Football for the South Alabama Jaguars

Since 2009, the University of South Alabama has fielded a football team that competes in the NCAA's highest division, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). They are known as the Jaguars. Since its 2012 promotion to the FBS, South Alabama has competed as a member of the SBC's Sun Belt Conference.

History [ edit ]

This is the Joey Jones era (2008-2017). [ edit ]

The university's Board of Trustees officially added football to the school's varsity sports roster on December 6, 2007. The team debuted in 2009, and it is scheduled to make the jump to Division I-A of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision in 2013. Birmingham-Southern head coach Joey Jones was named the university's first ever head football coach on February 15, 2008, by President Gordon Moulton and Athletic Director Joe Gottfried. Until Hancock Whitney Stadium opens in 2020, the team will call Ladd-Peebles Stadium [4] its home field. [1]

More than 26,000 people watched the University of South Alabama Jaguars' inaugural football game on September 5, 2009, as they defeated Hargrave Military Academy 30-13. After their first season together, the team went 7-0 and won every game by a combined score of 321-41.

The Jaguars increased from a seven-game schedule in 2009 to a ten-game schedule in 2010. Teams from the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I-FCS, Division II, and NAIA, but not the NAIA's Junior College Division, were featured on the 2010 schedule. Its second-year squad went 10-0 and won every game by a combined 413-130 margin.

South Alabama began its two-year transition period from unclassified to Division I FBS status in the 2011 season. For the 2011 season, South competed as an unaffiliated member of Division I FCS. After canceling its contracts with UC Davis and Edward Waters College and only replacing them with a game against Mississippi Valley State, South only played ten games in the 2011 season instead of the originally planned eleven. Games in 2011 featured opponents from Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Division I Football Championship Series, and Division II. [6] South Alabama's televised games made history. WJTC and ESPN3 both broadcast the 2011 season opener, which was played against West Alabama. On September 17, the Jaguars played North Carolina State, and the game was televised on ESPN3. The Jaguars had a winning record of 6-4 overall.

During the 2012 season, South Alabama completed its transition to full Division I-FBS status. The Jaguars' schedule expanded to include games against Sun Belt Conference opponents, but they were still ineligible for postseason bowl games and the conference championship. The Jaguars' non-conference record was 1-4, with the lone win coming against Nicholls State (a FCS team). Sun Belt Conference play was another tough one for the Jaguars, as they went 1-7 overall with their lone win coming against Florida Atlantic. The final record for the season was 2-11, good for dead last in the Sun Belt.

For the 2013–14 season, South Alabama Jaguars of the Sun Belt Conference competed as a Division I FBS team. The Jaguars' eligibility for postseason Bowl games and the Sun Belt Conference title game increased as a result. They ended the season with a record of 500 overall with a 6-6 record and a 4-2 mark behind home plate. Jaguars' record in the Sun Belt Conference was 4-3.

For the second year in a row, the South Alabama Jaguars qualified for bowl games by finishing the 2014 season with a 6-6 record[8]. President Tony Waldrop accepted an invitation for the university's football team to participate in the first-ever Raycom Media Camellia Bowl on December 3. For South Alabama, this was their first ever bowl game. Thus, South Alabama became the youngest FBS team to make a bowl game, surpassing Florida Atlantic in just their fifth year of competition and second year of bowl eligibility. The Jaguars and the Bowling Green Falcons will square off in the inaugural Camellia Bowl. Despite a strong effort, South Alabama was defeated by the score of 33–28 in their first bowl game. [10]

The South Alabama Jaguars football team in 2015 was coached by Joey Jones for the seventh year in a row and played their home games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. A Sun Belt Conference team, the Jaguars competed in that league. They finished in a five-way tie for fifth place in the Sun Belt Conference with a record of 7–7 overall and 3-5 in league play. [11]

On the opening weekend of the 2016 season, South Alabama upset No. 2 Mississippi State 21-20 to earn its first win over a team from the Southeastern Conference. This was the first time the United States had ever defeated one of the other countries considered to be "Power 5." The University of Alabama at They defeated No. 19 San Diego State by a score of 42-24, their first victory over a ranked team in school history. The Jaguars' season ended with a loss to Air Force in the Arizona Bowl, giving them a final record of 6-7. [13][14]

At the conclusion of the 2017 season, Joey Jones announced his resignation as head coach on November 20.

