Jacksonville State University Athletics

Jimmy Ogle will once again coach the Gamecock running backs and serve as the assistant head coach for John Grass in 2021. This season marks the 22nd season for Ogle at JSU and his 21st-straight season coaching the Gamecock running backs. 
 
Ogle has established the Gamecock running attack as one of the best in FCS after leading the Ohio Valley Conference in rushing 10 times, including a school-record 300.7 average in 2015 (3rd nationally). The Gamecocks have led the OVC in rushing in five of the last seven years, all of which have seen them in the top 12 in the national rankings. 
 
His last seven seasons at JSU have seen unprecedented success for the Gamecocks. They are 68-21 and an improbable 47-7 in Ohio Valley Conference play with a league-record five-straight OVC titles from 2014-18 and a sixth title in 2020.
 
His most recent offense in the 2020-21 season featured seven All-OVC players and two All-Americans on offense in tight end Trae Barry and offensive lineman Tylan Grable. That unit led the OVC in total offense and rushing offense. Two of the top rushers in the FCS were part of Ogle’s running back corps, with All-OVC back Josh Samuel ranking fourth nationally in rushing yards and Uriah West ranking 13^th in the nation.
 
The 2020-21 season that was split by the COVID-19 Pandemic saw the Gamecocks win their sixth OVC title in seven years and the ninth with Ogle on the staff. JSU earned the No. 4 National Seed in the FCS playoffs and advanced to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2015.
 
His 2019 offense was the top offense in the OVC, gaining 419 yards per game, while the JSU passing game led the league and ranked 14^th nationally with 296 yards per game.
 
Ogle’s offense was historic in 2018. One of the most prolific attacks in school history rolled up 6,465 total yards, the third-most ever by a JSU team, as well as a school-record 3,864 passing yards. The Gamecocks also scored 520 points, third-most in school history.
 
The 2017 season saw Gamecock football continue along the dominant path it has recently paved in FCS Football. JSU reached as high as the No. 2 spot in the major polls for the fourth-straight year and entered the FCA Playoffs as the No. 3 National Seed, the fourth-straight season that JSU has been one of the top three seeds in the postseason. The Gamecocks went 10-2 and put together their fourth-straight perfect record in OVC play.
 
Running back Roc Thomas was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Year and was an All-American in Ogle’s backfield in 2017. The senior ran for 1,065 yards and led the OVC in scoring with  6.5 points per game. His running mate in the backfield, Tramel Terry, earned OVC All-Newcomer honors.
 
JSU was unbeaten against FCS foes in the 2016 regular season, and Ogle’s offense was a big reason for that. The Gamecocks led the OVC and ranked 20th nationally in Total Offense, while also scoring more than 30 points per game for the fourth-straight season. He used dual-threat quarterback and OVC Male Athlete of the Year Eli Jenkins along with 1st Team All-OVC running back Roc Thomas and 2nd Team All-OVC running back Josh Clemons to amass over 3,000 rushing yards on the season and more than 250 per game.
 
The 2015 campaign took Gamecock football to new heights. A 13-2 record included a 12-game win streak that was one shy of the school record and also featured over 50 school records. The Gamecocks’ lone losses were to No. 6 Auburn in overtime and to North Dakota State in the FCS title game.
 
JSU was ranked No. 1 in the polls for the first time in school history and held that ranking for 11 weeks. The Gamecocks went unbeaten again in the OVC to win their second-straight title and was warded the No. 1 national seed in the FCS Playoffs. JSU stood up to that seeding, downing No. 7 Chattanooga in overtime in the second round before routing No. 8 Charleston Southern and No. 7 Sam Houston State in the quarters and semis, respectively.
 
The Gamecocks were led by senior running back Troymaine Pope, who broke the school and OVC record for rushing yards in a season with 1,788 to earn First Team All-OVC and All-America Honors. He was named the FCS Running Back of the Year by the College Football Performance Awards and paced a JSU ground game that racked up 4,511 yards, the first 4,000-yard season in school history. The JSU offense as a whole scored a school-record 584 points and led the OVC with 507.5 yards per game with a school-record 7,613 yards, the first 7,000-yard season by a JSU team.
 
