offense and we’re going to be in the gun, which is really what I have run most of my years in coaching,” Jones said. “I decided three years ago to run the power [offense] and be a physical football team, but the spread is what I really feel comfortable with and I think we’ve got the people to do it. Sometimes you need some change, I think it excites you.”
The offensive line must replace three senior starters from last season. The players in line to replace them are bigger than the departed group but have less experience.
Bennett Comfortable With the Change
Quarterback C.J. Bennett, appearing Tuesday morning on WNSP radio, said he played in a spread offense throughout high school, which made the earlier move to a pro-style system something of an adjustment. He said he expects the return to the spread to come easily.
Bennett named Drew Dearman, Shaun Artz, Melvin Meggs and Trey Clark among the offensive linemen competing to fill the vacancies up front. He also praised running back Kendall Houston, saying he had never seen a runner like him and citing Houston’s balance and hard running style. Bennett said a healthy Brandon Ross would add to the depth of the backfield.
A Tougher 2012 Schedule
The urgency to install the offense quickly is tied to the schedule. South Alabama will play an eight-game Sun Belt Conference slate in the fall, along with a non-conference schedule made up entirely of FBS opponents. The Jaguars will travel to Mississippi State, NC State and Hawaii and will host Texas-San Antonio and Nicholls State.
“We understand that we are going to have to get it done quickly, because of the schedule we’re playing,” Jones said. “We’ve got to be as good as we can be, so there is a sense of urgency to getting this done and getting it done right. It’s probably the biggest thing this spring that we’ve got to concentrate on.”
Jones acknowledged the questions surrounding the program’s step up in competition. “People are wondering if we are going to win a game next year, I have no clue what will happen from a win-loss standpoint, but I do know that we will be competing at the highest level of college football in the country,” he said. “We’ve gotten there pretty fast, but we have got to elevate our play and become much better at what we do.”
Competition and Leadership Emphasis
South Alabama ended the 2011 season with a loss to Cal Poly in November. The 2011 season also brought the first losses in program history. Since then, Jones said, the staff has made competition part of the players’ daily routine.
“Not only on the practice field this spring, but going to class, study hall, in the weight room,” Jones said. “There are consequences now, because there will be in the fall if we don’t play well.”
Jones said leadership was the challenge he put before the team after the season. The roster has been divided into 13 smaller teams, each with its own captain, and those groups complete the offseason program together.
“We meet after every season as a staff and we meet as a team. The thing I challenged the team with was that I felt that leadership is something we have got to concentrate on this year,” Jones said. “We have broken down into 13 different teams within the team, and each one has a captain. Everything they do in the offseason program is done by that team; there is peer pressure, things they have to do every day. And if they do anything the wrong way or just miss, they pay for it. We were a pretty disciplined team, but we are going to take it to the highest level. We’re not trying to punish them, we’re trying to create great discipline.”
New Roles for Assistant Coaches
Jones announced the following changes in on-field responsibilities for his staff:
- Robert Matthews, offensive coordinator, will also coach the offensive line.
- John Turner moves to tight ends.
- Bryant Vincent moves to quarterbacks.
- Bill Clark, defensive coordinator, will coach the linebackers.
- Kurt Crain moves to defensive tackles.
- Brian Turner will focus on the defensive ends.
- Duwan Walker continues to coach the secondary.
- Tommy Perry continues to coach the running backs.
“After bringing coach Matthews in, he knew exactly what he wanted with the offensive line and had coached tackles. Rather than training somebody else and creating a learning curve there, I just felt like we would move him in and let him coach them,” Jones said. “John was extremely happy about it, tight ends are a different dimension but he really liked the idea, and Bryant has been coaching quarterbacks his whole life and is really comfortable with them. Bill wasn’t really coaching a position, which I wanted him to, and he is comfortable with linebackers. Kurt had coached defensive linemen at Auburn, that’s really what he has always coached, and is excited about the move.”
Crain previously worked with South Alabama’s inside linebackers.
Injury Report
Several players will miss all or part of spring drills:
- Running back Kendall Houston and Enrique Williams are not scheduled to practice while they recover from offseason surgery.
- Bryson James will not return until late in spring drills, if at all.
- Brandon Ross and B.J. Scott will participate in a limited role.
Jones said the challenges ahead have motivated his players. “I have never seen our team quite this motivated because they realize the challenges ahead. But they’re also excited about those,” he said. “This is where they all wanted to be, they’ve dreamed about playing these kind of teams every week. There’s no doubt there is a difference.”
Update: Inside the First Spring Practice
South Alabama held its first spring workout early Wednesday morning, taking the field before sunrise for a 6:30 a.m. session.
The offense spent its first 15-minute period on formations as players began learning the spread offense being installed by Matthews. The unit then split into position groups for about 40 minutes before coming back together for roughly 25 minutes of basic plays against the scout team.
The defense opened with pursuit drills, then worked on individual skills with position coaches for about 35 minutes. A 10-minute formations period followed, along with work on fronts, stunts and coverages, and the session ended with 15 minutes on blitzes. First-, second- and third-team units on both sides received repetitions.
With several new players and coaches on hand, Jones described the workout as an introductory session. “The defense needed it, but since they pretty much understand what they’re doing, it was the offense that really needed it,” he said.
“I thought the effort and attitude was extremely good,” Jones said. “Now, offensively we probably made 400 mistakes, but that was to be expected. The deal from here is to keep chipping away at those. Their heads were swimming. We were calling formations and plays, and they were looking around trying to find out what they were supposed to do. We expected that.”
The Jaguars return Thursday for another 6:30 a.m. practice in shorts. “It will be a little longer practice, probably over two hours tomorrow, and we’ll get into more team situations, more 7-on-7 drills, more inside drills,” Jones said. “Today we were just completely split, offense and defense. Tomorrow, we’ll have some offense against the defense.”
Update: Why South Alabama Starts Spring Practice Early
South Alabama begins spring drills earlier than many schools. Jones said the timing lets players concentrate on academics late in the semester, when projects and final exams are due, and gives injured players more time to recover before fall.
“They can focus that last month, month-and-a-half, on academics instead of practicing football. I think that’s the number one thing,” Jones said. “The second thing is injury. If we were to get somebody hurt, we have more time to get them back. And I think the fact that the weather is so good down here.”
Spring Practice Schedule
- The Jaguars practice three times in the opening week: Wednesday and Thursday in shorts at about 6:30 a.m., and Saturday, Feb. 18, in shells at about 9 a.m.
- After a break for Mardi Gras, the team returns Feb. 23 for its first practice in full pads.
- Scrimmages are scheduled for Saturday, March 3, and March 8.
- A 12-day spring break follows, and practice resumes March 20 in full pads, with a session in shells March 22.
- The Jag Day spring game is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, March 24, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
- The 15th and final spring practice is set for March 25 from 4 to 6 p.m.
All practices other than the Jag Day game will be held at the Jaguar Football Complex on campus.
Jones also said the way the 2011 season ended helped refocus the program. “Any time you end a season that way, you never want to say you wanted something like that to happen. But our coaches have talked about it, it could have been one of the best things to ever happen to us,” he said. “It really shook our staff and our players, even though they were a really good football team, and made us refocus on what we are doing.”
