NEW ORLEANS – University of South Alabama first-year head coach Kane Wommack spoke with local, regional and national media at the Sun Belt Conference's annual Football Media Day on Thursday held at the Sheraton New Orleans hotel.

Highlights from the Jaguar head coach's 30-minute session at the ballroom podium included:

Opening statement:
"I'm very excited to be the coach at South Alabama, it's an awesome opportunity.  My wife, Melissa, and I fell in love with the city of Mobile and the University of South Alabama when we were there before and I was the defensive coordinator.  I am very fortunate to have recruited both these young men with me, Chris Henderson and Jalen Tolbert; to see these guys go from high school players to young freshmen who I had the chance to coach and see the things that they have accomplished individually and know that we can do something special at the end of their careers is really a special opportunity for me.  I am very excited about the momentum of our team right now, I am fortunate to have brought both Major Applewhite as our offensive coordinator and Corey Batoon as our defensive coordinator.  Major obviously is a tremendous resource for me in terms of his background and the successes he has had as a head coach, and the things that he and Steve Sarkisian and the rest of the Alabama staff were able to do was really impressive; some of those are things we are going to be able to bring down to Mobile.  Corey worked under my dad, Dave Wommack, at Ole Miss when they were the number one defense in the country.  Every coach who worked under my dad went on to become an [NCAA] FBS defensive coordinator, so we are fortunate to be able to be running our system together again and have him as a tremendous resource."

On the growth in the Sun Belt and South Alabama since he was first with the program:
"Well, there is a big stadium where we used to have an intramural field, so that's pretty awesome considering where I was three years ago.  When I was here before as defensive coordinator you saw the Sun Belt really making a turn to become more relevant in the college football landscape.  Coming back and watching these games and seeing these teams compete at such a high level you can see we've improved in every facet — from a personnel standpoint, from a recruiting standpoint, schematically there are some really impressive things going on in the league right now, and just the resources that are being put into these Sun Belt campuses by the universities is very impressive."

On the importance of Hancock Whitney Stadium for the program:
"Obviously, to be able to create new traditions inside Hancock Whitney Stadium and know that our best days are ahead of us as a football program is really great.  It's something that I take very personally.  There is an atmosphere that comes around game day, I've lived it my entire life as a coach's son — the tailgating, the pregame festivities, and the excitement and energy that you feel in a game — and to know that we get a chance to do that for the first time on South Alabama's campus is a tremendous opportunity for each and every one of us."

On the completion of the construction of Hancock Whitney Stadium:
"We are so fortunate to live in the city of Mobile, there are so many people who have been influential on South Alabama's campus to be able to create the opportunity we now have at Hancock Whitney Stadium.  It's a credit to the city and the great commerce that we have and the excitement about football.  We live in a very football-rich state, this is a university that is proud to put resources back into our football program."

On the acclimation of Jake Bentley and Major Applewhite into the program:
"I am really fortunate to have both Major Applewhite and Jake Bentley as part of our offense.  I've been so impressed with Major, just the way in which he communicates — he says all the time, 'I'm just a quarterback with a whistle.'  That's the way he teaches the game of football.  The situations he has been a part of as a player, as a coordinator, as a head coach and as a quarterbacks coach, you listen and see the way in which he can impart knowledge into our young men.  Jake Bentley has thrown for over 8,000 yards in the SEC, he has a tremendous amount of experience and is a guy who came in and connected with our players at a level that allowed him to compete on the field and win the starting job for South Alabama."

On how to improve the team's running game:
"Depth in the run game is something we identified coming in on the front end that we needed to create more of, and we also wanted to continue to raise the skill level in the offensive line room.  We were fortunate to bring five transfer offensive linemen who have started at other FBS programs, so they have that experience.  We were really operating with less scholarships than what you should traditionally carry on the offensive line the last few years, so we were very fortunate to be able to bring some of these players with experience into the room."

On what the team needs to do to challenge in the Sun Belt:
"I think consistency is the thing that we have to continue to do.  In my time as defensive coordinator here before we had great wins against Mississippi State and San Diego State and certain expectations that come from winning those types of games, but to do the same thing over and over and over again week in and week out is what we have lacked in our program's history.  Everybody in the building has to have an absolute urgency to be relentless in the detail of accomplishing that vision day in and day out."

On the team's schedule:
"I'm excited to play football games, and I don't really care who lines up against us — I just want to get out there and play with these guys.  It's fun to walk into our building every single day, the players and coaches have an excitement to better this team and to do something really special on our campus.  You look at the non-conference schedule and the first game on Sept. 4 against Southern Miss inside Hancock Whitney Stadium is really exciting, and then we'll go right on to the next one.  Regardless of who we play, we need to stay focused on ourselves and be about our process."

On playing in a full stadium in the fall:
"We're so fortunate to be able to have a grand opening on Sept. 4 inside Hancock Whitney Stadium.  For us to be able to create that atmosphere and tradition is one of the great things about college football, and the reward for these young men who have put so much effort into South Alabama and our campus is to be able to walk out there in front of a full-capacity stadium and the atmosphere that our fans can create that's fun for our players to play in front of and certainly challenging for our opponents to work under."

On his vision for the program:
"I've been a part of the city of Mobile and of South Alabama to know all the resources that have been put into this program, to know that our best days are ahead of us is a really exciting thought.  We get to create new traditions on our campus, we get to accomplish things that have never been done.  This is Mobile's football team, everybody who lives in the city is a part of what we are doing with this program."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. 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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