Intensity high for Southern Jaguars football practices

On Friday morning, as the first session of Southern’s spring football practice began, a walk-on got his gear and reported for duty, and he cautiously approached the field at Mumford Stadium, searching for his new position coach. Defensive coordinator O’Neill Gilbert told the player to sprint until he found the right spot. Why? Because at SU, under new coach Stump Mitchell, players won’t walk anywhere.

“I think they’re all getting an earful on the offensive side,” Mitchell said. “They’re probably all tired of me. But that’s the way it is because I’m the one installing the offense. I know what I want to see, and they’re still learning. But we’re not going to set (ourselves) up for mediocrity just because they don’t know.” Of course, the new-sheriff-in-town routine is nothing new when programs make a coaching change, but at Southern, under Mitchell, that notion has some meat to it. Monday morning, one veteran player showed up late for the team’s 5:30 a.m. practice. At the end, while the rest of the players returned to the field house, the late comer was treated to a series of bear crawls and barrel rolls.

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