NEW ORLEANS – University of South Alabama football head coach Joey Jones spoke to local, regional and national media on Monday as part of 2017 Sun Belt Conference Football Media Day at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Highlights from the Jaguar head coach included:

Opening statement:
"We're looking forward to the season, we feel like we have a really good team assembled with probably the most depth we've ever had at each position.  It starts with the line of scrimmage, on our offensive and defensive lines we have bigger guys who can play.  The schedule is challenging — as it always is for South Alabama — but we're really excited about it and looking forward to the opportunities we have."

On the Mississippi game to open the season:
"If I were on that side of the table I would have my kids fired up and ready to play.  I think they are going to come out swinging because they've gone through some tough times, they will be ready to play I promise you.  If they have any character about them — which I know they do — they will come out ready to play, so our guys will as well.  It's going to be a great venue for us, we're really looking forward to it.  But all that stuff off the field doesn't matter once you get out there on the 50-yard line."

On how the program is taking advantage of new rules allowing practice to start earlier:
"We're starting a couple of days earlier, but I'm going to give our guys off two days during camp that I normally don't give them off.  Really all I am doing is spreading the practices out, I don't want to fatigue them too much in camp because I felt like we were last year.  We came out in the Mississippi State game and played great but I thought the next two weeks we were tired before we got our legs back and started playing better.  I learned a big lesson by pushing them a little bit too hard last summer, so I'm trying to spread it out somewhat."

On the Jaguars being picked fourth in the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll:
"That's where I picked us.  I think you look at Troy and Appalachian State one and two — who you pick there is a flip of the coin — because they deserve those spots.  Arkansas State, because they have been the conference champions five out of the last six years, is a very good football program.  But I do think we have a shot, our kids are hungry for a conference championship; we've been close, our first year we were one game away.  We have to do a better job of winning on the road in the conference, we were 0-4 in those games last year.  We have to find a way to win those games, and if we can do that we'll have a chance to compete for the championship."

On how the team treats the preseason poll:
"I never talk about it with the team, but I think it is exciting for a team like ours that is kind of new to at least be mentioned in the top part of the conference.  It's a pat on the back for those guys but we don't talk about it much, we talk every day at practice what we have to do to get there."

On his biggest concern heading into the season:
"We've got to run the football.  I think some of our inconsistency last year was because we couldn't run it.  There were times when we were hot throwing it and we would light people up, and there were times we weren't quite as hot throwing it.  We could never go to the running game and control the clock and the game.  We started working on that in January, we're going to run the football better.  If we do that we will be playing for the conference championship and if we don't it's going to be a grab bag."

On the Oklahoma State home game:
"I've seen most polls have them in the top 10, and deservedly so, they might be as explosive an offensive team as I've seen in a long time.  How do we separate that? It's two seasons; our guys have an out-of-conference schedule that is tough, they know that and are excited about playing those teams.  We're excited about Oklahoma State coming to Mobile, but when all of that is over with we have to get into the conference and start a new season.  That's the way we have to treat it."

On the Troy game, "The Battle For The Belt":
"It's awesome, it's a great game.  With us being so new I didn't think it would develop that quickly, sometimes rivalries take time.  It's really developed into a great game.  A couple of years ago we went up there the first year for the belt and got them, and they came to our place last year and got us.  Both games could've flipped on two plays.  It's always going to be like that, very competitive with really good players on the field who care about it.  It was a great atmosphere in Troy two years ago and a great atmosphere in Mobile last year, it's going to do nothing but get better."

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/sports/2013/3/13/Gridiron%20Club.aspx?id=22

—USA—