Greg Gregory is beginning his third season as South Alabama’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
After joining the staff just prior to the start of the program’s first-ever spring practice, Gregory was able to implement a system that led to the Jaguars averaging 439 total yards and just under 46 points per contest. And, as expected based on his prior experience before coming to Mobile, the Jag offense was a balanced unit that gained more than 170 yards per game both on the ground and through the air.
In its first-ever season of competition, USA recorded three games with at least 500 yards of total offense and scored more than 40 points on four occasions, including posting three outings with 50-plus points. Jaguar quarterbacks combined to complete 64.3 percent of their pass attempts for a total of 1,205 yards and 11 touchdowns, as all three individuals who saw significant game action were able to record a pass efficiency rating of higher than 170 points.
The USA offensive attack averaged nearly 440 yards and better than 41 points per contest in its second season, with Gregory’s quarterbacks increasing the program’s passing total by 35 yards per game. Overall, five individuals completed 62 percent of their attempts for 2,073 yards and 17 touchdowns against just five interceptions for a 154.95 efficiency rating, a figure that would have ranked third in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-AA) had the Jaguars been eligible.
True freshman C.J. Bennett led the group, taking over the starting job near the end of the season before finishing the campaign completing 86-of-140 attempts (61.4%) for 1,189 yards and nine touchdowns, while Brennan Sim and Myles Gibbon each completed better than 60 percent of their passes, threw for multiple touchdowns and posted an efficiency rating better than 160.
The Jaguars also averaged 232 yards per game rushing in Gregory’s attack, with four individuals accumulating more than 200 yards and a total of seven recording at least 100 highlighted by Kendall Houston, who paced USA with 891 yards and 10 scores while averaging 6.4 yards per carry.
Gregory joined the program with 15 years of experience as an offensive coordinator at four schools, including a pair at South Florida after guiding the Bulls’ unit for two years. And, he had experience as a head coach for two years since entering the profession as a graduate assistant in 1980.
Under Gregory’s tutelage, USF quarterback Matt Grothe ranked among the top 30 in the nation in total offense in after the 2007 and ’08 seasons. Mike Ford and Ben Williams collected a combined total of 18 touchdowns in 2007, more than any duo in school history, and the Bulls produced record numbers in total offense yards (5,383) and yards per game (414.1) that fall while scoring an average of 34.7 points per outing.
The Bulls went 8-5 in 2008, picking up a win in the inaugural St. Petersburg Bowl, while recording a 9-4 finish to go along with a berth in the Brut Sun Bowl in his first season running the offense. Those two seasons remain the only ones in the program’s history in which the offense has averaged more than 400 yards per outing. USF also advanced to the Meineke Car Care Bowl as well as the Papajohns.com Bowl during Gregory’s tenure with the program, winning 32 contests during that stretch. He worked with tight ends his first two seasons with the program.
Prior to arriving at South Florida, Gregory was the offensive coordinator at Ohio from 2001-03. His efforts in 2002 helped the Bobcats average 32 points per outing in Mid-American Conference action, the school’s highest figure in 25 years. In 2000, he was an offensive coordinator at Richmond — the Spiders won the Atlantic 10 championship with a 7-1 record, going 10-3 overall after defeating Youngstown State in the opening round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.
Gregory was the head coach at Missouri Southern in 1998 and ’99, guiding the Lions to a two-win improvement in his second season after inheriting a program that forfeited all its victories the year prior to his appointment.
He served as an assistant in several capacities at Army, beginning in 1982 when he was hired to work with Cadet receivers. Gregory moved to guide tight ends and was the junior varsity coach in 1984, beginning a two-season stint leading the program’s running backs the next fall. In 1987, Gregory was shifted to quarterbacks coach, becoming offensive coordinator in 1989 before being promoted to associate head coach in ’91.
During his 16 seasons at Army, the Cadets advanced to four bowl games — still the only ones in the program’s 109-year history — while winning 93 contests. The USMA defeated Michigan State in the Cherry Bowl to wrap up an 8-3-1 record in 1984, his third season on the staff, following up a year later by going 9-3 after defeating Illinois in the Peach Bowl. Army put together another 9-3 campaign in 1988 that ended with a berth in the John Hancock Sun Bowl, while a 10-2 finish in 1996 after reaching the Poulan/Weed Eater Independence Bowl provided the most wins in program history.
His efforts also helped the Cadets claim 10 of 16 match-ups against Navy during that stretch.
Army led the nation in rushing four times while he was with the program. He coached Ron McAda — the only Cadet quarterback to be selected In the National Football League Draft — as well as running back Mike Mayweather, who would go on to rush for more than 4,000 yards in his career.
While coaching at Army, Gregory was a commissioned officer with the rank of captain from 1982-85 as well.
Gregory earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Richmond in 1980, lettering three times as a quarterback for the Spiders. He would go on to earn 24 credit hours in sports psychology graduate studies at Virginia, where he served as a graduate assistant on the Cavalier staff in 1980 and ’81.
He has two sons, Tate (28), an assistant coach at Charleston (W.Va.) and Grant (25) — who was the starting quarterback at Kansas State as a senior and is now a member of the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League — and a daughter, Layne (20), who is attending the Honors College at South Florida.
The Gregory File
Born: Dec. 7, 1957, in Suffolk, Va.
Education:
Richmond ’80, bachelor’s degree in physical education
Collegiate Playing Experience:
Four years, quarterback, Richmond
Coaching Experience:
Virginia — graduate assistant, 1980-81
Army — assistant coach, 1982-90; associate head coach 1991-97 (offensive coodinator 1989-97)
Missouri Southern — head coach 1998-99
Richmond — assistant coach/offensive coordinator, 2000
Ohio — assistant coach/offensive coordinator, 2001-03
South Florida — assistant coach, 2005-08 (offensive coordinator 2007-08)
South Alabama — assistant coach/offensive coordinator, 2009-
Family: Two sons, Tate (28) and Grant (25), one daughter Layne (20)
