MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones completed his coaching staff for the 2015 season with the announcement Thursday that Richard Owens and Tyler Siskey have been named assistants.

Owens will work with Jaguar tight ends and Siskey will serve as wide receivers coach, with Tim Bowens shifting to lead running backs.  Bryant Vincent will serve as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after returning to the program in December, and Chase Smith will once again lead USA's offensive line.

Owens comes to the program after three seasons as a full-time assistant in the state at Alabama-Birmingham.  Last year, Owens coached tight ends as UAB averaged more than 430 yards and 33 points per game — both figures ranked fourth in Conference USA — to help the program gain bowl eligibility for the first time since the 2004 campaign.  Under his direction, Kennard Backman earned second-team all-league honors after leading the team with 39 catches while recording 399 yards and three touchdowns, while Gerald Everett added 17 receptions for 292 yards and a score and Tristan Henderson posted six catches, 50 yards and a touchdown.

In 2013 the Blazers averaged nearly 400 yards and more than 26 points per outing with Owens serving as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, and he also led the tight ends in his first season with the program.

He came to UAB from Arkansas, where he spent two years as a graduate assistant working with Razorback tight ends.  His second season, Owens coached a unit that featured Chris Gragg, who ended the campaign ranked third on the team with 41 receptions and fourth with 518 receiving yards; not only did he tie for the lead among Southeastern Conference tight ends, he tied for 11th overall in the league in catches per game.

The previous season Owens' group included D.J. Williams, who would go on to become the first Razorback to win the John Mackey Award — given to the nation's top tight end — after topping the squad with 54 catches for 627 yards and four touchdowns.  Williams also won the Disney Spirit Award and was Arkansas' first Sullivan Award finalist in 2010, and after concluding his career with 152 receptions — the second-highest total in the school' record books and the most by a non-wide receiver — and 1,855 yards, he was selected in the fifth round, 141st overall, of the 2011 National Football League Draft by the Green Bay Packers to become the earliest-drafted tight end in program history.

Owens played collegiately at Louisville before going on to a five-year career in the NFL.  After sitting out as a redshirt in 1999, he appeared in all 12 contests — starting three times — to be selected to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team at tight end.  Owens played in 13 games, recording three catches with two of those going for touchdowns, as a sophomore, while the following season he ranked sixth on the team with 20 receptions for 182 yards after starting six of the Cardinals' last seven outings and playing in all 13 contests.  As a senior, he played in all 13 games with four starts and finished his career with 36 catches for 371 yards and eight touchdowns while also serving as U of L's long snapper.

After completing his collegiate career, Owens signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Vikings.  He appeared in 53 games between 2004-09 with seven starts, totaling 17 receptions for 141 yards and one touchdown.  Owens was with the Vikings from 2004-07 — serving as special teams captain during the 2005 campaign — before signing with St. Louis; after two years with the Rams, he signed with the New York Jets in July of 2009.

A native of Middleburg, Fla., Owens earned his degree in sports administration from Louisville in 2004.  He is married to the former Tina Ryan.  The couple has one daughter, Rylan.

"Richard played in the NFL for five years, he's coached at UAB the last three years and was on the Arkansas staff for two with Bobby Petrino; he has a wealth of knowledge," Jones observed.  "Getting to know him, he is a real tough-minded guy who demands a lot out of his players.  He's a great fit for South Alabama."

Siskey joins the staff after two years in an administrative role at Alabama, where he began in March of 2013 as the associate director of player personnel before being promoted to the director position less than a year later for the 2014 season.  In his role, he was responsible for organizing all of UA's recruiting efforts, helping the program put together the No. 1 signing class in the country last February according to all four major recruiting services.  Siskey also worked with compliance regarding initial eligibility, and assisted with coaching clinics, camps and other on-campus events.

During the 2012 campaign he was the coordinator of recruiting development at Mississippi, where the Rebels' 2013 class was widely regarded as one of the top 10 in the nation by analysts and recruiting services.

Siskey was the wide receivers coach at fellow Sun Belt Conference member Arkansas State for four years, helping the Red Wolves set single-season school records for passing yards, completions, passing touchdowns and passing yards per game during his tenure.  In 2011, Dwayne Frampton broke ASU's single-season reception record and ranked 13th nationally in catches as the Red Wolves finished the regular season ranked in the top 25 in the country in total and passing offense.

He also has coaching experience in Mobile having served as an assistant for four years at St. Paul's Episcopal School.  Siskey was the Saints' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2007 when the team claimed the state 5A championship, helping St. Paul's advance to postseason play each of his first three years at the school as well; after making the playoffs in 2004, the school moved on two the quarterfinals each of the next two seasons.

Siskey began his coaching career as a student assistant at Troy, where he would go on to earn his bachelor's degree in 2000.  He was an offensive graduate assistant at Northwestern (La.) State for two seasons, coaching the team's tight ends, where he not only helped the Demons to a berth in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs and a national ranking both years but to a 27-24 overtime over Texas Christian in 2001.  Siskey then joined the staff at Arkansas State as an offensive graduate assistant, assisting with the team's offensive line his first season and wide receivers the following fall.

Siskey, who added a master's degree in education from NSU in 2003, and his wife Erin have two sons, Jackson and Brock.

"Tyler and I met a few years ago, he's an excellent coach and will obviously bring a lot of recruiting knowledge from Alabama, which is one of the best [NCAA] Division I schools in terms of recruiting in the country," said Jones.  "We're real excited about having him join the staff not only to help on the field but also in recruiting."

The Jaguars are coming off a season in which they became the fastest NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision program to participate in a bowl game after earning an invitation to the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.

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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