MOBILE, Ala. – If one is looking for an example of the value of the college experience, for someone who has taken advantage of the opportunity to learn, grow and prepare for life beyond school, they need to look no further than the offensive backfield of the University of South Alabama football program.
Over the course of the last three-plus seasons, they would have seen senior running back Xavier Johnson's numbers advance to the point now — midway through his final campaign — where he is just yards shy of becoming the Jaguars' all-time leading rusher. But to ask members of the South coaching staff about Johnson's performance since coming to the Mobile campus in the fall of 2013, his production on the field may not match his advancement off of it.