MOBILE, Ala. – Although the University of South Alabama football program’s first season competing in the Sun Belt Conference hasn’t produced many wins, it does not mean that the Jaguars are not making progress as they complete the second of a two-year transition to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level.
Take it from one of the leaders of USA’s 2012 squad.
“The season hasn’t gone as expected,” explains senior inside linebacker Jake Johnson. “Did I expect to win every game? No, not in all honesty. But I expected us to compete in every game, which we have done a majority of the time. It has just been the little things that we do or don’t do in practice that have affected us during games. One thing I didn’t expect this year was giving up so many big plays or not making the big plays when they are open.
“But we are second in the conference in defense, I just wish that our record would show that so that we could get a little more respect. I know statistics don’t mean anything — it’s all about wins and losses — but we are only 300 or so yards behind the No. 1 team in the conference. We’re up there statistically, we just have to change the win-loss record.”
Many in the league expected that the Jags would not be able to win a Sun Belt game this fall. Not only did they accomplish that feat with a 37-34 double-overtime victory over Florida Atlantic on Oct. 20 to highlight Homecoming weekend but even in the losses — thanks to the efforts of Johnson and many of his teammates — USA has caught the attention of other coaches and student-athletes in the conference.
“Before the game starts I don’t think anyone really gives us a shot or much respect, but after it you get the respect from the other players and coaches,” he adds. “Numerous coaches have come up to me after the game and told me that I am a heck of a player and that we are going to be good, to just keep pushing. It’s good for the younger guys that we have laid the foundation that we can compete at this level.
“We are definitely earning respect from everybody we have played, from Mississippi State to Troy to Florida International and Florida Atlantic.”
Much like the Jaguar program, Johnson’s nearly two-plus years in Mobile have been a growth experience. When the Fredericksburg, Va., resident transferred to USA from Virginia Tech in the summer of 2010, he joined a unit that included rising seniors Justin Dunn and Charlie Higgenbotham. Even though he posted 55 tackles for the Hokies as a sophomore the previous fall, not only was Johnson not expected to lead, he wasn’t slated to start.
Despite coming off the bench, the 6-foot-1, 240-pounder recorded 31 stops — a total that ranked fifth on the team — while leading the Jaguars with four sacks. It wasn’t until the next fall, when USA began the transition to the FBS level, that Johnson stepped into the starting lineup and a more prominent role on the Jag defense. The results — a school season-record 83 tackles including 6½ behind the line of scrimmage — led to him earning both the Jaguar Male Student-Athlete of the Year and the football program’s ”Heart of a Jaguar” awards at the Pete Tolbert Night of Champions in the spring.
Johnson was content to lead by example that year, but coming into his senior season USA defensive coordinator Bill Clark wanted to see him take a more active approach to that role.
“We had two guys who were really suited to that when Jake came here, he was young and didn’t need to be that way,” he observes. “We said now you have to do it, and I think he has embraced that in a good way — Jake is someone that everyone responds to. He knows when he needs to be a ‘rah-rah’ guy and when not to be. I think as much as anything it has been his understanding of what is going on by watching extra film so he can help get people lined up, which goes a long way.
“That was something I wanted to see Jake do last year, but we didn’t see it as much because he wasn’t a senior — it’s something we talked a lot about last offseason, that I expected it and wanted it and he was going to have to embrace it. To see Jake take on that role that you want him to fill, besides being just a really great player, has been neat to watch.”
Not only has Johnson led by example on the field, ranking first in the Sun Belt entering Saturday’s game against Middle Tennessee with 98 tackles and third with 12½ stops for loss, but he has taken on a greater role helping direct the defense off it as well. “I try my best, whether it is on the field or on the sideline when the second team is out there, to help the safeties or the defensive line out if they didn’t get a call; I’ll explain why we are running the set or what the call is and where they are supposed to be,” he says. “This year I really learned the whole defense, where everybody is supposed to be and how to line up. A lot of guys ask me questions even if they are starters, they may not know everything so they will look to me for what to expect. A lot of times if we don’t get the call I’ll line the guys up where I think coach wants them.”
“It’s hard to put into words what a guy with that experience and intelligence brings to the program,” Clark states. “Jake is obviously a physical specimen, but he is a real smart player. Once I tell him something he knows it, he knows the people around him and how to get them adjusted. He is one of those guys who makes everyone around him better, that’s what you have to have.”
According to Johnson, now that he has stepped up to answer Clark’s challenge, the role of team leader has not been difficult to fill.
“It’s not hard, the hardest thing is working with guys who don’t want to listen all the time because they are so focused on just going in and attacking,” he explains. “On the field I think I am a different person; off the field I am laid back and relaxed, but on the field I won’t say too much unless it comes to calling formations and getting lined up — that’s where I get real vocal.
“You just have to know when to flip it on and flip it off when it comes to telling people what to do.”
“Jake’s dedication to be great has rubbed off on everybody, that’s the first thing you notice about him,” says Jag head coach Joey Jones. “He loves the game of football. Our players see that and it affects their work ethic — how they approach practice, the weight room, the classroom. He is a well-rounded young man, Jake is the epitome of what you want a student-athlete to be.”
But assuming a more prominent leadership role in the program is not the only challenge that Johnson has faced in his final season on the collegiate level. While the Jaguars have struggled at times, his performance has drawn the interest of scouts at the professional level creating the potential for distraction.
While he admits that it’s hard to ignore, Johnson figures that success helping the program now will be rewarded down the road.
