MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama football team will open the spring season with a pair of workouts at the James A. and Frances H. Yance Football Practice Facility over the weekend.

The Jaguars will officially return to the field for the first time since the 2016 NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl Friday at 6:30 p.m. (CST), then practice again Saturday starting at 10 a.m.  USA will have two more sessions — Monday and Wednesday, both beginning at 3:10 p.m. — prior to the school's Spring Break.

"It's really about getting these young men to come out and get better every day," stated South head coach Joey Jones.  "By the time Spring Break comes we will only have had two practices with pads, so there is not a lot that we can finalize by then but by the end of the spring we need to be a more physical football team and we can start that in those first few days.  We'll have new guys out there and new leadership that we are trying to develop, all of that is a process that already started in January that will continue on the field."

Upon returning to class on March 20, the Jags will have practices Monday, Wednesday and Friday for two straight weeks, also working out on Monday and Wednesday prior to the annual iHeartRadio Red-Blue Spring Game, which is set this year to take place at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday, April 8 with a noon kickoff.  Prior to the contest, the USA College of Medicine Gumbo Chili Showdown will open at 10:30 a.m. in the East parking lot.

South will scrimmage twice prior to the contest on March 25 and April 1 — both Saturdays — with the time to be announced at a later date.

All practices and scrimmages are closed to the general public.

"Our motto this spring is 'Effort and Discipline,' we are going to concentrate on those two areas because they can help us win ball games next year," Jones said.  "We've made some tweaks to what we are doing offensively, though they won't be obvious to the average fan.  Running the football and stopping the run are things we didn't do very well last year — there are different reasons for that — but we have to be able to do both better.  And we need to become a more physical football team."

Returning starters who are out for spring drills or will participate on a limited basis include quarterback Dallas Davis, junior-college transfer running back Tywun Walters, a trio of offensive linemen — Dominic Esposito, Harrison Louden and Troy Thingstad — linebackers Bull Barge and Darrell Songy, defensive end Jimmie Gipson III and safety Nigel Lawrence.

The Jaguars return 41 letterwinners on the spring roster, with 24 of those on a unit that was among the top five most improved scoring defenses in the country last fall.

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).

Join the Jaguar Athletic Fund (JAF) Priority Fund, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics.  Contributions to the Priority Fund directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/

—USA—