What Jacksonville State football coach Rich Rodriguez said about new defensive hires
Jacksonville State football coach Rich Rodriguez gave his first public comments since the Gamecocks defensive staff was mixed up this offseason and discussed what he hopes the new hires will bring.
The major change was defensive coordinator Zac Alley leaving to take the same role at Oklahoma. He was replaced by former Tulsa defensive coordinator Luke Olson. The other big move was Brandon Napoleon, a former Rhode Island staffer, taking over the safeties role for Kelvin Sigler.
"With Luke we're pressing the reset button a little defensively, as far as deciding what we want to do. We did a lot of really good stuff last year so we will keep some of that stuff in that our players know well. We're probably add a few wrinkles," Rodriguez said. "...It's time for us to look at some new things but also keep some of the other stuff that we like, that's what we're going right now."
So far Olson and Napoleon are the only two newcomers on the Jax State staff, meaning the offensive side stayed the same. Defensive line coach Will Green and cornerbacks coach Terry Jefferson are both staying on staff in the same roles as last year.
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Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports and Jacksonville State athletics for the Gadsden Times. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Jax State football Rich Rodriguez discusses new defensive hires
