Another down, four to go.
On Nov. 20, Joey Jones, the only head coach the program has ever had, stepped down at South Alabama. Just over two weeks later, the Sun Belt Conference school announced that Steve Campbell has been hired to lead the Jaguars’ football program.
“I was born and raised in this area, just down the road outside of Pensacola, and have always felt that if South Alabama started football it would be a gold mine, a place where the sky is the limit and you can definitely compete for championships at the highest level,” said the 51-year-old Campbell. “Coach Jones did a terrific job of getting the program started and laying a tremendous foundation. This is an opportunity to get back home and, more than that, to take what Joey has started and raise it to the next level and win some championships.”
Campbell comes to USA from Central Arkansas, where he went 33-15 during his four seasons with the FCS school. He’s also previously served as the head coach at Div. II Delta State.
Campbell is taking over a program that will enter just its seventh season as an FBS program next season. In Jones’ last season, the Jaguars went 4-8. They had qualified for a bowl game in two of the previous three seasons.
With Campbell’s hiring, it leaves Kent State, Louisiana, Oregon and Louisiana as the only FBS schools still searching for a head coach.