“It all comes down to if I can play well we have a chance to do well. You do think about it in the back of your mind, going to the next level, and you want to play your best to do that, but at the end of the day I am playing this season for South Alabama,” observes Johnson. “My goal is to be the best player I can be to help us win, to contribute whatever I can to get those stops on defense and win. It’s in the back of my mind that I need to play well to get to the next level, but it is all about doing it for the team.”
That effort hasn’t gone unnoticed by the coaching staff.
“Jake puts the team ahead of himself,” Jones comments. “I’m certain that he has personal goals, but you could never tell them because what he cares about is the team. He wants the team to be successful, and he does that by playing the best he can as an individual.”
According to Jones, there are a couple of ways that he and the rest of the staff can help Johnson as well as any other Jaguars with aspirations to play the professional level. “We try to teach them fundamentally what it takes to be great, and I think Jake already has most of those qualities,” he says. “You try and do anything you can to help him as a player and a person. We certainly have scouts coming through every other day. They like him, and we tell them that the film doesn’t lie — it’s going to show those guys the kind of player he is. In an interview you can probably ‘fudge’ it a little bit, but when you turn the film on there’s no way you can do that; how fast you are, how you can change direction, how you read the game.
“The biggest thing is for him to go out and do it in games, and because he has I think he has a great shot at playing in the NFL.”
Johnson has spoken briefly with many of the scouts, but has tried to not let it affect what he does on a day-to-day basis. “I have talked to a lot of them, they come in and ask basic questions to get my background,” he states. “I’m just glad that there is some interest and that I am getting that respect, but I just get my meetings, my classes and my weights in.”
Only one Jaguar has been invited to a National Football League camp thus far — Courtney Smith signed as a free agent after the 2010 campaign with the New York Jets. Johnson has spoken to his former teammate briefly for some guidance going through the process.
“I’ve talked to him once in a while, he said to focus on special teams because when you come from a small school if you can get on a special teams unit you can make the roster,” Johnson says. “As long as you are fighting on those you will get a shot, so that’s the one thing that really sticks out to me; if you can make one of the special teams units you can make the 53-man roster.
“All my buddies at [Virginia] Tech are either still there or they didn’t make it to the next level so I am going through the process blind, which is kind of hard. We’ll see what happens.”
“You saw the physical specimen Jake was when he came here, but to see him develop into a true linebacker has been a neat process,” Clark observes. “When you look at the guys who play professionally, sure they have got ability, but I think they have a great work ethic, they study film, they make the locker room better, they can play on special teams. I think he fills every one of those roles. Obviously it starts with God-given ability, but to see Jake have all those other intangibles — and that this is important to him — leads me to believe he has a great chance.
“I think he has to be picked by the right team that has a need there, but he has a chance because he can do so many things and fits so many different roles and is such a good citizen.”
Though Johnson has been in the program for a little over two years now — not the four or five that seniors traditionally are at a school — he has experienced highs and lows. “I think my favorite moment would be the double-overtime victory at Texas-San Antonio last year just because of the type of game it was, back and forth every drive,” he recalls. “And maybe this year going back to ACC country and having 14 tackles at N.C. State, proving to people that I can play at that level.”
But he — along with many who have been associated with the program — were hit hard when former assistant Kurt Crain passed away in the spring. At the public memorial service to honor Crain, it was Johnson who was asked to speak on behalf of the student-athletes.
“Coach Jones asked me to talk on behalf of the team at the service,” says Johnson. “It has been hard since he has been gone, but everything happens for a reason no matter how untimely it might have been. In the long run, it has made me want to fight harder through adversity. It is definitely different not having him out there on the sideline with us talking through everything, but coach Clark does a great job with us now.
“I’ve put a little bit more on my shoulders, but since coach Clark has taken over linebackers I have talked to him a lot about different things in life. He has let me know that he is always there for me if there is anything I need to talk about — football, school, life. Even though I’ve taken more on personally, I know he is there willing to listen if I need anything.”
With the potential of a professional career a distinct possibility, Johnson has not neglected his work in the classroom as he prepares himself for life after football — whenever that day may come. “I’ve talked to my parents, coach Crain before he passed away and coach Clark about it, but first we have to finish the season,” he explains. “With only nine hours left it shouldn’t be hard to get my degree, it’s just about finding time to do that while I am focusing on the most important job interview I’ll ever have. After the season I will decide what to do, but I will get my degree one way or another.”
Johnson, who one day hopes to be a strength and conditioning coach to help train both collegiate and professional players, awaits the day when he can return to Mobile and see how USA has developed.
“I think with the potential the program has, it is going to be awesome looking back after five, 10, 15 years to remember where it started,” he says. “One thing I have always been looking forward to down the road is coming back to games to see how much the program has grown.”
Suffice it to say, he has no regrets about leaving an established program to take a chance on joining one that was just starting up. “I think I made the right decision, I like how things have worked out,” observes Johnson. “I don’t like the outcome of this season so far, but that’s just how the games have ended. I am happy with the decision I made — last year I played well enough to draw interest from scouts and this year I think most of the 32 teams have come down to a practice or a game. I think I have showed I can play linebacker, that I am not a defensive end; leading the conference in tackles and ranking among the leaders in tackles for loss shows that I must be doing something right out there. We’re a good defense, so we are getting off the field, which I hope shows a lot about the type of player I am on the field.”
Neither does Jones have any about accepting Johnson as a transfer over two years ago.
“Jake has been tremendous for us because of his leadership skills, his work ethic and his attitude,” he says. “He is always smiling, he is an encouraging guy who is never negative; that has been valuable to our team, they look up to him because they know what kind of player and person he is. That’s what he has brought to our young football program at South Alabama.”
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—
