South Alabama Football

[GeauxSioux]

New era dawns for USA

For a majority of college football supporters in the Pensacola area, there is a big four.

Alabama. Auburn. Florida. Florida State.

Now, make room for a new program likely to alter the FloraBama landscape: University of South Alabama.

The Jaguars have begun football operations in Mobile and will take the field for their first season in 2009. The impact of the head coach Joey Jones' program will be felt all along the Gulf Coast, perhaps even more so in this area than any other region.

The Jaguars will play between three to five games in 2009. They will play at 40,000-seat Ladd-Peebles Stadium, site of the Senior Bowl, in midtown Mobile. In 2010, South Alabama will play 10-12 games as a Division I-AA member.

The Jaguars will then begin their transition into Division I-A, playing two full seasons in Division I-AA before making the jump to Sun Belt Conference play in 2013.

[star2city]

South Alabama (USA) had a change in Presidents a couple of years ago. The former president treated USA's endowment (270 Mil) like his own private treasury (the endowment board had all his people, who were paid ungodly salaries). When USA was started as a school in 1960, the state gave the school rights to off-shore oil royalties. When the royalties started to quickly pile up faster than anyone would have imagined, the state changed course and took back the royalties for its own treasury.

Since the new president came aboard, the amount of construction on campus has been unreal (after basically nothing in the 1990's): a new on-campus cancer research center (USA and its medical school operate a couple of hospitals in Mobile), a new student fitness center, an indoor practice facility, started softball with good facilities, upgraded the outdoor track, a major upgrade to the baseball stadium, a decent library addition, a research park, a 10,0000 seat basketball arena (Mitchell Center), a huge privately funded student apartment complex, and a very nice and large outdoor intramural park.

With the amount of football talent in Mobile and surrounding areas, it could become a good team quickly. Southern Mississippi is probably the program that may be most affected.

[GeauxSioux]

and the construction continues. I received plans this morning on a 116,000 square foot Student Recreation Center bidding next month.

[MplsBison]

Southern Mississippi is probably the program that may be most affected.

Possible but I doubt it.

USA will likely stick to the Mobile/Pensacola area, which is about a million people considering Mobile county, Baldwin county (east Mobile bay) and Pensacola all within an hour drive on I10.

USM, as the name implies, is the southern Miss area, including Gulfport/Biloxi inland to Hattisburg.

[star2city]

Possible but I doubt it.

USA will likely stick to the Mobile/Pensacola area, which is about a million people considering Mobile county, Baldwin county (east Mobile bay) and Pensacola all within an hour drive on I10.

USM, as the name implies, is the southern Miss area, including Gulfport/Biloxi inland to Hattisburg.

Gulfport/Biloxian's are more likely to drive to Mobile (or Slidell/New Orleans) than Hattiesburg (more services and better beaches in Al and Fla). Although, Hattiesburg's progressiveness would surprise alot of northerners. USM (as well as Troy and USA)) is benefitting from Alabama and Auburn being at or near student capacity.

The growth around Mobile, Eastern Shore, and the Florida Panhandle to Panama City is just getting unreal. Several different initiatives are under way to create new communities of 100,000 from scratch (another one just announced today by International Paper in Baldwin County).

[GeauxSioux]

Star is right the I-10 corridor is booming, from the Panhandle to Diamondhead, MS. I can see kids from the Panhandle much more inclined to go to USA rather than USM for football. USM does recruit students and athletes very well from Louisiana, but I can see the pipeline from the Panhandle being turned off with the a new valve installed in Mobile redirecting the flow of students to USA.

[MplsBison]

Gulfport/Biloxian's are more likely to drive to Mobile (or Slidell/New Orleans) than Hattiesburg (more services and better beaches in Al and Fla).

This is certainly true for shopping.

But when it comes to supporting a public school football team, I think you'll find that most people in the south are very provincial.

If they live in Biloxi, they're more likely to support Southern Miss just because it's Miss over USA.

[star2city]

This is certainly true for shopping.

But when it comes to supporting a public school football team, I think you'll find that most people in the south are very provincial.

If they live in Biloxi, they're more likely to support Southern Miss just because it's Miss over USA.

Southern Miss does have a branch campus near Biloxi, so that has an effect. But many Mississippi Coast residents (who remain after Katrina) are not Mississippi natives or are Ole Miss or Miss St fans. What I was referring to was recruiting: USA will give USM a challenge. A good portion of Auburn's recent talent has been Mobile inner city or middle-class black-majority (whose parents went to Alabama State) high schools who grew up Alabama fans even though their parents went to Alabama State. JaMarcus Russel grew up a Bama fan (at least I was told), but went to LSU, even though Bama recruited him harder than anyone.

[MplsBison]

What I was referring to was recruiting: USA will give USM a challenge

If you'd have said that I would've agreed with you right off the bat.