Good Morning and Happy Tuesday Panther Nation! The football team is not practicing today and giving the players a chance to rest their bodies as we came out of the South Alabama pretty beat up.
I wanted to hit a few topics of discussion that we've seen on the boards and in conversations:
1) Moving to FBS - Talk is premature right now. Let's put a moratorium on it for a bit. It's great to have dreams but enjoy the next 2 games as the 1st year is winding down.
2) This Saturday is our last home game. Help us honor the 5 seniors on this team and let's send them out with a huge crowd. Try to bring at least one person who hasn't been to a game yet this year. I'm going to bring two of my friends (one is a GSU grad who hasn't been to a game yet) and will be hanging out at the PantherTalk.com tailgate in the Orange lot. Come by and say hello.
3) Being critical of coaches. I've been a fan of a major BCS conference program with 50 years of playing history behind it. Before you go on a board or in public and critique what any of our coaching staff is doing take a breath, count to 10 and realize that you have no body of work to judge. Coach Curry and his staff evaluate every play, every practice and every player. I'm confident that they put our players in the best position to succeed. Support them and support our teams.
On to the links...
Ken S from the AJC previews Lamar: AJC Link
South Alabama's Joey Jones recaps our game:
On Saturday’s win over Georgia State: Boxscore News Link
“I’m real excited about the win Saturday. I thought we played well. I didn’t think we came to play the second half like we normally do. We talked to our players about it at halftime. It’s happened so many times where we’re up at halftime, and we tell them to play their best in the second half and play like it was the very first play of the game. I don’t know that we did that, and that’s my responsibility to make sure they do so. But there have been so many times where a team would just fold, and they [Georgia State] didn’t fold. I think we learned a big lesson there. I never felt like we were going to lose the game, but we had to make first downs on that last drive.
"They were so hot on offense that last quarter, that I didn’t want to give them the ball back and give them the chance to win it. But we called timeout and brought the offense over, and the offensive line and Kendall Houston took over. He broke tackles and just did a great job. That’s a good feeling to close a game out like that and not give the other team a chance. That says a lot about the guts of our players.”
My take: Give credit where credit is due but I had the prevailing feeling at halftime that our offense would roar back and told my wife as much. Our offense is really only being stopped by its own mistakes (fumbles & INTs). As Coach Bond said yesterday, he's very comfortable with our passing game right now that he almost has to catch himself from calling pass heavy game plans.
Updated Sagarin Ratings: South Alabama drops to #111 with the wins vs. us. We sit at #185 and our opponent this week, Lamar, is currently ranked #204. AL.com Link
Checking In With Our Opponents with Bob R from the Examiner: Our opponents have a cumulative win-loss record of 47-42 (.528 Winning %) after a 5-3 week. Examiner Link
I look forward to seeing you Saturday at the Dome. Beat Lamar!
Showing posts with label Joey Jones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joey Jones. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
South Alabama Coach Gives His Thoughts on GSU
South Alabama's Joey Jones gave his thoughts yesterday including what he thinks about Georgia State and coaching vs. Coach Curry.
On the final three home games:
“Georgia State is a very well-coached football team. They have very good athletes. The factors of going on the road certainly made it a little tough for us, but coming back home gives you more of a comfort-level. One thing our team has been good about is focusing on the process and not the results. I tell the team every week that as long as we prepare well, then something good is going to happen on Saturday. We just need to keep that mindset and focus on the process.”
On coaching against [Georgia State head coach] Bill Curry:
“I have a lot of respect for coach Curry. He’s been very successful in all of his tenures, but he is also a great person. He is a guy who is good for the game. He is a man of great character, and I respect him a lot and look forward to playing on Saturday. He is going through what I went through last year, putting a team together the first time and going through the highs and lows of putting a program together. But I respect his coaching ability and respect him as a person.”
BoxScoreNews Link
On the final three home games:
“Georgia State is a very well-coached football team. They have very good athletes. The factors of going on the road certainly made it a little tough for us, but coming back home gives you more of a comfort-level. One thing our team has been good about is focusing on the process and not the results. I tell the team every week that as long as we prepare well, then something good is going to happen on Saturday. We just need to keep that mindset and focus on the process.”
