Sun Belt Football

Butch Jones, who coached Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Tennessee before joining Nick Saban's staff at Alabama, has agreed to become Arkansas State's next head coach.

"It is truly an honor and privilege to be the head football coach at Arkansas State University," Jones said in a statement, per ESPN's Chris Low.

"It is a position that I take great pride in, and I look forward to connecting with our student-athletes to build upon the strong tradition of excellence both on and off the field of play."

Jones, 52, has gone 84-54 lifetime. Five of his 11 teams finished in the Top 25 of the Coaches Poll, and four won conference titles.

The former Ferris State football player coached CMU for three seasons, finishing his tenure with an 11-2 mark in 2009. He moved on to Cincinnati in 2010 and left the program after the team won back-to-back Big East titles.

Tennessee then came calling in 2013, and Jones took over the Volunteers' program. The Vols won three bowl games and finished No. 22 in the AP poll in 2015 and 2016. However, the 2017 Vols started the year with a 4-6 mark (0-6 SEC), leading to Jones' dismissal.

Jones then left for Alabama and worked for Saban as an assistant for two years before earning a new title as the special assistant to the head coach in 2020.

Jones will lead an Arkansas State program that went 4-7 this season (2-6 Sun Belt). The Red Wolves had posted nine straight winning seasons beforehand.

Jones is replacing Blake Anderson, who left to become Utah State's head coach.

Two people were charged in connection to the killing of Texas State University defensive back Khambrail Winters, police said Wednesday. 

The San Marcos Police Department announced (via KXAN's Billy Gates) Enalisa Briana Blackman, 20, and Michael Tyreek Ifeanacho, 20, were arrested and charged with capital murder in the case.

Winters was shot and killed Tuesday night in what police said was a drug deal gone wrong. Ifeanacho and Winters allegedly met with Blackman at an apartment complex to buy marijuana, and Winters was shot in the chest during the alleged deal.

Winters was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 20.

"Our Texas State University football team is deeply saddened by the death of our team member, and friend, Khambrail Winters," Texas State coach Jake Spavital said in a statement Wednesday (via Gates). "I met with the players this morning to share the news. We will stand together as a team and support one another during this difficult time. Our thoughts and condolences are with Khambrail’s family and loved ones."

Spavital added Texas State will meet with players to determine how to handle the rest of the week. The Bobcats are currently slated to host Coastal Carolina on Saturday. 

The investigation is ongoing and police are still seeking more information regarding the case. Per the Associated Press, police are seeking to identify two other people possibly involved in the shooting, along with other witnesses.

Georgia State quarterback Mikele Colasurdo announced he will not play in the 2020 college football season after being diagnosed with a heart condition related to COVID-19.

Colasurdo is an incoming freshman at Georgia State. He was ranked as a 3-star recruit coming out of high school and the 61st-ranked pro-style quarterback by 247Sports.

The Sun Belt Conference is one of the smallest conferences to move forward despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with Power Five conferences The Big Ten and Pac-12 already canceling their seasons.

Appalachian State, a member of the Sun Belt, postponed football activities this week after 11 people associated with the program tested positive for COVID-19.

Myocarditis has been found in several athletes who were previously diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. Colasurdo did not specify his specific heart condition. 

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette announced that assistant offensive line coach D.J. Looney died Saturday after suffering a heart attack during a team workout:

Looney, who was 31 years of age, was entering his third season as part of the Ragin' Cajuns coaching staff.

He served as the tight ends coach at Mississippi State in 2017 after playing collegiately for the Bulldogs as an offensive lineman from 2007 to 2010.

University of Tennessee assistant athletic director for football communications Bill Martin, who was part of the MSU staff with Looney, tweeted the following:

Looney was a Chattanooga, Tennessee, native and played his high school football in Birmingham, Alabama.

After playing collegiately with the Bulldogs, Looney got his start in coaching with the team as an offensive graduate assistant under head coach Dan Mullen in 2011. Looney then spent time as an assistant at East Mississippi Community College, Central Arkansas and the University of Georgia.

With Looney on the staff the past two seasons, Louisiana went to back-to-back bowl games for the first time since going to four straight from 2011 to 2014.

The Ragin' Cajuns went 7-7 in 2018 and then enjoyed the most successful season in program history in 2019, going 11-3 and winning the LendingTree Bowl to close the year.

Georgia Southern football player Jordan Wiggins died after being found unresponsive at his residence hall Monday.

He was 18. 

"We are devastated to learn of Jordan's passing," director of athletics Tom Kleinlein said. "Although he has only been on campus for a few months, Jordan has left an indelible mark on our program. He was a great person, a great teammate and a great friend to the entire Georgia Southern community. Our deepest condolences and heartfelt thoughts go out to the Wiggins family, and all those who knew and loved Jordan."

Wiggins was a freshman offensive lineman who had yet to appear in any games for the Eagles. He was expected to redshirt.

