MOBILE, Ala. – Members of the University of South Alabama football program, including head coach Joey Jones, offensive and defensive coordinators Bryant Vincent and Travis Pearson as well as student-athletes Roman Buchanan, Blake Dees, Joseph Scelfo and Terrance Timmons participated in the team's annual media day Thursday at the football field house.

Highlights from the press conferences include:

Head coach Joey Jones
On expectations coming off the program's first-ever bowl appearance:
"The obvious thing is with the number of seniors and starters we lost from last year, everybody seems to have questions about and we did too.  But after going through a couple weeks of practice, there is a lot of improvement out there.  There are a lot of things I'm pleased with and some that we still have to shore up, but I think this team will be better than most people think.  A lot of the guys have a chip on their shoulder, and are ready to prove the fact that this program is here to stay and win some football games."

On competition at certain positions:
"I'll start with the obvious one, and the one I thought you would ask first, the quarterback — Cody Clements will be our starter, and we still have three guys fighting for that second spot.  The offensive line is starting to evolve, we do have some guys stepping up; Curtis Williams is looking good at the left tackle spot and D'Arius Young is looking good at left guard.  Noah Fisher is really playing well at the tackle spot, so we have real competition; as long as we can eight guys ready to play on the offensive line that we can count on I will feel good about.  Defensive, cornerback has been the most surprising thing; we were really concerned early, but E.J. May has had a great camp, Margo Reed has played much better and Jalen Thompson has come in and played well, so we have three guys we can count on there and can look to develop even more guys.  We're starting to find depth on the defensive line, if we can find at least a two-deep rotation there I feel we can be a good football team."

On Cody Clements earning the starting quarterback spot:
"His presence and his leadership have always impressed me.  When he got on the field, I don't want to say he was rusty but he hadn't played since last fall but by the fourth or fifth day you knew he was going to be the guy.  He has continued to improve in the last two weeks.  He doesn't make a lot of mistakes and he understands the system, and he has that calmness and awareness out there on the field that you need to have at the quarterback position."

On the reasons why the offense is playing at a faster tempo:
"It's something that I've wanted to do the last couple of years, but for whatever reason we didn't get that done.  Coach Vincent and I talked about it, and he came up with a great way to run the system as fast as we can.  I feel that is the key to our success.  I don't care who the defensive coordinator is, they do not like hurry-up offenses for the simple reasons they and the players have to make decisions much more quickly and they have to line up sound against a team that is going so fast — to me it gives you an advantage.  Why wouldn't you do it?  We're doing all we can every play to line up as fast as we can, there may be some situations where we slow it down some, but I would say 95 percent of the time it's going to be a lot faster than it has been."

On the impact Blake Dees can make:
"He's just a very good football player.  He is 6-foot, 230, and can run.  He sees blocking schemes; when we run against him in practice, he is always the first guy in the hole wherever we are running the ball, he just knows how that play is developing.  He is a very smart football player and is also very physical, and he has a great attitude.  I think the other players out there with him are going to see that and — much like with Maleki Harris last year — follow him."

Defensive coordinator Travis Pearson
On the progression of the defensive unit:
"We return two starters from last year, losing one to injury in Jimmie Gipson III, so it's been a transition that I haven't faced in a while: replacing really good players, talking about six that were some type of all-conference, with one who's still in an NFL camp.  Our front was tremendous, with Jesse Kelley, Theo Rich, Jerome McClain, so it's been an adjustment for me, having so much youth and trying to get the chemistry together so that we can play some championship defense.  We're not there yet, we're working on it, but the young faces are playing really hard.  The good thing about it is that they're absorbing — they're like sponges — and the information is coming fast, but they're soaking it in as fast as they can."

On the defense's individual speed:
"This may be the fastest we've been since I've been here.  We've got guys that can really run to the ball.  We're thin — we're not as big as we were — but we can get to the perimeter, and it's on me to help them get to the right places."

