Date: 8/30
Position: Special Teams
Position Coach: Matt Kitchens

Returning Letterwinners (Key stats): Jake Harwell (11 games played, 1-0—1 TT); Frankie Onate (8 GP, 21-1,217 KO yds, 2 TBs); Andrew Zink (2 GP, no statistics)

Letterwinners lost (Key stats): Gavin Patterson (12 GP, 9-of-13, FGs, 31-of-35 PATs, 58 pts); Corliss Waitman (12 GP, 67-2,792 yds punt, 41.7 avg, 58 long, 19 I20, 15 50+)

Returning Redshirts/Squad Members (Yr., Hometown, Previous school): Michael Moore (R-Fr., Auburn [Ala.] HS)

Newcomers (Yr., Hometown, Previous school): Jack Brooks (Fr., Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, Mater Dei Catholic College); Jack Gettys (Fr., Mandeville [La.] Lakeshore HS); Diego Guajardo (Fr., Spanish Fort [Ala.] Daphne HS); Noah Karwacki (Fr., Aurora [Colo.] Vista PEAK Preparatory School)

Miscellaneous Notes
-Patterson became just the second individual in program history to surpass 200 points scored last season, ending his career second on South's all-time list in the category with 204; that total included 99 extra points — a school record — and 35 field goals, which stands second on the career charts.
-Waitman's 42.66 punting average over the last four years is the best in school history, and he also finished his time as a Jaguar third with 50 punts inside the opposition's 20-yard line.
-Both were first-team all-Sun Belt Conference selections as juniors.
-Onate sat out the 2018 campaign as a redshirt after posting an average of 58 yards with two touchbacks on kickoffs his freshman year.
-Zink, who was credited with four stops on punt returns his first two seasons with the program, was injured in the Jags' game at Oklahoma State last September and missed the rest of the season, which allowed Harwell to see his first game action at South.
-A five-star recruit according to Ray Guy Prokicker.com who also earned 4½ stars from Chris Sailer Kicking, Brooks played both Australian Rules Football and rugby in Australia before joining the team this fall.
-As a senior at Daphne High a year ago, Guajardo was 16-of-19 on field goal tries —with a long of 50 yards — while connecting on 30-of-31 extra-point attempts as well.
-Karwacki received all-state and all-conference accolades his final year at Vista PEAK Preparatory School, where he scored 124 points during his three seasons lettering for the team.
-Minter is expected to be the Jaguars' primary kickoff and punt return specialist, as he enters the 2019 season a preseason first-team all-conference selection; not only did he receive preseason all-league honors as a returner over the summer from Athlon Sports and Phil Steele Publications, Lindy's recognized him as the Sun Belt Special Teams Demon.
-His 798 kickoff return yards and 23.47 yards per kickoff return average both rank third in USA's all-time record book.

Matt Kitchens
-On the competition in fall camp among the team's kickers: "I think competition is a great thing, it really makes guys work and forces them to concentrate.  The two kids who have done that the best are Frankie and Diego."
-On Jack Brooks' adjustments since joining the program: "Jack has a calm demeanor about him and he kicks the football with a lot of confidence.  What he has adapted to are his teammates, and living here and going to school; those are things that haven't been an issue."
-On what makes Tra Minter a successful return specialist: "Tra takes what you give him and he does what you coach him to do.  That's the number one thing he does — he is exactly where he is supposed to be every time, and he hits the hole and trusts it.  You can see where it's really paid off for him."

Jack Brooks
-On making the transition to collegiate football: "Punting in pads and a helmet has been alright because back in Melbourne that's what we trained in.  I'm still getting used to a lot of the rules, but as long as I know what I'm doing for my punt team it will be okay."
-On his expectations for this season: "I just want to help the team as much as possible, especially with field position.  I don't have too high expectations, I want to learn as much as I can and hopefully be an impact player in every game."
-On what he has done well in preseason camp: "I think it's kicking the ball deeper, that's helped a bit.  Kicking into the coffin corner relates back to Prokick [Australia], we've done a lot of training with all aspects of kicking so we covered as much as we could to prepare us for any situation we could be in."

Frankie Onate
-On the area he has improved the most while redshirting: "I would definitely say my consistency on my kicks, and my ball flight has gotten a lot better over the past year."
-On his goals for the fall: "My goal is to be the best field goal kicker in college football, I have high expectations for myself."
-On what he has learned from Patterson over the last two years: "Gavin was a huge role model to me and everyone else on special teams.  We all learned a lot from him, but specifically I learned a lot about his mindset toward kicking and how mentally strong he was whether he missed or made a field goal."

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