Period of Steve Campbell (2019–2020) [ edit ]

Steve Campbell, formerly of Central Arkansas, was announced as South Alabama's new football coach for the 2018 season on December 7th, 2017. Campbell led South Alabama to a 3-9, 2-10, and 4-7 record in his three seasons as head coach. After a 29-0 loss to rival Troy in the 2020 season, he was fired from his position as head coach of the Jaguars and his tenure at the University ended. [15]

Period of Kane Wommack (2021-present). [ edit ]

Former South Alabama defensive coordinator and current Indiana defensive coordinator Kane Wommack was named head coach of the Jaguars football team on December 12, 2020. Wommack had an overall record of 5-7 and a conference record of 2-6 in his first season with the Jaguars. Wommack took the team to their first bowl game since the Joey Jones era and a 10-2 record in his second season at the helm. The team went 7-1 in conference play.

Associations with conferences [ edit ]

Bowl games [ edit ]

Three bowl games have been played by South Alabama. Jaguars have never won a bowl game.

Rivalries [ edit ]

Troy [ edit ]

Sun Belt Conference rivals South Alabama and Troy are also in-state rivals. In 2012, the two educational institutions first collaborated. Through the 2022 season, Troy holds a commanding 8-3 series lead. [18]

Facilities [ edit ]

Home of the Buffalo Bills, Ladd-Peebles Stadium [ edit ]

Since the formation of the South Alabama Jaguars football team in 2009, they have called Ladd-Peebles Stadium their home field. The Ladd-Peebles Theater is a significant part of Mobile's past. A football game between the according to whom?] Opened in 1948, the first event held inside the stadium was a college football game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Vanderbilt Commodores on October 2, 1948 The stadium also holds a special place in Alabama Crimson Tide football history as the location of Bear Bryant's first game as head coach. The current capacity of Ladd-Peebles Stadium is 40,000 (according to Ladd Peebles Stadium), and it has been used for a wide variety of events, from concerts and boxing matches to festivals.

Stadium Hancock Whitney [ edit ]

On September 12, 2020, the South Alabama Jaguars and the Tulane Green Wave played in the inaugural game at South Alabama's new on-campus stadium, Hancock Whitney Stadium, which has a capacity of 25,450. [19]

[ edit ]

The weight room at South Alabama's football fieldhouse is 8,000 square feet, making the total building space 49,000 square feet. With the intention of attracting new employees, it was built to both serve its purpose and impress potential hires. The fieldhouse is equipped with a weight room, locker rooms, equipment rooms, administrative offices, a training room with hot and cold tubs and other medical needs, a team meeting room, and separate meeting rooms for each position on the team and the players themselves. [20]

Jaguar's Intensive Training Facility [ edit ]

On August 3, 2018, the South Alabama Jaguar Training Center (JTC) opened as the largest indoor practice facility in Alabama. The University of... spent many millions on it. There is a full-sized football field, a 15-yard practice area, and field goal posts that meet NFL standards in this 65-foot-tall structure. The JTC collapsed in July 2017 due to "inadequate bracing," and construction on the building was halted until January 2018, at which point it resumed. [22]

Traditions [ edit ]

#5 [ edit ]

Since South Alabama's second season, when running back Anthony Mostella tragically passed away, Coach Joey Jones has given the number 5 jersey to a senior who has "earned it." Mostella was beloved by the fans for his strong leadership and tireless work ethic. Coach Joey Jones wanted to pay respect to Mostella by giving his #5 jersey to a senior each season that displayed the leadership skills and work ethic that Mostella portrayed Steve Campbell ended this custom for the years 2018–2020, but Kane Wommack revived it in 2021 with one minor adjustment. The number five jersey is not given to one player for the entire season; rather, it is rotated to a different player for each game. [24]

Homecoming [ edit ]

Homecoming had previously been held in the spring to honor the school's varsity basketball team, but with the advent of the football team, it was officially relocated to the fall.

In 2006, the university's students attempted to spark a grass-roots movement in support of NCAA football by organizing a series of overnight acts of vandalism across campus under the banner "viva la resistance." The Jaguars' homecoming tradition dates back to the beginning of the football program, and it's known as "junk the jungle" because of the tradition of covering the trees in the school's traffic circle with toilet paper and streamers. by whom?Considering how similar this is to one of the pranks those students pulled, it must be done in their honor. Various messages, including "NCAA football," "We Want Football," and images of footballs, were written in sidewalk chalk and painted on the windows of campus buildings and walkways that night. The words "NCAA" were spray painted in large letters on the school's track field as well. Each prank was pulled off by a separate team, but in the end, all of the invited students took part in what was called "junking the jungle."

To be played against in the future, non-conference opponents [ edit ]

Schedules as of August 9, 2022, as announced [25]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• URL of the Main Official Site