MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones has promoted linebackers coach Travis Pearson to defensive coordinator, filling the position Kevin Sherrer left to join the staff at Georgia.
Sherrer joined Georgia under defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, a longtime friend. The promotion comes days before National Signing Day on Wednesday.
Jones on Pearson
“Travis is a great football coach and a great person,” Jones said. “He was here with us last season and part of a defense I like running, so I think the carryover with his knowledge of our system will be very helpful in maintaining what we’ve done through the next few years. I’m real excited about having him in this role.”
Jones compared the situation to Sherrer’s hiring as coordinator.
“He’s in the same boat that Kevin Sherrer was in,” Jones said. “Kevin hadn’t been a defensive coordinator at the collegiate level, he hadn’t ‘coached’ in college, but I knew he was a great football coach. And I know Travis Pearson is a great football coach. The players love him, they have a high level of respect for Coach Pearson and so do I.”
Pearson’s First Season
In Pearson’s first season on the staff, South Alabama’s defense ranked second in the Sun Belt Conference in passing yards allowed (224.6 per game), total defense (384.3 yards per game) and scoring defense (25.2 points per game).
As linebackers coach, he worked with Enrique Williams, a senior who earned second-team All-Sun Belt honors after leading the team with 105 tackles, including 7.5 for loss. Maleki Harris posted career highs with 63 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss and broke up seven passes.
The Jaguars finished last season 6-6 overall and 4-3 in the Sun Belt. Five of the six losses came by seven points or fewer, and four of them by a combined five points.
Three Staff Openings Remain
Jones still has three positions to fill: a defensive assistant who could coach the secondary if Pearson continues to work with the linebackers; a quarterbacks coach to replace Bryant Vincent, who left to become offensive coordinator at UAB; and a wide receivers coach to replace Jerry Mack, who became head coach at North Carolina Central.
Men’s Basketball Falls to UALR
South Alabama’s men’s basketball team rallied from a 12-point deficit to take the lead in the second half Saturday but lost 62-58 to Arkansas-Little Rock.
Trailing 32-22 early in the second half, the Jaguars got 3-pointers from Ken Williams and Augustine Rubit, the second after a UALR turnover, to cut the lead to four with 16:44 to play. Antoine Allen and Williams hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 38-36, and after a Josh Hagins layup, Allen hit another 3 to pull South Alabama within 40-39 with 13:24 left.
Allen made two free throws with 12:51 remaining to give the Jaguars their first lead. His layup put South Alabama ahead 54-51 with 3:18 left, but Hagins sparked a 6-0 run that put the Trojans back in front.
Mychal Ammons’ dunk with 15.7 seconds left cut the deficit to one. UALR made one of two free throws, and Allen’s floater on the Jaguars’ final possession hit the front of the rim. Hagins added two free throws with 0.9 seconds left.
Allen and Rubit each scored 14 points, and Rubit added nine rebounds. Williams scored 10.
South Alabama fell to 7-14 overall and 1-7 in the Sun Belt, 10th in the conference. UALR (12-10, 7-3) swept the season series. Only the top eight teams qualify for the Sun Belt tournament; eighth-place Texas State is 6-15 and 2-6, and ninth-place Troy is 7-14 and 2-7.
The Jaguars next play at Georgia State in Atlanta in a game rescheduled from Thursday because of weather.
Women Hold Off UALR
Meghan Dunn scored eight of South Alabama’s final 12 points as the women’s basketball team held on to beat Arkansas-Little Rock 61-56 on Saturday.
Breanna Hall led the Jaguars with 19 points, two shy of her career high, and made 10 of 11 free throws. She has scored in double figures in four straight games. Dunn finished with 17 points, her eighth double-figure game of the season, going 5 of 12 from the field and 6 of 6 at the line with four assists.
South Alabama made 22 of 26 free throws as a team.
The Jaguars improved to 7-12 overall and 5-4 in the Sun Belt. UALR fell to 10-10 and 5-5. South Alabama plays at Troy on Thursday at 5:15 p.m.
