South Alabama begins preseason football practice on Wednesday, in preparation for its first season under coach Major Applewhite.

The Jaguars return eight starters for 2024, five on offense and three on defense. Last year’s team went 7-6 and won the 68 Ventures Bowl under since-departed head coach Kane Wommack.

We looked at South Alabama’s offense on Tuesday, so here’s a position-by-position breakdown of where things stand with the Jaguars’ defense/special teams:

Defensive line

What has been the deepest position group on the team in recent years took a major hit in the offseason, with the loss of two multi-year starters and two other career-long contributors. The good news is that the graduation exodus did not include nose guard Wy’Kevious “Bubba” Thomas, who is back for his senior year and is arguably the most indispensable player on the team. Veterans Maurice Strong (who was granted a seventh season of eligibility by the NCAA) and Carlos Johnson give the Jaguars three quality senior interior defenders. Junior Lamondre Brooks has been troubled by injuries off and on in his career, but will get a chance to fill the Bandit (pass-rushing) defensive end spot. Ed Smith showed flashes of potential in the spring of 2023, but is coming off a knee injury that cost him all of last season and kept him out this past spring. RJ Moss was a highly thought-of recruit who could also break through this season. Of the newcomers, junior-college transfer Jalyn Durgan and true freshmen Nathan Jennings and Achilles Wood seem likeliest to have a role in 2024. Redshirt freshman Jordan Norman and a pair of redshirt freshman transfers — Tre Brown (Texas Tech) and Tyler Thomas (UAB) — have promise for the future if not this season.

Linebackers

Of all the position groups on the South Alabama roster, this one was most devastated by graduation/the transfer portal. Quentin Wilfawn, Trey Kiser and James Miller finished first, third and fourth on the team in tackles last season, but all were seniors. Khalil Jacobs was fifth on the team in stops and fourth in tackles for loss, but he’s now at Missouri. What’s left at the two inside positions are promising sophomore Blayne Myrick, converted outside ‘backers Gavin Forsha and Dalton Hughes, Maine transfer Darius McKenzie, program veteran Chrystyile Caldwell and walk-on Emauri Sibley. Myrick has seven career tackles, while Forsha, Hughes, Caldwell and Sibley have played primarily special teams thus far and McKenzie was at the FCS level a year ago. Things are a bit more encouraging at the Wolf (outside) linebacker position, where transfers Aakil Washington (Liberty) and Courtney McBride (Florida Atlantic) both have shown play-making ability on the major-college level. Freshmen Will Felton, Julian Demby and Parker Shattuck will look for roles on special teams.

Cornerback

Ricky Fletcher is back after enjoying something of a breakthrough in 2023, totaling 12 pass breakups in his first year as a starter. He and sixth-year senior Dallas Gamble are the only returning players who have played significant defensive snaps at South Alabama, as two-year starter Marquise Robinson left via the portal for Arkansas. Reggie Neely, a junior-college transfer in 2023, and Jordan Scruggs, who took the same route this past spring, will also compete for starting jobs. Also back is former Purdue transfer Jordan Buchanan. Freshman Amarion Fortenberry impressed during the spring, and could see the field quite a bit this fall. Fellow signee Cube Gurley arrived over the summer.

Safety

This is another position group where the transfer portal took its toll, as three-year starting Husky (nickel) safety Yam Banks left for Ole Miss and Keith Gallmon — a former three-year starter who missed all of 2022 and most of 2023 due to injury — will finish his career on the FCS level at Austin Peay. All-Sun Belt safety Jaden Voisin also toyed with the portal before returning after a 2023 season in which his 71 tackles were nearly double the total of any other returning player (Thomas had 38). Wesley Miller, Mike Harris and Rickey Hyatt — all former transfers from power-conference programs — each got quality playing time at safety last season, and will combine to fill out the rest of the two-deep there. Banks will be harder to replace, with Scruggs (if he’s not playing cornerback), Oklahoma State transfer Lardarius Webb Jr., converted corner Brian Dillard and veteran walk-on Christopher Wallace competing at nickel as they did in the spring. Mississippi State transfer Trent Singleton and redshirt freshman Cole Blaylock will look to contribute on special teams, while true freshmen Ty Goodwill and Damyrion Darby will almost certainly redshirt.

Special teams

The Jaguars graduated kicker Diego Guajardo, the program’s all-time leader in points and field goals. East Carolina transfer Laith Marjan and walk-on Hamilton DiBoyan competed to replace him in the spring, but freshman signee Davis Little will have a chance to win the job in the preseason. Jack Martin is back at punter after starting in 2023, but will be pushed by redshirt freshman Aleksi Pulkkinen, a native of Finland. Three-year-starting long-snapper Travis Drosos transferred to UCLA, with holdovers Anthony Zaccaro and Baxter Turner and Air Force prep transfer Grant Rountree set to battle for that job in 2024. Running backs Braylon McReynolds and Kentrel Bullock will likely handle kickoff returns again this season, with receiver Jamaal Pritchett probably getting first crack at replacing Caullin Lacy (who transferred to Louisville) on punt runbacks.

South Alabama opens the 2024 season at home Aug. 31 vs. North Texas.