Date: 8/23
Position: Safeties
Position Coach: Matt Kitchens
Returning Letterwinners (Key stats): DJ Daniels (12 GP, 30-11—41 TT, 2 TFL, 1 FF, 2 FR), Sterrling Fisher (12 games played, 13-17—30 TT, 5 TFL, 3 sacks, 1 INT, 1 QBH), Keith Gallmon (11 GP, 1-1—2 TT)
Letterwinners lost (Key stats): Malcolm Buggs (12 GP, 22-23—45 TT, 1½ TFL, 1 PB), Tyrone Hall (6 GP, 4-0—4 TT, 1 FF), Nigel Lawrence (10 GP, 44-44—88 TT, 1½ TFL, 2 PB), Tobias Moss (12 GP, 32-11—43 TT, 2 TFL, 1 INT, 1 PB, Spencer Perry (8 GP, 12-7—19 TT) ), Tyree Vines (11 GP, 5-3—8 TT, 1 TFL)
Returning Redshirts/Squad Members (Yr., Hometown, Previous school): Taj Bickham (R-Fr., Violet, La., Allen [Texas] HS), Keon Voisin (R-Fr., Crestview [Fla.] HS)
Newcomers (Yr., Hometown, Previous school): Trè Young (Jr., Mobile, Ala., East Central [Miss.] CC), Doug Sullivan (Fr., Saraland [Ala.] HS), Jaden Voisin (Fr., Crestview [Fla.] HS)
Miscellaneous Notes
-Lawrence — who was a second-team all-Sun Belt Conference following his final season at the collegiate level — led the team in tackles during the 2018 season and ended his Jaguar career ranked in the top 10 of four different categories: assisted tackles (fourth – 108), forced fumbles (fifth – 4), solo tackles (sixth – 119) and total tackles (seventh – 227).
-South returns just three players –Fisher, Daniels and Gallmon – from the 2018 season that saw time at the position.
-Fisher started four times for the Jags as a sophomore while appearing in every contest. His five of those for loss – including three sacks – led the team's defensive backs in tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
-Daniels saw action in every game both in the secondary and on special teams coverage units, and was the only individual on the team to recover multiple fumbles.
-Daniels posted a career-best 41 total tackles — including a pair behind the line of scrimmage — and was also credited with a forced fumble.
-Gallmon was one of two true freshman on the roster who was not redshirted after seeing action in 11 of 12 outings his first year at the collegiate level in 2018.
-Bickham played in four games as a freshman, but due to new NCAA legislation, he was allowed to redshirt. In his four appearances, Bickham was credited with a pair of stops.
-Keon Voisin also redshirted the 2018 season, but didn't see any game action.
-Keon is one of three Voisin brothers on the team as his two younger brothers Jaden, also a safety, and Devin, a wide receiver, are also members of the 2019 Jaguar roster.
-Young was considered among the top 25 junior college safeties in the country coming out of East Central last season as he was third on the team as a sophomore with 45 total tackles — a total that included 37 unassisted stops — while adding a squad-best eight passes broken up, an interception and two forced fumbles.
Assistant Coach Matt Kitchens
- On what he's seen in camp out of the returners filling the voids left from last year's group: "We have DJ [Daniels] back who played a lot of downs for us last year; he loves football. Keith Gallmon was able to play a lot of downs for us as a true freshman last season, and Trè Young is a junior college kid we signed. All three of those guys have played a lot of downs either for us last season or in junior college, and they are all coming on for us. I keep saying that they are tough guys who like football and that's what we are looking for."
- On the strength of the safeties: "I feel the strength of the group is their ability to run and strike. They are also smart football players. We want players in the back end of our defense to have the ability to run and strike and ones that are intelligent, and this group has that."
- On what area the group has improved on since last season: "I believe we have come together more as a group, which is a great thing. That is something that just develops over time. These guys like being around each other, they like being coached and I couldn't ask for anything more."
Sterrling Fisher
- On what he's doing to help fill the leadership void at the position with the graduation of Nigel Lawrence and some of the other upperclassmen: "I've really just tried to play at a high level and set the tone for the younger guys. I always try to encourage them because they're freshmen, and at times freshmen play a little timid or nervous. I try to pull them to the side and help them out."
- On his expectations this season: "I just want to continue to be a team player and continue to make plays for the team as much as I can. I just want to do whatever I can to help the team win games."
- On the difference being in camp last season to this: "This camp was much tougher and it pushed us, but we needed it so that we could become a stronger team mentally and physically."
DJ Daniels
- On replacing the experience of last season's group and filling that void: "I tried to learn from guys like Nigel Lawrence and Malcolm Buggs last year when I played behind them. I just focused on learning the simple things like watching film, technique and just the ability to study your opponent effortlessly."
- On the difference being in camp last season to this: "This year's camp you can tell that there are a lot more guys who are bought in to the system. Last season we had high expectations, but this year we expect even more out of ourselves compared to a year ago."
- On what stands out about the safeties: "We have a lot more speed at our position that we did last year. We also have guys that want to play and are truly ready to do what needs to be done."
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