South Alabama Brief

So, I think there might not be too many D1 football programs that BG fans were less familiar with than South Alabama.  So here's a little primer.

University of South Alabama was founded in 1964.  They have about 16,000 students, which is about the size of BG.  The University is in Mobile, Alabama, and play in the stadium where the GMAC/Go Daddy bowl is held.

They have a medical school.  You have probably seen something on the web about their 14% graduation rate, which seems to come from the Chronicle of Higher Education.  Using the same report, BG has a 32% rate.

The most notable sport that USA has competed in was baseball.  For a long time, they were coached by major league great Eddie Stanky....graduates include David Freese, Adam Lind and Juan Pierre, among others.

They started their football program in 2009.  They played a couple of years of "unclassified status/"  They played one year as an FCS independent and now three years as a full FBS member of the Sun Belt Conference.  They were 2-10 their first year, and then went 6-6 each of the last two years.

They are coached by Joey Jones.  Jones is a Mobile native who went to Alabama to play for The Bear.  He was an all-SEC WR, and then he played in the USFL and the NFL, for one season with the Atlanta Falcons.

Jones was a successful HS Coach and then coached for one year in DIII ball before taking the job at South Alabama.  According to the USA Today database of coaching salaries, his base salary is around $30K more than Dino Babers.