Jags Hire Two New Football Coaches

University of South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones completed his coaching staff for the 2009 season with the announcement Thursday that Greg Gregory and Tommy Perry have been named assistants. The former will serve as offensive coordinator and work with quarterbacks, the latter takes over as running backs coach and special teams coordinator.

Gregory has 15 seasons experience as an offensive coordinator at four schools, including a pair at South Florida after guiding the Bulls’ unit the last two years, and has been a head coach for two years as well since entering the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant in 1980. The Bulls went 8-5 a year ago, picking up a win in the inaugural St. Petersburg Bowl, while recording a 9-4 finish to go along with a berth in the Brut Sun Bowl in his first season running the offense.

Under Gregory’s tutelage, USF quarterback Matt Grothe ranked among the top 30 in the nation in total offense in each of the last two seasons. Mike Ford and Ben Williams collected a combined total of 18 touchdowns in 2007, more than any duo in school history, and the Bulls produced record numbers in total offense yards (5,383) and yards per game (414.1) that fall while scoring an average of 34.7 points per outing.

The Bulls also advanced to the Meineke Car Care Bowl as well as the Papajohns.com Bowl during Gregory’s tenure with the program, winning 32 contests during that stretch. He worked with tight ends his first two seasons at USF.

“Greg wants to be a part of something new, and he brings a wealth of experience. He’s an excellent football coach that I’m excited to bring to USA,” Jones stated. “Obviously, South Florida has built their football program from scratch and we are modeling a lot of the things we do based on what they have done.”

Prior to arriving at South Florida, Gregory was the offensive coordinator at Ohio from 2001-03. His efforts in 2002 helped the Bobcats average 32 points per outing in Mid-American Conference action, the school’s highest figure in 25 years. In 2000, he was an offensive coordinator at Richmond — the Spiders won the Atlantic 10 championship with a 7-1 record, going 10-3 overall after defeating Youngstown State in the opening round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.

Gregory was the head coach at Missouri Southern in 1998 and ’99, guiding the Lions to a two-win improvement in his second season after inheriting a program that forfeited all its victories the year prior to his appointment.

He served as an assistant in several capacities at Army, beginning in 1982 when he was hired to work with Cadet receivers. Gregory moved to guide tight ends and was the junior varsity coach in 1984, beginning a two-season stint leading the program’s running backs the next fall. In 1987, Gregory was shifted to quarterbacks coach, becoming offensive coordinator in 1989 before being promoted to associate head coach in ’91.

During his 16 seasons at Army, the Cadets advanced to four bowl games — still the only ones in the program’s 109-year history — while winning 93 contests. The USMA defeated Michigan State in the Cherry Bowl to wrap up an 8-3-1 record in 1984, his third season on the staff, following up a year later by going 9-3 after defeating Illinois in the Peach Bowl. Army put together another 9-3 campaign in 1988 that ended with a berth in the John Hancock Sun Bowl, while a 10-2 finish in 1996 after reaching the Poulan/Weed Eater Independence Bowl provided the most wins in program history.

His efforts also helped the Cadets claim 10 of 16 match-ups against Navy during that stretch.

Army led the nation in rushing four times while he was with the program. He coached Ron McAda — the only Cadet quarterback to be selected In the National Football League Draft — as well as running back Mike Mayweather, who would go on to rush for more than 4,000 yards in his career.

While coaching at Army, Gregory was a commissioned officer with the rank of captain from 1982-85 as well.

Gregory earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Richmond in 1980, lettering three times as a quarterback for the Spiders. He would go on to earn 24 credit hours in sports psychology graduate studies at Virginia, where he served as a graduate assistant on the Cavalier staff in 1980 and ’81.

He and his wife Judy have two sons, Tate and Grant, and a daughter, Layne.

“It’s always been a goal of mine to be part of a program that is starting from scratch,” said Gregory. “This is a great opportunity — USA is in a hotbed of football from a recruiting standpoint and the athletic director is fully behind the program.

“I arrived at South Florida when the school was entering the Big East Conference, and have seen the results since then. I believe that South Alabama really has a chance to flourish the same way.”

Perry has spent the last three seasons in various roles on the staff at Alabama, working under both Nick Saban and Mike Shula. The Crimson Tide went undefeated in the regular season in the fall, advancing to the Southeastern Conference championship game as well as the Allstate Sugar Bowl. After posting a 12-2 record, the team was ranked sixth in both the final Associated Press and USA Today top 25 polls.

UA finished 7-6 the previous season, defeating Colorado 30-24 in the PetroSun Independence Bowl, while the Crimson tied participated in the same postseason contest his first year as part of the program.

Perry began his coaching career as an assistant strength & conditioning coach at Texas in 2004, also serving as an academic advisor for the Longhorns. He became a linebacker and strength coach at Texas A&M-Commerce later that year, moving over to coach running backs and handle kickoff return duties in 2005 for the Lions. Three of his backs earned all-Lone Star Conference honors that year, including one first-team member who rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 10 games.

His responsibilities at TAMUC also included assisting with the program’s recruiting in Northeast Texas and Northern California.

Perry has additional experience coaching at the professional level after working as a special teams assistant and head strength coach for NFL Europe’s Amsterdam Admirals in 2006. That spring the team posted a 7-3 mark and competed in the World Bowl.

A 2003 graduate of Texas A&M with a degree in English and history, Perry played two seasons — lettering in 2003 — for the Aggies as a fullback, inside linebacker and defensive end while also participating on various special teams units. He was one of four players on the team who served as the program’s 12th man as a senior. He began his career as an inside linebacker at Tyler [Texas] Junior College.

Perry, who earned his master’s degree in health & human performance from Texas A&M-Commerce 2005, is married to the former Angela Perry.

“There’s a lot of energy here in Mobile, everyone I have talked to knows about the program and is excited about it,” Perry stated. “The Mobile area and the Florida Panhandle have a lot of talented players, and there is a lot of momentum behind the program. I’m excited to be a part of this process.”

“I think Tommy gained valuable experience working under Nick Saban,” said Jones. “We expect that he will be able to contribute a lot of things to USA football based on the knowledge that he has gained and things he has seen working at Alabama.”

The Jaguars are scheduled to begin their first-ever spring practice on Monday, March 9. USA has inked 47 recruits for the 2009 season — the school’s first year of competition — since late December.