Beginning his fourth season at South Alabama, assistant coach Tommy Perry will once again serve in the dual role of working with Jaguar running backs while coordinating the special teams units.
Last fall, Perry’s efforts with placekicker Jordan Means — who connected on 13-of-15 field-goal attempts while leading USA with 62 points — helped the program land its first All-American after he was honored by the Beyond Sports College Network. In addition to Means’ performance, punter Scott Garber finished 17th among all punters at the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision with an average of 41.71 yards per kick, Jeremé Jones ended up 27th with an average of 8.61 yards per punt return, and as a team USA stood eighth after recording 23.91 yards per kickoff return.
In the offensive backfield, the duo of Kendall Houston and Demetre Baker both finished among the top 10 FCS Independent running players in rushing and scoring; the former led the squad with 558 yards while reaching the end zone on eight occasions, the latter 491 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns. And when both were lost due to injury, Perry was able to help true freshman J.J. Keels post 329 all-purpose yards while contributing to the running game as well as on kick and punt returns.
Five Jag running backs gained at least 100 yards in the program’s inaugural season in the fall of 2009, with the group accounting for almost 80 percent of USA’s 267 yards per game on the ground. Brandon Ross led the group with 594 yards and 13 touchdowns, while Santuan McGee rushed for 350 yards and three scores to help the Jaguars average better than six yards per carry.
His efforts helped the Jags excel on special teams play too. Garber averaged 42 yards per punt with nine of 22 kicks downed inside the opposition’s 20-yard line, and Erling Riis averaged just under 13 yards per punt return. The kick return unit gained nearly 30 yards per runback, while USA allowed opponents to average only 17 yards per kickoff return. And, Jaguar kickers combined to make 5-of-6 field-goal attempts while converting 40 extra points, with Michel Chapuseaux ending the season second on the team in scoring with 46 points.
Despite losing Ross to a season-ending injury midway through the 2010 campaign, Perry’s group still managed to contribute to an attack that averaged more than 230 yards per game rushing and nearly 440 overall. Highlighted by a school-record 891 yards from Houston, the Jags’ top four rushers all gained at least 200 yards in the fall as eight running backs combined to collect totals of 1,923 yards (82.7 percent of the team’s overall total) and 25 scores. The unit also contributed to the passing attack, led by T.J. Glover’s 14 receptions — which tied for fourth on the team — for 155 yards.
Behind the efforts of Glover and Jones, USA’s punt returners increased the team’s average from 8.8 yards to 16 per run back, while Jaguar placekickers combined to go 17-of-23 on field-goal attempts one year after making only four in seven outings; that including helping Lawson McGlon kick a school-record four field goals on two different occasions. The Jags also averaged almost 23 yards per kick return and more than 39 yards per punt, as Garber had 16 of 34 kicks end up inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
Perry spent the three seasons prior to joining the Jag staff before the program’s first-ever spring practice as a graduate assistant and then an intern on the staff at Alabama, working under both Nick Saban and Mike Shula. The Crimson Tide went undefeated in the regular season in the fall of 2008, advancing to the Southeastern Conference championship game as well as the Allstate Sugar Bowl. After posting a 12-2 record, the team was ranked sixth in both the final Associated Press and USA Today top-25 polls.
UA finished 7-6 the previous season, defeating Colorado 30-24 in the PetroSun Independence Bowl, while the Crimson Tide participated in the same postseason contest his first year as part of the program.
Perry began his coaching career as an assistant strength & conditioning coach at Texas in 2004, also serving as an academic advisor for the Longhorns. He became a linebacker and strength coach at Texas A&M-Commerce later that year, moving over to coach running backs and handle kickoff return duties in 2005 for the Lions. Three of his backs earned all-Lone Star Conference honors that year, including one who was named the Offensive Back of the Year after rushing for more than 1,000 yards in 10 games.
His responsibilities at TAMUC also included assisting with the program’s recruiting in Northeast Texas and Northern California.
Perry has additional experience coaching at the professional level after working as a special teams assistant and head strength coach for NFL Europe’s Amsterdam Admirals in 2006. That spring the team posted a 7-3 mark and competed in the World Bowl.
A 2003 graduate of Texas A&M with a degree in English and history, Perry played two seasons — lettering in 2003 — for the Aggies as a fullback, inside linebacker and defensive end while also participating on various special teams units. He was one of four players on the team who served as the program’s 12th man as a senior. He began his career as an inside linebacker at Tyler [Texas] Junior College.
Perry, who earned his master’s degree in health & human performance from Texas A&M-Commerce 2005, is married to the former Angela Painter. The couple has one daughter, Joanna Rose (3).
The Perry File
Born: Aug. 29, 1980, in Monroe, La.
Education:
Texas A&M ’03, bachelor’s degree in English and history
Texas A&M-Commerce ’05, master’s degree in health & human performance
Collegiate Playing Experience:
Two years, linebacker, Tyler [Texas] Junior College
Three years, fullback/linebacker/defensive end, Texas A&M
Coaching Experience:
Texas — assistant strength & conditioning coach, 2004
Texas A&M-Commerce — graduate assistant, 2004-05
Amsterdam Admirals (NFL Europe) — assistant coach/strength and conditioning coach, 2006
Alabama — graduate assistant/intern, 2006-08
South Alabama — assistant coach, 2009-
Family: Wife, Angela; One daughter, Joanna Rose (3)
