Return home:Jags' Perry heading to North Texas

[Harry]

"We played them [North Texas] last year there and I was real impressed with the facilities they have there. My family was able to come, which was nice because my family doesn't usually get to come to the games. That was special. When they lost their special teams coordinator to Arkansas State we were able to get a dialogue going.

"The more I found out about Dan McCarney (head coach) and when you look at it, it's so close to both Angela's parents and my parents. It was a hard deal not to take it. It's a little bit of a (pay) bump too, which is always nice. But it came down to location, my roots in recruiting and being so close to my family.''

Perry was known for his booming voice and enthusiasm during South Alabama practices and games, especially in working with special teams.

'The whole reason I came here was to do something nobody's ever done before; to take something from scratch, to take something from nothing,'' Perry said. "I think especially in special teams we were compared against anybody we played and I don't think there was anybody we lined up with while we were here that we weren't competitive with on special teams. That's a really great feeling to have when you can go out on an ACC field or a SEC field and know you can hold your own and maybe be a little dangerous. Look at the kickers we were able to produce in Jordan Means and Michel Chapuseaux. Then you look at some of the running backs we had that has success.''

Jags' head coach Joey Jones said he is happy for Perry and pleased with the work he produced while with the South Alabama program.

"Tommy brought a lot to our football program. He's a very knowledgeable special teams guy and a great staff guy. I wish him the best at North Texas. I know he's going home - he'll be an hour away from his home and I know that means a lot to him and we wish him the best.''

Perry and his wife Angela are awaiting the birth of their second child. The baby's due date is Monday and he has been working from home in recent days because of the closeness of the due date. Perry said Jones and new boss McCarney "have both been great'' in understanding his situation and allowing him the freedom to be at home right now.

Read more: http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/01/return_home_main_reason_jags_p.html

[Christopher Walker]

'The whole reason I came here was to do something nobody's ever done before; to take something from scratch, to take something from nothing,'' Perry said.

Well, this makes me nervous. It was my understanding that we were historically good at ST, Atterberry and all that jazz; so why would he need to start from scratch??

Please someone asure me otherwise.

[bstnsportsfan3]

Well, this makes me nervous. It was my understanding that we were historically good at ST, Atterberry and all that jazz; so why would he need to start from scratch??

Please someone asure me otherwise.

He was talking about helping start of South Alabama from scratch