Alabama NewsCenter 2021 football preview: University of South Alabama
Wide receiver Jalen Tolbert is a major playmaker for the South Alabama Jaguars. (Scott Donaldson / South Alabama Athletics)
When former assistant coach Kane Wommack returned to South Alabama as the head coach, there were a couple of stops in Mobile he had to make. And he brought his appetite along for the ride.
“I’m a big fan of Via Emilia,” he said of the restaurant across from the Mitchell Center on campus. “It’s this little northern Italian venue and they’ve got some of the best Italian food with some seafood kind of mixed in there as well. It’s that and a place called the Royal Scam, which is right next to Veet’s Bar downtown. Those are two of my favorites.”
So, it was a pair of port city eateries that reeled in Wommack from being an assistant coach at Indiana University?
“It wasn’t a deterrent, I’ll tell you that,” he said, with a laugh. “My wife, Melissa, and I fell in love with the city of Mobile when we were here before. We’ve come to appreciate so much of the city. Certainly, the history and the culture are a big piece of it. But then also, when you start to look at just living in a city with great commerce and great restaurants and things to do. It was a pretty awesome thing to get back to.”
The Jaguars are preparing to return to the field this fall as football goes back to its traditional season even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Alabama NewsCenter is taking a look at the upcoming season and today is focused on South Alabama.
Alabama NewsCenter: Often, a new coach doesn’t come if things have been going smoothly. (The Jags were 4-7 in 2020 and 9-26 in three seasons under Steve Campbell.) Realizing that neither Rome nor Mobile was built in a day, what are you envisioning for your first season leading the Jags?
Kane Wommack: What you want to do in the first season (is) you want to put a product on the field that’s competitive. We’ve brought a number of guys in that can help us move the dial forward in terms of depth and improving the talent on our roster. I was really pleased with some of the talent that is already on this roster. I think because of that we’re maybe a little further along than where I thought we would be in Year 1. Does that mean we’re gonna win any more games? I can’t tell you those things, but I think this is a program — where we are headed is to be in bowl contention every single year, to go to a bowl game and be in contention of a conference championship year in, year out. I think we are a program that is very capable of that. Whether that happens sooner or later is yet to be determined.
ANC: What is the strength of this year’s team?
Wommack: When you look just simply from a personnel standpoint, certainly the strength is along the defensive line, and then the explosiveness out of our wide receiving corps and the playmaking ability out of that group. You couple that with someone like Jake Bentley at the quarterback position who has thrown for over 8,000 yards in the SEC and has seen a lot of football and had a lot of experiences to refer back upon. I think we do some really impressive things in the passing game as well. Those are some things from a personnel standpoint, from a scheme standpoint. But then (what) I’m probably most excited about is here you’ve got a group of guys that certainly have not won to the level that they would like in the last few years (and) you bring in some newer players. Some of those guys are transfers; some of them are high school players. To see the way that they have really jelled and meshed together to this point is really exciting for me as a coach, to get to watch this team really build that team culture right in front of our eyes. That’s an exciting piece.
ANC: Who are your team’s standouts?
Wommack: I already mentioned Jake Bentley from the quarterback position. Obviously, Jalen Tolbert is a very accomplished receiver in this program already. I was fortunate enough to be a part of recruiting him four years ago. Jalen Tolbert and Jalen Wayne. You look at Caullin Lacy and Allen Dailey Jr.; those are also receivers that have shown some really impressive things. From a defensive perspective, guys like Jamie Sheriff and Charles Coleman III, Wy’Kevious Thomas up front, along with a really impressive linebacking corps in Jamal Brooks and A.J. DeShazor Jr. and Quentin Wilfawn. Then you have difference-makers on the back end like Keith Gallmon Jr. at the safety position. We’re very fortunate to have some very skilled players that also provided a good bit of instincts. I think that is the word I’m looking for.
ANC: What games do your fans have circled on your schedule?
Wommack: Certainly, the Battle for the Belt, the Troy-South game, is one that I was fortunate enough to get to coach in before. The last time I was here we won that game, in fact, in Troy. I think people are excited to play games inside Hancock Whitney Stadium and with a full-capacity crowd. Certainly, the home opener against Southern Miss will be an exciting one for all of us because it’s the first time we’ve ever gotten to do that. As you move forward, Louisiana-Lafayette comes here, (and) Coastal Carolina. Those are two of the best teams in our league that’ll be playing here as well. I think those home opportunities to get to start and begin traditions that will leave a legacy on this campus for years to come, that’s a really exciting piece about being here in South Alabama.
ANC: What is your lingering question?
Wommack: I think that’s yet to be determined. For me as a head coach, you’re building a culture. You’re focused on your personnel. You’re looking at the things that you want to do schematically based off of the personnel that you have. But there’s going to come some type of adversity at some level, at some point in the season, right? Adversity’s going to hit. We talk about Murphy’s Law and our program. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. We have to be prepared for Murphy to show up at any point in time during the season. How we handle that adversity will determine the outcome of our team moving forward from that point on. I’m excited to navigate this team through the adversities and challenges that the season presents. We’re gonna have successes, and we’re gonna have challenges. (We’ll be) operating with a neutral mindset — not too high, not too low — and finding a way to overcome those adversities in order to reach our goals. That’s, to me, the most exciting part about taking over a program as a head coach.
Alabama NewsCenter is posting season previews for all 15 college football programs in Alabama. Read about West Alabama, Tuskegee, Samford, Alabama A&M, Birmingham-Southern, North Alabama and Troy, and look for a new football preview each day this week.
