Joey Jones Resigns at South Alabama

Earlier today Joey Jones resigned as head football coach from the University of South Alabama Jaguars.  Jones has been the Jaguars only head football coach, with the program starting in 2009 and playing in the FBS in 2012 in the Sun Belt Conference.  So, here is my analysis of the University of South Alabama under head coach Jones since they officially played in the FBS.

Below is a chart of offense, defense and total production of the University of South Alabama football program during Jones' tenure as head football coach, along with who would be the lowest ranked team during this time period (in purple) and the average team (sky blue).  All rankings in this blog come from my Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.  More details about the program under Jones are after the chart below, including a link to his employment contract are below.

Joey Jones [2012-2017*]


2012
The Jaguars were 2-11 (bowl ineligible) during the inaugural season for the University of South Alabama's football program.  South Alabama played against an "easier" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS, meaning that their SOS was between one and two standard deviations above the "league" average SOS.  The Jaguars best game again was their victory over #110 ranked Florida Atlantic University (37-34) and their worst loss was to #119 ranked Hawai'i (7-23).  South Alabama had the #112 ranked team in total production with the #120 ranked offense and the #73 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2013
The Jaguars finished the regular season at 6-6 and while they were bowl eligible, the Jaguars did not merit a bowl invitation, which is unfortunate since this was the best team in terms of productivity during Jones' tenure as head football coach.  South Alabama again played against a "easier" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS.  The Jaguars best game again was their victory over #36 ranked Western Kentucky (31-24) and their worst loss was to FCS Southern Utah (21-22).  South Alabama had the #55 ranked team in total production with the #68 ranked offense and the #29 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2014
South Alabama finished the regular season at 6-6 and were bowl eligible.  This season they did receive a post-season bowl invitation and were defeated by #89 ranked Bowling Green (28-33) in their post-season bowl game to finish 6-7 overall.  The Jaguars played against an "average" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS, meaning that their SOS was plus or minus standard deviation of the "league" average SOS.  The Jaguars best game again was their victory over #34 ranked Appalachian State (47-21) and their worst loss was again to #79 ranked South Carolina (12-37).  South Alabama had the #90 ranked team in total production with the #94 ranked offense and the #76 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2015
The Jaguars finished the regular season at 5-7 and were bowl ineligible.  South Alabama played against an "average" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS.  The Jaguars best game was their victory over #4 ranked San Diego State (34-27) and their worst loss was to #117 ranked Texas State (18-36).  South Alabama had the #108 ranked team in total production with the #106 ranked offense and the #101 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2016
South Alabama finished the regular season at 6-6 and were bowl eligible and lost to #36 ranked Air Force (21-45).  The Jaguars played against an "easier" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS.  The Jaguars best game again was their victory over #6 ranked San Diego State (42-24) and their worst loss was again to #127 ranked Louisiana-Monroe (35-42).  South Alabama had the #77 ranked team in total production with the #80 ranked offense and the #61 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2017*
At the time of Jones' resignation, the Jaguars were 4-7 overall having just lost (0-52) to then winless Georgia Southern and playing against an "average" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS.  The Jaguars best win was against #32 currently ranked Arkansas State by a score of (24-19) and their worst loss was to #118 currently ranked Georgia Southern by a score of (0-52).  At the time of Jones' resignation, South Alabama had the #94 ranked team in total production, with the #111 ranked offense and the #54 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2017 NCAA FBS Head Coach Changes
Minnesota and Tracy Claeys
California and Sonny Dykes
Oklahoma and Bob Stoops
Mississippi (Ole Miss) and Hugh Freeze
UTEP and Sean Kugler
Oregon State and Gary Andersen
Georgia Southern and Tyson Summers
Florida and Jim McElwain
Butch Jones and Tennessee
Jim Mora and UCLA