In 2014, the Gamecocks amassed 285 yards per game on the ground, 25 more than any other previous team in school history, and ranked fourth in the nation in rushing. Senior DaMarcus James earned All-OVC honors by running for 1,151 yards and 14 touchdowns to head a group of four Gamecocks with at least 630 yards. James finished his career under Ogle with 3,554 yards (second all-time) and a school-record 49 rushing touchdowns. Those numbers helped JSU to its fourth OVC crown after a 10-2 record and a perfect 8-0 mark in league games.
 
In 2013, the Gamecock offense set 42 school records en route to their most successful season in the school’s Division I history. James earned numerous All-American honors after a record-breaking junior season in 2013. James, a first-team All-OVC selection, rushed for 1,477 yards on 292 carries to become the school’s single-season rushing leader. The junior running back also set the OVC record with 29 rushing touchdowns to finish second in the nation, and he scored a rushing touchdown in the final 12 games of the season to extend his school record.
 
A quick-strike attack that scored 24 times on drives of less than one minute, the Jax State offense amassed 6,637 yards of total offense, 1,755 yards more than any team in school history, finished with a school-record 3,604 rushing yards on 758 carries, and racked up 528 points, 107 more than the previous record set in 1991. JSU’s 65 touchdowns were a new school record, while its school-record 48 rushing touchdowns also broke the OVC mark.  His running attack also set an FCS record when James, Troymaine Pope, Miles Jones and Eli Jenkins became the first foursome to all run for 100 yards in the same game vs Jacksonville University.
 
In 2012, three different JSU running backs rushed for 100 or more yards in eight games, while the duo of James (120 yards) and Pope (100 yards) both topped the century mark against Chattanooga. For the year, Jax State averaged 191.5 yards rushing per game and finished second in the conference with 217.8 rushing yards against OVC opponents.
 
Ogle helped Jax State claim the 2011 OVC Championship with an offense that averaged 414.9 yards per game against conference opponents, including 245.0 yards on the ground, and an OVC-best 148.8 pass efficiency rating.
 
In 2010, the Gamecocks posted one of the most successful seasons in the school’s Division I history, finishing with a 9-3 overall record, and was ranked as high as No. 2 during the season.
 
JSU also advanced to the second round of the NCAA playoffs and hosted its first home playoff game in 18 years at the newly renovated Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium, while also claiming one of the bibest wins in school history with a 49-48 double-overtime thriller at Ole Miss.
 
Five of his players have rushed for more than 1,000 yards in a single season, led by All-American Clay Green’s total of 1,352 in 2006.  Rondy Rogers set JSU’s school record with 1,417 yards during the 2001 season, Kory Chapman, who played with the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots, recorded the third best single-season rushing mark with 1,285 yards in 2003 and Oscar Bonds finished with 1,263 rushing yards and a school-record 19 rushing touchdowns in 2004. Washaun Ealey helped the Gamecocks to the school’s 18th Conference Championship after rushing for 1,082 yards to earn first team All-OVC honors in 2011.
 
Ogle played at the University of Tennessee from 1991-94 and then served as a student assistant from 1994-97. He spent the next two years as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Knoxville Central High School, where the team finished as the Class 4A State Runners-up.
 
While at Tennessee, he helped the Vols to wins in the Fiesta, Citrus and Hall of Fame bowls as a long-snapper. In 1994, he worked with the UT quarterbacks, including Heisman Trophy candidate Peyton Manning. Tennessee won the 1994 Gator Bowl over Virginia Tech.
The following year, the Vols defeated Ohio State in the Citrus Bowl and then beat Northwestern in the 1996 Citrus Bowl.  Tennessee then claimed the 1997 SEC Championship after defeating Auburn and played Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.
 
Ogle is married to the former Kaci Smith and the couple has one daughter, Abbie, and one son, Jim.