On Blake Dees's transition into a leadership role:
"There's a reason Blake Dees was playing Power-5 football: the kid can flat-out play.  His football IQ is unbelievable.  He does exactly what I expect my [middle linebacker] to do, which is to take control.  I expect my Mike to be my eyes on the field, and he does a good job of that."

On the benefits of facing a high-tempo offense in preseason practice:
"It's helping us tremendously.  It's not only that; it's going against Danny Woodson II, Marvin Shinn, [Kevin] Kutchera, guys that really stretch the field.  That's has helped a ton, especially with me replacing three guys on the back end.  It's good to see what I consider all-conference guys every day in practice, so the game should be a little bit slower to us.  It's helped me in that I'm more in tune with the course of the game now, knowing when to sub and becoming even more familiar with those rules."

On the experience and leadership of Roman Buchanan:
"Roman is my gift and the incoming freshmen's curse, because I always compare them to Roman.  Roman is very intelligent, he has a high football IQ and he loves to compete.  It's very important for Roman to take control of the back end, and he does.  He's got a lot of help from Antonio Carter and Devon Earl, who were subs last year that played 20-25 snaps.  They understand the speed of the game, and it's up to them to get these young guys caught up."

Offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent
On expectations for the offense:
"Our expectations are very high.  We have three starters coming back, so every position in open, but we feel like we've recruited well.  There were some good transfers that came in, whether it was from junior college or from UAB.  As fall camp progresses, we feel like we're getting guys into the right spots.  In these next couple of scrimmages and practices, we're looking for guys to distance themselves from each other.  We feel good about the pace we're on right now, but we can make a lot of progress before September 5."

On Cody Clements earning the starting quarterback position:
"Last year, Cody was 13th nationally in completion percentage, getting close to 68 percent.  He's a very cool, calm customer, he has a lot of poise in the pocket, he's extremely tough, he can use his legs when needed, he's very accurate when he's making his progressions and reads, and his experience and leadership put him over the top."

On the progression of USA's high-tempo offense:
"From spring to fall camp, we've made tremendous strides; it's much faster.  I still feel like we're five to six seconds away per play; a lot of that has to do with letting the defense line up, because this is a team sport, and we've got to make sure we're helping the defense get better daily, because they've got a lot of new faces over these, also.  We're going to see how fast we can actually play at the scrimmage on Saturday."

On the overall speed of individual players:
"Right now we've got guys that can really run at the receiver position, and this is the best I've ever felt about the tight end position.  We've got four very capable running backs; this is the deepest we've been at running back.  We feel good about the quarterback position.  On the offensive line, we've got about eight guys battling to play.  We've got a long way to go, but I'm pleased with where we're at and excited about where we can go."

Junior safety Roman Buchanan
On his expectations for the Jaguar defense:
"Our expectations this year are much higher than last year, believe it or not.  Our understanding as a defense of the scheme and what we have to do as a whole is much higher than last year.  As crazy as that might sound to some people from outside looking in, but on the inside, we expect a lot more.  It's been showing up at practice.  We're ready to open some eyes."

On the speed of players changing in the last few years:
"It seems like every year since I've been here, our recruiting class has gotten a little bit better and a little bit better.  Now that some of guys that came in with me and are a little older, you're seeing more athletic ability.  We have kids that are 18 and are flying around, you drop your jaw watching film saying, this kid's going to be a star one day.  A lot of it goes to our coaches and their recruiting.  As far as athletic ability, we have a lot of tools we can play with on the defensive side of the ball."

On his role as a leader on the defense:
"I got thrown into the fire as a freshman quick.  It made me mature quickly.  Now I feel like a lot of offensive schemes and route combinations, nothing really surprises me anymore.  My role on the defense is to get everybody lined up, and if something happens that is off-script that the offense does that we didn't practice — because I've probably seen it before — it's my job to calm everybody down and walk everybody through it.  Normally during practice, I'm not even wearing a mouthpiece because I'm talking so much.  That's my role on the defense, especially on the backend coverage-wise with the linebackers.  Sometimes I'll tell the defensive line what to do, just because I've had a lot of time on the field in game situations to see a lot of different things."

