‘Why am I going to punish our players?‘: Jax State coach sounds off on shift from spring games
Teams around the country shifted away from their traditional spring game format, instead opting for a modified practice or a “spring showcase” format for fans to watch.
Alabama, UAB, and South Alabama were some of the teams in the state making the changes. One goal was to reduce the number of players seen as potential transfer portal targets by other teams.
Not Jacksonville State.
New head coach Charles Kelly held a draft before the game to determine the “red” and “white” teams, selecting three players for each team to select players, coaches and support staff; the winning got steaks to eat and the loser had beanie weenies.
Kelly said the decision to have a spring game was easy for him, especially since his players adapted well to the change in coaching.
“They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do,” he said following the game. They went through the fourth-quarter drill and we jumped into spring practice. Our practices are not easy. It took about probably eight practices for them to figure out not what’s expected — they were doing it hard — but just how we do things. Nobody ever stands around, everything’s moving.
“Rich Rod did a great job here, because the guys that were the few guys that were left over here, they knew how to work, but it’s different. They were fast on offense, but we’re fast in everything that we do in the kicking game, so they did all that.”
Kelly pointed to the fear of players getting picked up in the transfer portal, but stressed that it didn’t make as much of a difference as some coaches across the country may think.
“Why am I going to punish our players and not have a game when all they’ve done is work? I’m not going to do that,” Kelly said. “Everybody’s worried about somebody poaching their players. They’re not going to post them in the spring game, they’ve been trying to poach our guys since the day I got here. So, what’s a spring game going to do?”
Among the players who shined in the game was TCU transfer running back Cam Cook, who made multiple runs that saw him power through defenders and get involved in the passing game a few times.
The running back said he felt the team was “really excited” to play in a meaningful game to end spring.
“Everybody was ready to fire off and play fast,” he said. “Me specifically, I wanted to get back in the mix of things. Get back running, running through contact and being able to see that stuff live; it makes a big difference for everybody.”
Kelly said that players being involved and competitive is what’s so important about a spring game, especially with a team that has some new faces and a new coaching staff.
Jax State will open up the regular season on Aug. 28 at UCF.
“You learn how to play the game by playing the game, and I just think that’s important,” he said. “I’m not going to let the circumstances of college football change the way we do things.
“We’re going to do things the way we do.”