MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama football program, under the direction of second-year head coach Kane Wommack, opened up spring practice Friday morning at the Jaguar Training Center.

South Alabama is scheduled to practice Saturday morning from 9-10:45 am before taking a day off and then returning to a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule next week. All practices will be closed to the general public.

Following the nearly two-hour session, Wommack, along with offensive coordinator Major Applewhite, defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, running back La'Damian Webb, wide receiver Jalen Wayne and line backer A.J. DeShazor met with members of the media to recap the day. Below are highlights from the session with the media.

Head coach Kane Wommack
- On his thoughts on the first day of spring practice: 
"I felt we were in a good place going into day one of year two, and it showed. You see the culture that has been established, the systems are in place, our guys know what to do. We've got a lot of talent on the field, so it was pretty exciting for day one."
- On the difference heading into this spring compared to last spring: 
"You think about us going into last spring in our first year, everything about this program had to come out of my head, thought out, communicated and then reinforced every single day until it's actualized by a coach, a player, a support staff member, whoever. Because we had so much retention on our staff, and the majority of our team knows what to expect, those systems are not just carried out by me, but from everyone else in the program. Instead of having one person that is setting vision and casting vision, now you've got 130 people doing it and you can imagine how much more efficient and effective we are." 
- On wide receiver Allen Dailey Jr. returning to the program: 
"Everyone has struggles that they go through in life at different points and times. Allen had something that he had to work through himself this past season. It's so rewarding when you struggle along side someone going through a difficult time and you see them start to come out on the other side of it. We're never going to crown anyone for what they do during a two-month offseason, but certainly moving in the right direction and building consistency is what makes us a great football team, and its what makes a great individual. The effort, the energy, the maturity is what I've seen out of Allen. That's very rewarding as a coach."
- On what's the difference in believing you can win and expecting to win: 
"I thought as a program a year ago, we went toe-to-toe against the best in our league, and we weathered the storm and put us in position to win. In the fourth quarter, I feel the other sideline expected to win more than we did. Expecting to win is always more powerful than believing that you can win. I think back to a few years ago during the FIFA Cup when they had the chant 'I believe that we can win.' [The United States team] got thumped pretty good by Germany because they expected to win, versus a team that believed they could win. Expecting is more powerful than believing, and that's something we have to breathe into this program."   
- On what he's looking for out of these first couple of days of practice: 
"We talk about that you see the biggest improvement from game one of a season to game two. The same should be said for year two from year one. All the small nuances of what we want to do in this program need to be heightened so that we can focus on more fine details that win games. Focus on more situational football, understanding and mastering our concepts and how they're applied to the opponent that we're playing that particular game or for this particular spring practice.  An overall physicality within our program is something that has to be established. We weathered the storm a year ago, and we earned a 5-7 record. We need to become the storm as a program so that we instill our power and our will on an opponent, as opposed to weathering it."

Offensive coordinator Major Applewhite
- On the first spring practice: 
"It was great to be out here with them, there was a lot of enthusiasm. We have some new faces, a new guard, running back, tight end and quarterback so it was good to get to see those guys and their skills out there on the first day as well as to see the progression of the other guys working on their own leading up to spring practice."
- On personnel adjustments: 
"We have to get a sample size. So right now, the goal is to teach the offense, learn what to do, how to do it then once we see those skills come throughout the offense things will start to slide back or move up on the shelf because of the features you have in your players. It's no different than anything else we do. We find out who is good at what and we feature that more when we find out what we aren't as good at and don't do that as much."
- On the focus during the spring: 
"The spring is to introduce systems. You have guys who come in at the midterm so it's even more important with junior college or portal guys who are contributors and can come play for you immediately.  You want to make sure they learn the offense as soon as possible. Right now its like 'here is the offense' then you have April, May, June, July to sit back and see what we did, what we learned, what we are good at and we can go in and make our tweaks here and there. Then in fall camp you can add a little more because more players get added so that's when you find your flavor so to speak. Truthfully I think most coordinators will tell you it takes a game or two before you really see how the guys respond to live fire."
- On his thoughts on the quarterbacks at this point: 
"There is a lot more know how, a lot less 'what are we doing here' and a lot more comfort. Desmond [Trotter] has progressed tremendously. The thing we want to talk about with our guys right now is some of the protection things that they have got to learn as we are installing those. Our defense presents a lot of pressure so it's great for us in terms of where our eyes need to be and what we need to do to give the right player the right protection. Those are some of the things we are working on right now as well as ball security, accuracy, anticipation all of those things."
- On Carter Bradley: 
"This is the first time I have been able to see him with a football in his hand other than film. He is going to be able to throw the football. We are just going to have to keep teaching him the offense. He is just going to have to continue to learn that, not worry about competing, just learn what we need to do. Let's master the course, let's learn how we are going to run this then we will go out there and enter a tournament with some other people. We aren't going to play until September so let's learn what we are doing first. We have the spring to get better then we have more time in August so at this point I just want him to learn the system."
- On running back La'Damian Webb: 
"He is compact, shifty, strong. We haven't put pads on yet but I can imagine he is going to be able to break some tackles with that size, a small surface, hard to hit. He has good ball skills: return game, catching the ball. We get academic reports on Thursdays and right now he has straight As so he is just doing everything that is asked of him so I am very pleased with him and feel fortunate to have a player like that."

