BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Valdosta State head football coach Tremaine Jackson is not satisfied with merely the share of the Gulf South championship the Blazers won in 2023.
At the Gulf South Conference Media Day Thursday, Jackson said the mission to win the Division II national title continued. FloFootball streamed the Gulf South’s Media Day.
“There is only one team that’s going to be happy at the end of every year on every level,” said Jackson. “That’s the team that holds up the national championship trophy.”
Though that of course is the main goal for the Blazers, Jackson did commend his team on their growth in his second season as their leader. “We do value the growth and we look forward to continuing to grow and get better.”
Valdosta State made the DII quarterfinals last year on a 12-2 record. They went 7-1 in the GSC to earn a share of the title with Delta State. The Fighting Okra were the only team to win over VSU in the regular season, but couldn’t win the crown outright because of a loss to West Florida.
The Blazers thundered through two rounds of national playoffs, posting 62 points on Limestone, then upsetting Delta State in Mississippi to reach the quarterfinals. There, VSU dropped a 35-7 game in heavy, heavy rain.
Asked at Media Day when he saw that their championship capabilities, Jackson said it was quite early: Fall camp. He believes in a more strenuous fall camp experience, so for the players who make it through, Jackson feels it becomes a bonding experience.
VSU enters 2024 as the preseason favorite in the Gulf South. That makes no difference to their mindset, Jackson set.
“We don’t believe in the pre(season),” he said. “We believe in the post(season). We’re trying to get ourselves where we can get to the postseason.” Jackson smiled at the ranking. “That’s cute.”
Jackson was unable to say who all exactly would be back on the roster. Like many coaches, he lives week to week on what his roster can be. He could confirm Sammy Edwards, VSU’s quarterback.
Looking across the table, Jackson said, “I know he’s back because I brought him here today.”
“We know we have some people we can put around him to make our offense better,” he said. Jackson said the Blazers can improve on that side of the ball. Their success has meant that many staff have left because other schools have offered them positions.
Jackson said he was unable to say if schematically VSU would resemble what it did last year. He said they would morph to the personnel they had. “We look forward to getting in the building Aug. 6 and finding out what we have, and we’ll go from there on what we want to be.”
The new college athletics news on transfers have meant that Jackson said he works on recruiting every day, though he said his process really has not changed much over 20 years.
Camp begins Aug. 6. The first game on the schedule is Aug. 31 against Albany State. Jackson said the Rams’ power means his crew won’t get a chance to warm up to the year, on top of only having 21 days of camp.
Edwards chimed with Jackson on 2023’s finish. “We had a good year, but not even close to what we’re expecting this year.”
VSU’s offense was explosive last year. Edwards believes they will be even faster this time. He had kudos for the defense that matches up against him in practice and all the looks and plays they throw at him. “This is the toughest thing we’ll go against all season,” he said. “Those guys have done a tremendous job learning that defense in the summer.”
Jackson hopes year three will be smoother for the defense, that they are now more familiar with play packages. “I’m looking forward to seeing those guys improve.”
Though offense is seemingly always at the forefront — especially with the Blazers’ rich history of offensive excellence — Jackson knows the importance of stopping their opponents as well.
“You’ve never see Valdosta State win when they’ve been outscored,” he said. “We have to make sure we play great defense.” That not only applies to the 11 men on the field on that side of the ball. A turnover on offense is bad defense, Jackson said.
Edwards laughed that his summer wasn’t very exciting. He was in the classroom and expects to graduate this fall. A lot of training, but not much football for everybody, he said, and they are ready to progress to the season.