MOBILE, Ala. – South Alabama head football coach Major Applewhite has announced three additions to his coaching staff ahead of the 2024 season.
 
Paul Petrino makes his way to Mobile by way of Central Michigan where he served as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. Petrino will serve as South Alabama's new receivers coach. Other additions to the coaching staff include running backs coach Effrem Reed and offensive line coach Jason Onyebuagu. Reed was previously on staff at Michigan State as running backs coach, and Onyebuagu joins the Jags from Jackson State where he was co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the Tigers.
 
PAUL PETRINO – RECEIVERS COACH
 
A coaching veteran with extensive experience at all levels of football, Petrino comes to South after two years at Central Michigan where he was the team's offensive coordinator.
 
Before running the Chippewas' offense, Petrino spent nine seasons as head coach at the University of Idaho. His most successful year was in 2016, when he was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year after the Vandals improved to 9-4 following a 4-8 record in the previous season. Idaho finished in third place in the Sun Belt Conference with a 6-2 league record. The season concluded with a ninth win, a 61-50 victory over Colorado State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. He also oversaw Idaho's move from the FBS to a return to FCS football in the Big Sky Conference in 2018.
 
Prior to his head coaching experience, Petrino made four different stops as an offensive coordinator. He ran Arkansas' offense on two separate occasions as well as stops at Illinois and Louisville. During that 10-year span, Petrino also spent the 2007 season in the National Football League as wide receivers coach for the Atlanta Falcons.
 
Petrino started his coaching career at his alma mater, Carroll College, in Montana in 1990. He has also coached in various roles at Utah State and Southern Miss. Petrino played quarterback for Carroll for four seasons, and is a member of the school's athletic hall of fame. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1989.
 
EFFREM REED – RUNNING BACKS COACH
 
Reed joins the Jags after a four-year stint at Michigan State, including the last-two seasons as running backs coach. During Reed's time at MSU, he helped mentor running back Kenneth Walker III, who won the Walter Camp Player of the Year and Doak Walker Awards while ranking second in the FBS in rushing yards with 1,636. Walker went on to be selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
 
Before making his way to Michigan State, Reed spent two seasons at his alma mater, Louisiana, as director of player engagement then as a defensive graduate assistant.
 
Reed played running back for the Ragin' Cajuns from 2012-15, lettering every season of his career. As a redshirt freshman in 2012, Reed recorded career highs in rushing yards (414), carries (86) and rushing TDs (5). He played in 44 games throughout his career and compiled nearly 1,000 all-purpose yards to go along with eight TDs.
 
Reed earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Louisiana in 2015.
 
JASON ONYEBUAGU – OFFENSIVE LINE COACH
 
Onyebuagu comes to South Alabama by way of Jackson State where he served as co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in 2023. Onyebuagu and the Tigers went 7-4 on the season, closing the year with wins in three of their final four games.
 
Before joining Jackson State, Onyeauagu spent the previous two seasons as tight ends coach at his alma mater, Northern Illinois. Prior to that, he spent one season at both Arkansas Pine Bluff in 2019 and Southeast Missouri State in 2020. His longest coaching stint was at North Carolina Central where he spent five seasons as offensive line coach, running game coordinator and co-offensive coordinator. In 2016, he helped the Eagles win the MEAC and earn a trip to the Celebration Bowl.
 
The Indianapolis native started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at North Carolina in 2011. After two seasons with the Tar Heels, he moved to Syracuse where he served as a graduate assistant for the 2013 campaign.
 
Onyebuague graduated from Northern Illinois in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in communication studies.
 
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