Major Applewhite has been on the go pretty much constantly since being named South Alabama’s head football coach on Jan. 18, so much so that he didn’t get a chance to take in Reese’s Senior Bowl practice until Thursday.

Applewhite was in attendance for the final pre-Senior Bowl practice at Hancock Whitney Stadium, checking out former Jaguars quarterback Carter Bradley and his American team prepare for Saturday’s game. He also spoke briefly with reporters, addressing a number of topics.

• Applewhite said the Jaguars will begin spring practice on Thursday, March 21, then work out three times per week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) leading up to the April 20 spring game. He said the Jaguars will practice on Saturday mornings during the spring, so that recruits and their coaches can visit in person.

“I want to give high school coaches and players an opportunity to be around our program,” Applewhite said. “I think that’s important. I like to get things done during the week, but I also like having that day where people can drive in and be around your program and get a feel for what you’re doing.”

• Applewhite also confirmed the return of former South Alabama inside linebackers coach Will Windham as defensive coordinator. Windham, was dismissed by former head coach Kane Wommack on Dec. 27, and had taken a job at Arkansas State before Applewhite re-hired him to replace the departed Corey Batoon — who was hired last week as defensive coordinator at Missouri.

“Familiarity with the scheme, the familiarity with the program and the recruiting part of it were obviously at the forefront, but then also not just familiarity with the scheme but having been here and understanding the issues — and we’ve played great defense the last three years,” Applewhite said of the reasons he brought Windham back onto the USA staff. “We’ve been in the Top 30 all three years. But you’re always trying to find ways to improve and be better, so just knowing some of the issues we might be facing, whether it’s personnel to schematic things that we wanted to change to do more of or less of, it’s helpful to bring a guy into that room who’s got just three or four months of discovery days that a new coach has to go through, so that’s helped us out.”

Applewhite said he was not yet ready to announce the remainder of his staff, though it has been publicly reported that the Jaguars have hired Effrem Reed as running backs coach, Jason Onyebuagu as offensive line coach and Paul Petrino as wide receivers coach. Cornerbacks coach Jay Hopson and special teams coordinator Tre’ Williams also remain from the previous staff, while former tight ends coach Rob Ezell has been promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

In addition, it appears that Rod Grace will be the Jaguars’ new strength and conditioning coach, replacing Matt Shadeed, who followed Wommack to Alabama. Grace previously served as an S&C assistant at Louisville, and was also on the staff at Houston when Applewhite was head coach there.

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• The Jaguars have not been terribly affected by the re-opening of the transfer portal following Wommack’s departure, with only reserve offensive lineman James Robinson having publicly left the team. Linebacker Khalil Jacobs did enter the portal when Wommack left, but withdrew a few days later and is expected to be among the team’s top players in 2024.

“It was weird timing,” Applewhite said. “For some of those guys it was a tough decision to make, but they put good thought into it and made the best decision for themselves going forward in their career. I’m happy it aligns with our goals to win ballgames. It’s a part of college football that’s broken right now. I’m not saying that being able to transfer is broken, but the way it’s set up it’s not conducive to building rosters and building consistency. But that’s just part of it and you just have to understand it’s the way it is. But when you sit down and you get good counsel and you have smart players who understand where they are and where their career is, you get good decisions like that.”

• Applewhite said he’s gotten a good response while on the road recruiting, though he admits “nobody’s going to tell you to your face they’re not happy to see you.”

“Everybody says they’re happy to see South Alabama in here and happy to hear about the way you’re going to recruit and be aggressive in recruiting and try to get into certain areas,” Applewhite said. “The reception has been great. I’m happy with the solid reception, we’ve got good coaches out on the road recruiting and getting a feel for how to hit high schools. It’s been a good response.”

Applewhite said the Jaguars could sign “a couple of guys” in the late signing period, which begins Wednesday. South Alabama signed 17 high school and junior-college players in December, then added six four-year players through the transfer portal.

Running back Fluff Bothwell of Oneonta High School is the only South Alabama commitment who did not publicly sign his letter of intent in December.