On the defense jelling with so many new starters:
"Honestly, we've been hitting it this summer on our own, without coaches being there.  Leadership wasn't quite there my first two years here.  Now that we have leaders, we took it on ourselves to say, this is where we want to be, we hear what people are saying about us as far as where they think we'll be, and we want to do better.  Let's make it happen, let's put in this work and get better as a unit.  Over the summer, we really made it happen.  We came out day one of fall camp much further ahead than we've ever been my first two years.  We still have a lot of work to do on little things, but as far as a unit and playing together, I think we're there."

Senior linebacker Blake Dees
On his expectations for USA's defense:
"Our expectations are really high.  In sitting out last year, I watched the defense, and this year being a part of it, we communicate a lot better.  We're all talking out there.  It makes a big difference having everybody talking and saying something.  It gives everybody more reassurance in what they have to do during the play.  That's awesome; having that on your defense, you can't get much better than that."

On what it means to be playing now after sitting out a year:
"It means a lot.  I'm truly blessed to be able to do it. God's given me another chance to play the game I love, especially to come home and play it.  Coming back to the Baldwin County/Mobile area is awesome.  I have plenty of fans and support from my hometown, and just being around my family is awesome."

Junior offensive lineman Joseph Scelfo
On expectations of the offense this season:
"Our expectations as an offense are to put up numbers and score a lot of points.  That's how you win ball games.  We have all the tools we need to do that.  We just have to come together and we have been throughout [preseason] camp.  On day one of camp, everybody's anxious to get out there.  Everyone kind of settles in throughout the week and then in the second week.  We are starting to click [in practice] and our expectations are to just go out there and win.  We want to play hard, play fast and set the tempo.  We want to make other defenses tired.  That's our plan."

On his impressions of new quarterback Cody Clements and what he brings to the table:
"Cody came in and worked hard.  He was injured [when he got here] but every day he was in the training room doing something.  That doesn't go unnoticed, especially by your offensive linemen.  You look at your quarterback and you want to have that good relationship with him.  All of us saw that and we took him in with open arms, because he's been great.  He's a great leader."

On his leadership role on the team as a returning starter:
"It's not really a new thing for me [to be a leader].  I've always kind of led by example.  This year I lead more by my verbiage, by talking, communicating, and setting that standard for the guys coming in — the transfers and the younger guys.  I've really tried to take ownership of the offensive line.  Chris May is another returning starter.  The two of us have been playing together awhile.  We have just tried to take hold of that."

Senior running back Terrance Timmons
On what it means to the offense and the advantages for the offense as the game has evolved into a faster tempo:
"On offense now, you are going so fast that [the defense] can't substitute and get their calls in, so that works in our favor.  We have our plays already in and the defense is still trying to figure out what we are doing and what schemes they are going to run.  The faster we go, the more difficult it is for them, so they have to stay in a base defense, which works in our favor.  We get to change things up without giving them time to adjust."

On the team's comfort level with the new offense:
"From a skill position standpoint, I think we are ready.  Throughout practice the whole time, we are running whether it's to get water or on and off the field.  We are running to each drill.  This summer, we based everything we did off the times we had to have something done.  We had a certain amount of time to do a drill and that helped out coming into camp because we were able to carry those habits over.  It got to the point that we were moving so fast that we had to slow down to help our defense, because they couldn't get set.  I feel real good about the offense." 

On what it means to him to wear the No. 5 jersey this season:
"It feels great.  To be honored to wear something that is valued so much is always great.  I didn't know Anthony [Mostella] personally, so I reached out to his dad after I was given the jersey and we talked about Anthony and what it meant to him.  To me it's more so about representing him and his family and what he stood for instead of me just wearing the No. 5.  I'm grateful for the honor of wearing No. 5, but it's about him."

Media day activities took place in between two practice sessions, with the Jaguars also slated to work out Friday morning before taking part in the first full scrimmage of preseason camp Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.  The scrimmage will be closed to the general public.

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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