On coaching against [Georgia State head coach] Bill Curry:
“I have a lot of respect for coach Curry. He’s been very successful in all of his tenures, but he is also a great person. He is a guy who is good for the game. He is a man of great character, and I respect him a lot and look forward to playing on Saturday. He is going through what I went through last year, putting a team together the first time and going through the highs and lows of putting a program together. But I respect his coaching ability and respect him as a person.”
BoxScoreNews Link
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Talking Jaguar Football with Tommy Hicks
PantherTalk.com: What was the rationale behind hiring a High School Coach [Joey Jones] instead of going after a college assistant?
Tommy Hicks: Joey wasn't actually South's first choice. They actually interviewed 3 other candidates including Alabama Defensive Coordinator Kevin Steele. Joey would have been my first choice as he helped start Birmingham Southern's program. He's a Mobile guy and played at Alabama. It wasn't necessary [for South Alabama's coach], but it didn't hurt. He had been pretty successful as a high school coach and had relationships with the other high school coaches. He's very personable and had always put together strong high school staffs.
PT: Have you seen where he's actually 3rd in Liberty Mutual's Coach of the Year Voting?
TH: I have heard about that. That's pretty interesting.
PT: What was the thoughts behind the schedule of the last two years?
TH: The first thing that you have to know if that there were 2 different ADs. [Joe] Gottfried wanted to have a limited schedule with 7 games against prep schools and military academies. When he left, [Joel] Erdmann saw how much talent they had put together and wanted to schedule all 4 years schools including Division II, FCS and NAIA schools. There are already contracts in place to play NC State [in 2011] and Tennessee in 2013.
PT: How has the fans of Mobile and the surrounding areas embraced South Alabama's program?
TH: I've been suprised by the fan support. I expected fans to choose between 1 [Alabama/Auburn] or South. There was 23,000 for Nicholls State but last weekend [vs. Missouri S&T] there was only 14,000. It was a 4pm start and Alabama and South Carolina were on.
PT: How are Jaguar fans viewing the Georgia State game?
TH: It definitely will be one of the toughest games of the year. I think it's part of a three game stretch that the team has circled. It may be the largest crowd because Alabama is on a bye, Auburn is playing on the road [at Ole Miss]. It may provide a very good atmosphere because the team is coming from Atlanta. The fans have been paying attention to Lamar, UTSA and Georgia State to see how they are doing.
PT: How much of an impact did club football have on the football program? Would it have happend without the club team?
TH: [Club Football at USA] wasn't the trigger. The timing was right and the belief it could work was there. [The previous] ticket push did not work. [Note: South Alabama tried several times to generate 6,000 season ticket pledges and failed multiple times]. The Chief Financial Officer for the school came to the President after 3 straight years of making money. The President was behind [football] if the school could afford it. The President was then motivated to look into it and took a $50 fee increase to the students earmarked for football. They overwhelmingly approved. [South Alabama's President Gordon] Moulton was not going to build a band aid situation. The student fee raised $4 million for football. They then built an $8 million facility with a state of the art weight room, two outdoor practice fields, LCD TVs in the coaches offices and meeting rooms.
PT: Is Laad-Peebles the long term solution for a stadium or is there a plan to build an on campus stadium?
TH: Definitely going to build a stadium. There are no drawings or public discussions but they will at least admit their are discussions.
PT: Has the coaching staff been surpised by the recruits they've been able to land? Who does South Alabama view as recruiting rivals?
TH: They've been suprised. Grabbing a guy like Jake Johnson [transfer] from Virginia Tech. They are building for 2013. The coaching staff specifically targetted defensive line and offensive line recruits. They've got to have guys ready for that point. They recruited junior college guys but once they leave the newer guys have to be ready by then. As far as recruiting rivals, Troy, Southern Miss and other Sun Belt Schools. Going into Mississippi, the panhandle of Florida and getting guys in state. Schools like Central Florida. They are going to hope to sneak a guy like Troy did with Osi Umenyiora and Demaracus [Ware].
Thanks to Tommy Hicks for great insight and I would urge Panther fans to read up on South Alabama. I truly think they are doing things differently than we are but it's going to get real quick for them. The next three games at Lamar, at UC Davis and at home vs. Georgia State will tell the coaching staff a ton about where they are as a program.
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