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With Jacksonville State football entering its fifth week of practice next week, the two new defensive hires have started to make an impact and have gathered early first impression of the Gamecocks.
The bigger hire of the two by Rich Rodriguez was Luke Olson joining the staff at defensive coordinator after Zac Alley left to take the same role with Oklahoma. Olson was the Tulsa defensive coordinator in 2022 and spent 2023 as an analyst at TCU. The other hire was Brandon Napoleon, from Rhode Island, as the safeties coach. They join returning staff members William Green (Defensive line), Terry Jefferson (cornerbacks) and Pat Kirkland (Bandits) on the defensive side.
For Olson, the Jax State job was an opportunity for him to get back into coordinating and calling a defense. While he didn’t know much about the players, or even some of the coaches, he knew Rodriguez and he ended up lucking out with the players.
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“I know about coach Rod and got to talk to him,” Olson said. “I came up here, took the job and hadn’t met the guys yet, hadn’t really met the players yet. I had been out of coordinating for a year and I had the chance to get back into coordinating, call a defense, doing what I love. It just happened to be a really good situation to step into with some kids who want to be great, I’m lucky to be here.”
Olson has been on campus and around the program since late January but has only really been on the field for 10 practices since spring camp started on March 9 in the lead up to the spring game on April 19 at 6 p.m. in JSU Stadium. A major impression that he has seen is the willingness to learn the…
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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/first-impressions-early-impact-jacksonville-090624954.html
Author : The Gadsden Times
Publish date : 2024-04-04 09:06:24
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