MOBILE, Ala. ? With play-calling responsibilities as well as the individuals who more often than not finish as the team’s leading tackler, the linebacker position is normally considered the heart and soul of a defensive unit.  With the University of South Alabama football team on the practice field for less than three weeks this spring, it hasn’t taken long for that adage to hold true with the first-year program. 

“We’re doing a lot of things defensively ? movement, slanting, stunts ? that they have picked up mentally, which has given the group a great advantage in practice,” head coach Joey Jones said.  “They have to be the captains, the quarterback of the defense.  To me, it starts with having a guy inside at the middle linebacker spot that can direct the defense.”

Kurt Crain, who coaches the position, believes that the reason linebackers have experienced early success is the consistency of their mindset.  “They haven’t changed their fundamentals or the thought process of where they need to be just because we put pads on,” he claimed.  “Sometimes when you put pads on guys try to do too much, whether it’s over-hitting or over-thinking.  These guys have kept to the basics.

“That’s what I try to do as a coach ? whether we are in shorts or in pads, we are going to be fundamentally sound every day.  When you do that, you have a chance to make plays.”

With the way the USA defense is geared, the linebackers will need to do just that for the team to be successful.

“In our defense, the linebackers have to produce.  They have to have the numbers and make a majority of the plays because we’re putting them in that situation,” said Crain.  “What I’ve been most pleased about is that their productivity has gone up each and every day.”

According to defensive coordinator Bill Clark, the staff has already put a lot of responsibilities on the linebackers’ shoulders.  In his system, they are responsible for knowing the offense’s personnel, the down and distance and how it affects the defense, calling both the defensive front and the coverage.

“They need to understand the guys in front of and behind them,” he said.  “They need to think for the players on the defensive line, who have a hard enough job as it is.  Our guys have done well, I have really been pleased with the amount they have picked up.

“Every day coach [Greg] Gregory does a great job of giving us new formations, and the linebackers have done a good job handling it.”

Added Crain, “We started very early in the process making them understand what the responsibility of a linebacker is.  It’s a privilege to play linebacker, it’s not a right.

“They need to be in the best shape of anyone on the team.  If you can take on the challenge of all the responsibilities prior to the snap and still make the play, then you can be a linebacker.  We talk about and have a lot of pride in the position.”

Crain speaks from experience, having earned All-America and all-Southeastern Conference honors during his collegiate playing days at Auburn.  His 168 stops as a senior are still the second-highest total in Tiger history, while his 156 tackles the previous fall also are among the top five in the school’s season record books.

“I understand the responsibilities these guys have every day, which they have responded well to,” he commented.  “This isn’t something new we talked about when the spring started, though, we’ve been talking about it all during winter workouts.

“I hope that they have made as many tackles when they get out of here as I did,” he continued, “but I don’t dwell on that.  In this business, if you ever quit trying to learn you’re done.  All I ever do is try and relay the past and what I went through ? including the mistakes I made ? as a player and as a coach to put them in the best position possible.

“My past experience helps me be a better coach.” 

“Our linebacker coach is one of the best there is,” said Chris Cooke, who hails from Pace, Fla., of Crain.  “I try to listen to what he tells us, then go out there and do my best.”

It helps to have previous experience, which both Justin Dunn and Cooke bring to USA.  The former came to the program after playing for Jones at Birmingham-Southern, while the latter is a transfer from Southern Mississippi.

“Playing for coach Jones before has helped, I know what the expectations are and his system,” Dunn, a junior from McCalla, Ala, said.  “I’ve been able to show my leadership skills and knowledge of the game, and have just worked hard.  He expects 110 percent out of us all the time.”

Both understand the responsibilities that have been heaped on their position and risen to the forefront of the group with their effort, whether it is at practice, in meetings or on their own time.

“I come out here every day and try work hard,” stated Cooke.  “I started on the varsity as a sophomore in high school, so I’m trying to be a leader here since I was on that team, even though I know it’s a different level.”

“I just study my playbook and go out there and play my hardest on every snap,” Dunn said.  “All they can ask of us is to know our assignments and go out there and coach up our guys to be ready to go.”

Cooke, who rooms with a fellow linebacker, has actually benefitted from the two discussing plays back on campus, saying that it allows him to help direct his teammates when they are back on the field.

In the end, Jones and his staff are looking for linebackers who can contribute in numerous ways.  Not just as leaders in the huddle and on the sideline, but with their abilities once the ball is snapped.  Ideally, they will find several players in the group who can stuff the run, rush the quarterback and defend the pass depending on the call.

“We are trying to find guys who are complete players because we don’t want to have to take them out of the game,” Jones stated.  “We don’t want to have to take someone off the field based on down and distance.  If you’ve got players who can defend the run and the pass, you have an easier time adjusting to the offense.  You don’t get caught in their scheme worrying about their personnel.”

“If you’re fundamentally sound and you play hard, then you have a chance to be a great linebacker,” said Crain.  “That’s what we preach every day.”

The Jaguars practice Tuesday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium eventually would be cut short approximately 40 minutes due to inclement weather.  With the possibility of thunderstorms and a tornado watch threatening the Mobile area, they went immediately into team drills when the workout began.  USA made it through almost a half-hour before the rains came, finishing that portion of the workout before moving on to individual and position drills that normally open practice.

The Jags would make it an hour into the session before lightning finally cleared the field, finishing the day with meetings beneath the stadium stands.

USA will have one more 2:30 p.m. workout Wednesday before holding the second of three scrimmages Friday.

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

?USA?