"My heart is broken for Jordan, his family, our team and this university," head coach Chad Lunsford said. "Jordan was a great Georgia Southern Man with a bright future. His time on Earth was short, but we know that there is a greater plan, and we must trust that. If he was indeed struggling with some personal issues, I wish the resources that we currently provide our students could have helped more. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone this is affecting."

The Bulloch County Coroner said Wiggins died of suicide by overdose, per Frank Sulkowski of WJCL. The case has been referred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. 

Arkansas State head football coach Blake Anderson announced Tuesday on Twitter that his wife, Wendy Anderson, died Monday night at the age of 49:

According to Chris Bumbaca of USA Today, Wendy Anderson was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. She went into remission, but it returned last year and she did not respond to treatment.

Arkansas State had announced Monday that Blake Anderson was taking a leave of absence from the program to be with his ailing wife.

In Anderson's place, assistant head coach and defensive coordinator David Duggan is serving as the Red Wolves' interim head coach.

The 50-year-old Anderson has been the head coach at Arkansas State since 2014 and has led the Red Wolves to a winning record in each of his five seasons at the helm. It isn't yet known if he will be on the sidelines when Arkansas State opens its season against SMU on Aug. 31.

Blake Anderson noted that he and Wendy were together for 27 years. Wendy is survived by her husband, as well as the couple's three children, Coleton, Callie and Cason.

University of Louisiana head football coach Billy Napier is pushing his scholarship players to give back to the school. 

According to Kevin Foote of The Acadiana Advocate, Napier instituted a new rule in which scholarship players are "encouraged" to be members of the Ragin' Cajun Athletic Foundation for a minimum of $50.

Meanwhile, it is optional for walk-on players to partake.

Napier discussed the rationale behind the new initiative:

"It's all about gratitude. ... That's probably a little bit unheard of and a little bit unique, but I think this is a place where that would be appreciated. I think it's part of the type of program that we want to have. We want our players to be educated and understand the benefits that come with being a student-athlete and that is not something that should be taken lightly—the effort and time and investment that the people that support athletes at UL have put in into this program."

The second-year head coach also discussed his hope that getting players to donate now will galvanize them to continue doing so after their college playing careers are over: "We're trying to create a scenario where five or 10 years from now these are guys who will give back and continue to be a part of the program and realize what this place did for them. I think we got that message across this morning and certainly that was a good thing."

Napier's new rule may be somewhat controversial since he is asking players to make monetary donations despite the fact that they are not paid for the revenue they help generate for the NCAA.

Louisiana hired Napier as its head coach prior to last season after he spent time at Clemson, South Carolina State, Alabama, Colorado State and Arizona State as an assistant.

During his first season at Louisiana, Napier led the Ragin' Cajuns to a 7-7 record and a berth in the AutoNation Cure Bowl.

The prosecutor in Saluda County, South Carolina, dropped a charge of cocaine possession against Georgia Southern quarterback Shai Werts after police identified and tested a substance on the hood of his car, according to Travis Jaudon of the Savannah Morning News. 

Authorities pulled Werts over for speeding and discovered a white powder on his vehicle. Field tests at the scene initially came back as positive for cocaine. Werts, however, told officers it was bird poop he had tried washing off the car.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division performed further tests on the substance and the results came back negative for cocaine.

"As prosecutors, it's quite simple," prosecutor Al Eargle said. "We view a case as it relates to a courtroom and what our burden of proof is, and that is beyond a reasonable doubt. After I extensively looked at everything that law enforcement presented to me, I came to the conclusion that I couldn't meet that burden of proof."

Georgia Southern initially suspended Werts following his arrest and has since lifted the suspension in light of the charge being dropped.

Werts appeared in 13 games last season, throwing for 987 yards and 10 touchdowns and running for 908 yards and 15 scores.

He'll now be available for the Eagles when they start the regular season Aug. 31 on the road against LSU.

Idaho wide receiver Collin Sather died Tuesday morning after being diagnosed with cancer in January.

He was 19. 

"Collin was a tremendous young man and a great teammate," head coach Paul Petrino said. "It is a testament to him to see how many of our players cared so deeply about him and how many lives he touched in the Vandal Family in such a short time. We challenge our players to be tough and always choose character. Nobody did a better job of that than Collin. My time with him made me a better person and I know his teammates feel the same way."

Sather, a redshirt freshman, was diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer in January after suffering stomach pains. He underwent chemotherapy and dialysis, but the cancer spread to his neck and lungs. 

"On behalf of the Vandal Family, our deepest condolences go out to Collin's family and loved ones," said Interim Director of Athletics Pete Isakson. "Collin made a profound impact on the lives of those he touched throughout our department and across the campus community. The loss of a 19-year-old is difficult to comprehend and we are here for anybody who needs help during this challenging time."

Sather was a multi-sport athlete in high school before joining the Idaho football program, where he redshirted in 2018. 

A GoFundMe for Sather's family has reached more than $18,000.