Defensive coordinator Corey Batoon
- On the defense entering the spring: 
"It's been a really good off season. I think the kids have really done a great job. In the weight room you can see their bodies changing. It's year two in so many ways. We went back and watched this practice this time last year and just watched the tempo of the practice. Now we are light years ahead, as we should be, it shouldn't look like our first practice. I am really impressed with the buy-in of the kids through the off season in terms of the weight room and I am just really excited about the spring."
- On personnel adjustments: 
"The DNA is totally different. As you lose pieces and you gain pieces, people bring up strengths and weaknesses which are to be determined. Now that we get out here and its real football not just running drills and stuff we get a chance to really evaluate these guys to see what kind of tweaks we need to implement over the summer.  

Running back La'Damian Webb
- On the start of spring practice: 
"It was pretty good, we're going at it at a good tempo. [We're] getting things together and still have things to work on, but it was good for a first day."
- On the opportunity he has at South: 
"This is a great opportunity; the culture presents itself. They give you the right things to be the person you want to be, so I think they gave me a great opportunity."
- On what made him pick South Alabama: 
"It's a great place for me; I think the coaches are treating me like one of their own. It feels like a family here."
- On playing at the running back position:
"I just want to get better and make my group better. Just work as hard as I can and push each other to make each other great."
- On how the offense fits his play style:
"I like it a lot, it fits me perfect. I know the schemes and what's going on, I know what is expected so it fits me pretty well." 
- On going back to junior college before coming to South: 
"It matured me a little, I think my coach at Jones [College (Miss.)] taught me about what was coming and what I should've expected, so I think they gave me a great opportunity."
- On playing in his home state:
"It's great, it's an opportunity to put on for my home state, I'm thankful for the opportunity." 

Wide receiver Jalen Wayne
- On the start of spring practice: 
"I thought it was going to be a little scary, because I didn't know where everyone was stamina-wise, but I think everyone was good and we kept the tempo up. The OTAs we've been doing all spring kind of helped us out with that. I like the competition though, so it was pretty fun to get out here again."
- On how he views the wide receiver position: 
"I have to lead from the forefront and the young guys have to step up. I'm real hard on them right now, they don't really like it, but it's what I have to do. We're real young and I know people probably already have some questions about us, but I'm going to make sure we're ready."
- On what he saw from the quarterbacks: 
"Through the practice we got a little connection going and we started making some big plays. It just takes communication with Desmond [Trotter] and I, getting back used to each other again. We're going to take off, it'll be fun."

Linebacker A.J. DeShazor
- On the start of spring practice: 
"I'm just thankful for another year with these guys. We didn't get the outcome we wanted last year and that stuck to me, because I had a real good relationship with those seniors: Chris Henderson and Jamal Brooks. Moving on to this season we have big goals and expectations not only from the players, but the coaches too."
- On the difference between believing and expecting to win: 
"When you show up Sunday morning for that week of practice, getting ready in meetings for the next week's opponent, mentally knowing the outcome of the game. Knowing that we're going to show up and dominate. Last year, we had some games where we showed up starting off really aggressive and other games we started getting into a good groove later."
- On the transfer talent: 
"It brings a lot of competition early in the spring. Just knowing that the coaches believe that bringing in other players not only adds to their legacy, but it makes us compete harder. It's special, this group his special already."

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