TexasTerror Posted February 29, 2008 Report Posted February 29, 2008 Thought I'd share as their timeline is similar to yours, outside of making a move to FBS... Phil Paramore: South Alabama football in good shape Saturday, Feb 02, 2008 - 06:00 AM The University of South Alabama will soon have a football coach to go with its first-ever football team. A word of warning: Don’t be so quick dismiss the Jaguars. The president of the board of trustees at South Alabama is Dothan’s Steve Stokes, a physician here who has served on our own city school board. He and his wife made one of the largest contributions in school history to USA last year, and he is firmly in touch with the goings-on in Mobile. According to Stokes, athletics director Joe Gottfried may name a coach for the start-up program as soon as next week. “I think he wants to wait until after signing day (Feb. 6), and then release it,†said Stokes. “I understand we’re down to two candidates.“ One of them is Alabama defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. Stokes confirmed the school hosted Steele and his wife this past Thursday. The other serious candidate believed to be in the running is South Florida assistant Dan McCarney, who is the former head coach at Iowa State. This week, Auburn’s Eddie Gran said the selection committee had informed him he wasn’t under consideration, and then on Thursday, Mississippi State assistant Woody McCorvey and Clemson staffer Dabo Swinney — both ex-Tide assistants — withdrew their names from the search process. Once a coach is named, Stokes said a plan will be set in motion. “Next year we’ll sign 30 players and ‘greyshirt’ all of them,†he said. “We’ll do the same thing the next year. In 2009, we’ll play for the first time, as a club-level team. The next two seasons, we’ll compete in Division I-AA. Then in year four, we’ll play as a member of Division I and compete in the Sun Belt Conference.“ However, residence in the Sun Belt may be relatively short-lived. Conference USA, which has a far more recognizable membership, has already made overtures to South Alabama. “They’d like to establish a relationship because of their tie-in with the GMAC Bowl,†he said. “They are very interested in South Alabama joining their league.“ Stokes said the city and county of Mobile have pledged “significant†financial support. The city will allow South Alabama to use 40,000-seat Ladd-Peebles Stadium free of charge for the first five years of the program’s existence, and nine luxury boxes will be constructed to help raise additional money. At first glance, the USA program wouldn’t be much of a threat to the Alabamas and Auburns of the world, maybe even the Troys. But think about how fertile the Mobile recruiting area is — Nick Saban currently has seven public commitments from the port city and is still awaiting top prospect Julio Jones’ decision — and it’s easy to see how another option for prepsters could be a key. Some kids’ parents simply can’t afford to travel to SEC venues each week — even home games in Tuscaloosa or Auburn — and many of those prospects simply won’t want to leave home. “We’ll center on Gulfport-Biloxi all the way over to Tallahassee and everything between,†said Stokes. Traditionally, there’s enough prospects along that I-10 corridor to stock more than one major-college roster. Soon there will be another one in the mix, and it promises to be anything but a moot point. This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up
Guest abovetherim Posted February 29, 2008 Report Posted February 29, 2008 Thanks for the post Texas Terror. Good reading information as they have a football stadium ready for use and are still adding luxury suites. Great for them.
Guest mffl Posted March 1, 2008 Report Posted March 1, 2008 Then why did they sign a DII (maybe III), who won 3 games last year?
TexasTerror Posted March 1, 2008 Author Report Posted March 1, 2008 Then why did they sign a DII (maybe III), who won 3 games last year? They actually offered James Madison's head coach. That's a proven winner, but he turned them down (and got a pay increase for that one). I think the individual they hired was Div III and he's got a strong relationship with HS coaches in Alabama, having been a successful one himself... Coaching staff-wise, he's done a great job. He hired Les Koennig Jr (formerly of Texas A&M) as his offensive coordinator and former Auburn QB Dameyune Craig as his running back coach. Craig has coached at Tuskegee and LSU as an assistant. Nice pick-ups. Craig has recruited Alabama since he hit the coaching ranks, has a name that many are familiar with in Alabama and should be good for them.
Guest mffl Posted March 1, 2008 Report Posted March 1, 2008 Thanx for the info Terror, it does sound like a good hire.
Guest abovetherim Posted March 1, 2008 Report Posted March 1, 2008 They may not have Les Koennig Jr for long as he wants the Lamar job. He too was a finalist for the UH job. He has strong ties to Texas as a from players at UT and OC at A&M. His dad was a excellent local HS coach. It's going to surprise a lot of people the individuals interested in the Lamar job.
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