Jaguars wrap up fall camp

The Southern football team wrapped up camp and has one more scrimmage before the season opener two weeks away at the SWAC/MEAC Challenge in Orlando, Fla.
The Jaguars take on Delaware State at Citrus Bowl Stadium Sunday, Sept. 5 at 11 a.m. local time (noon Eastern). The game will be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN-HD and ESPN3.com.
This will be a season of first for the Jags with a new head coach, new coaching staff and a new record on the horizon.
Head coach Stump Mitchell is aiming for a 12-0 record this season and strongly feels this year’s football team can do just that.
The Jags’ camp went well this spring and summer and their first scrimmage left Mitchell confident that his team can run the table and win the SWAC championship. He says that they are healthy and were able to come away from camp with few injuries.
“There were minor injuries dealing with the heat and one broken body part for one player,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell says he sees growth and development with the offensive and defensive linemen and they are in better shape than previous years. To help whip the team into better shape the staff placed a premium weightlifting and conditioning drills.
When it comes to who will be the starting quarterback or on the starting line up come the opening game, Mitchell said it is not set in stone.
“Every player is evaluated daily and those that are not starters need to work hard because if anyone slips, there is room for line up changes,” he said.
For the next two weeks up until the season opener, Mitchell says that they have to concentrate on doing things the right way.
“There are no little steps and every step we take is to the big goal and that is to be 12-0, SWAC champs and black college national champions with the opportunity to go to the White House and meet the president,” Mitchell said.
Jags safety Jason House said he sees improvement in the team and feels that they can have a 12-0 record. As for his own personal goals, he hopes to increase from his last year’s stats.
“I’m more comfortable at the position after playing it last year,” House said.
The coaching staff is new except for two holdovers, strength coach Thomas Hall and wide receiver coach Eric Dooley.
House said that at first it was difficult to adjust but quickly accepted the challenge and the team took on their role. He said that it was easy adjusting to Mitchell because he is a very enthusiastic person that gets you going and has no problem with motivating you.
Mitchell said they are adjusting well in terms of them as the coaches and doing what they need to do on and off the field.
In addition to improving the team on the field, Mitchell said that school comes first then football. He encourages his players to study and to get the education that they need to be successful four to five years down the road off the field.