Date: 8/25
Position: Special Teams
Position Coach: Joey Jones

Returning Letterwinners (Key stats): Brandon McKee (12 games played, 39-1,554 yds punt, 39.8 avg, 54 long, 6 I20); Gavin Patterson (6 GP, 30-1,826 yds kickoff, 60.9 avg, 5 TB); Corliss Waitman (3 GP, 4-160 yds punt, 40.0 avg, 49 long, 1 I20; 10-621 yds kickoff, 62.1 avg, 2 TB)

Letterwinners lost (Key stats): Carson Sharp (12 GP, 1-2—3 TT); Aleem Sunanon (12 GP, 16-19 FG, 32-32 PAT, 80 pts; 31-13,23 yds punt, 42.7 avg, 55 long, 6 I20)

Newcomers (Yr., Previous school): Keller Farni (Fr., Mobile [Ala.] Murphy HS); Andrew Zink (Fr., Bradenton [Fla.] Manatee HS)

Miscellaneous Notes
-Sunanon was ruled ineligible by the NCAA over the summer and will not kick his senior season; he ended his career as the program's all-time leader with 49 field goals, 93 extra points and 240 points as well as a two-time honorable mention all-Sun Belt Conference selection.
-McKee enters his final year at the collegiate level first in USA's career record books with an average of 41.39 yards per punt and is second with 34 kicks inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
-Waitman averaged 40 yards per punt and a team-best 62.1 yards on kickoffs in three appearances as a redshirt freshman, but suffered a season-ending injury making a tackle in the Jaguars' Sept. 19 victory at San Diego State.
-This marks the second straight year the Jags head into the campaign expecting a true freshman to handle long-snapping duties with Andrew Zink projected to fill the role in the fall.
-While Patterson did not attempt a field goal during the 2015 campaign he was primarily responsible for kickoffs the second half of the season.
-Xavier Johnson set a school season record after averaging 31.36 yards per kickoff return in 2015, which included a 100-yard run back for a score in a come-from-behind victory over Idaho Homecoming weekend; he has been named preseason all-league as a return specialist by USA Today.
-As a team, the Jaguars ranked third in the Sun Belt and 26th nationally returning kickoffs.
-Josh Magee, Chris Lewis and Jalen Thompson combined to return 13 punts for 64 yards — a total that included a kick blocked by the latter — although none of the three are projected to serve in that role in the fall.
-The two individuals expected to run back punts are senior running back Dami Ayoola and sophomore wide receiver Sam Harris.

Joey Jones
-On the strongest part of USA's special teams units heading into the season: "I think it's probably our punt game.  Corliss and Brandon are punting it well and I feel good about our coverage so far, although until it's live you don't really know.  But I like how we are doing things in the punt game."
-On Gavin Patterson and Corliss Waitmann handling kicking duties: "The good thing is that Corliss punted and kicked off in three different games last year so he has that experience.  He's kicked in front of big crowds before, but Gavin is going to have to get that experience.  Both are very good and will be fine, you just hope they get that experience factor really early in the season so they will feel comfortable about what they are doing."
-On the kickoff return team and Xavier Johnson: "I think we are pretty good back there, we are pretty good at blocking on kickoff returns which obviously makes it all go.  We ended up top 30 in the country at the end of season last year, we want to do better than that.  Xavier gives us a big-play guy back there, he won't be back there every time but he will certainly get it a number of times."

Gavin Patterson
-On handling the change in his role this month: "Coming into camp I had no idea what was going on with Aleem, so over the summer I was working and trying to get better; he was out here with me every day trying to make sure we were all prepared.  When I got into camp I found out he couldn't play so I'm the next guy up, and just like any other position the next guy up has to get the work done."
-On his performance in preseason camp: "I've done pretty well, though there have been a couple of bad days, but overall is has gone pretty well."
-On what he thinks his strength is: "I think from 35 yards and in I'm 100 percent."

Corliss Waitman
-On his expectations for the upcoming season: "I'm just trying to work on making every kick and creating fair catches so we can do the best we can as a team."
-On being prepared to handle multiple kicking roles: "You just have to make sure you work on everything, you can't slack in one area because Coach Jones expects me to be able to do all three [punt, kick off, field goals].  When he calls me I need to be ready for whatever he needs me to do, so I work on everything."
-On how good the Jaguar kicking game can be: "Our unit is loaded full of talent.  We're young, but we are all motivated because we all want to play.  We keep it competitive so everybody is getting better and whoever is kicking is going to do the job correctly."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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