Charles Kelly accuses teams of ‘poaching’ off Jax State football

JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville State football still went through a spring game scrimmage for its fans, even as colleges across the country have bucked the trend.

Some like Alabama have converted it to a spring practice, while others have talked about getting rid of it, or at least keeping it behind closed doors. The Gamecocks, as a Group of 5 program that could have players transfer as soon as the game ends in theory, still kept the format under first-year head coach Charles Kelly.

It’s not that they are concerned about players being ‘poached’ by Power conference teams, it’s been that way since Kelly arrived.

“Everybody’s worried about someone poaching their players. They’re not going to poach them in the spring game. They’ve been trying to poach them since the day I got here,” Kelly said. “What’s the spring game going to do?

“I’m not going to let the circumstances of college football change the way that we do things. We’re going to do things they way we do them.”

The spring game showed growth from plenty of position groups, especially the secondary. It also brought the level of competitiveness Kelly wanted even if the stakes were a steak dinner or hot dogs and beans.

“The only way you learn how to play this game is by playing. There were a lot of situations out there in that game tonight especially In the two minutes,” Kelly said.

Source link : https://www.gadsdentimes.com/story/sports/college/2025/04/17/charles-kelly-accuses-teams-of-poaching-off-jax-state-football/83150172007/

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Publish date : 2025-04-18 02:34:00

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