MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama football team is set to begin preparations for the 2020 season with the start of fall practice on Wednesday.

The Jaguars will open camp with workouts beginning at 3:15 p.m. (CDT) both Wednesday and Thursday in just helmets and shorts at the James A. and Frances H. Yance Football Practice Facility, returning to the facility Friday for a 3:30 p.m. practice in shells.  USA will also have sessions in shells Saturday and full pads Monday — both slated to get underway at 9:30 a.m. — with the site still to be determined.

"We're excited about getting into the competition aspect of preseason camp, it's something we need to do because we brought in a handful of guys in January who didn't get to go through spring practice.  There is some ground that needs to be made up there as far as competition for positions," South head coach Steve Campbell said.  "We're ahead with the mental aspect of the game because we've had a lot more meeting time.  But the biggest thing we need to do is get the pads on and give the guys a chance to compete for positions and work on all of the things that make football what it is, including pad level, ball security, and getting movement on the line of scrimmage.  You can throw the ball in 7-on-7 drills over the summer, but we have a lot of work to do on both sides of the line of scrimmage."

The Jags will practice Monday-Saturday the following two weeks of camp, with workouts focusing on the opener at Southern Mississippi starting on Monday, Aug. 24.  During the preseason, USA will conduct full scrimmages on Aug. 12 (Wednesday), Aug. 15 (Saturday) and Aug. 20 (Thursday), with a half scrimmage set for Aug. 22 (Saturday) as well.

South returns 48 letterwinners from a year ago, while the incoming recruiting class included nine individuals who enrolled in school in January and were expected to take part in spring drills that were eventually cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

"We did miss spring training but we have had two weeks of walk throughs, which I think definitely has helped.  It doesn't replace spring practice, but we've been able to get a lot of teaching done so we are ahead as far as installation is concerned," said Campbell.  "In April and May when coaches are typically out recruiting we were able to get a lot of things done on a bunch of Zoom meetings.  That will allow us to get into competition drills earlier and give the guys a chance to battle for some spots."

All practices and scrimmages are 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).

Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics.  Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give

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