The South Alabama Jaguars are coming off their most successful season in school history going 10-2. Their only two losses came to UCLA, in a heartbreaking one-point loss, and to Troy, in a hard-fought defensive battle. Their next matchup will be with the 8-5 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, as they’ve accepted a bid to play in the New Orleans Bowl. The Jaguars are looking to garner their first bowl win in the school’s history.
Jaguars HC Kane Wommack is no stranger to the New Orleans Bowl having participated in it as a player in his college days. When asked about his history with the New Orleans Bowl he responded, “Yeah I played in it in back-to-back years actually, in 2008 and 2009. Both years I was at Southern Miss at the time, first year we played Troy and blocked a field goal to win the game. The next year we played Middle Tennessee.”
The Jaguars have also recently received AP Top 25 votes for the first time in the program’s history. “It’s great to get that attention and recognition for our program,” says Kane. He’d go on to talk about the advantage that gives them in recruiting now that his staff is able to go out on the road and speak to prospects. “From a recruiting standpoint, I think our name is as positive and as energetic as it’s ever been.”
The good fortune doesn’t stop there for Coach Wommack though, over the weekend he received a contract extension through the year 2028. When asked about that he provided a gracious response. “That certainly was a great opportunity for us and our staff as well this past week. Our administration has done such a phenomenal job on providing the resources that we need to be competitive in football. Football can be a lightning rod of opportunities, so I’m glad to be doing our part there and am really appreciative of being recognized.”
Kane doesn’t accept all the credit though, with Kane “everybody eats”, he’d go on to state, “We wanted to make sure that with that contract extension, some of the opportunities for staff raises amongst that. That was the priority for us and our administration recognized that, and so that is where we chose to put the vast majority of our resources into. I think that puts us in a really competitive position in the Sun Belt moving forward.”
In the recent climate of college football, it’s become commonplace for star players to opt out of playing in their team’s bowl games. We asked Kane if he had any concerns or issues like that surrounding his team. He responded, “I’ll be honest with you, we don’t have those issues on our team right now. Our guys are ready to go, they can’t wait to play in the game. We’re going to walk into New Orleans at full force.”
Kane would go on to reiterate his excitement of playing in a bowl game so close to home and in a city with so much history linked to the city of Mobile. The New Orleans Bowl, played on December 21st in primetime, is the only college bowl game played on that day. Kane and his Jaguars are excited to take advantage of being in the spotlight and showing the nation what exactly South Alabama football is all about.
