Jacksonville State coach interested in Perrilloux

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. (AP) -Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe has spoken to the family of former LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux about a possible transfer to an FCS team with no scholarship quarterbacks on the roster.

Crowe said Tuesday he also had a lengthy discussion with LSU coach Les Miles, who kicked Perrilloux off the defending national championship team after repeated off-the-field problems.

"Les was very kind to spend quite a bit of time explaining the situation to me," Crowe told The Associated Press. "He's very optimistic about him being a successful player and a successful student-athlete."

Crowe said Miles felt Perrilloux arrived with expectations to play as a freshman, but that opportunity diminished.

Perrilloux, who instead was a backup to JaMarcus Russell and Matt Flynn, can transfer to a Football Championship Subdivision team such as Jacksonville State without having to sit out a year. The Gamecocks' 2007 starter, Cedric Johnson, was kicked off the team after the season for violating team rules.

Two other quarterbacks left the team and another graduated. That leaves two signees, one of whom Crowe planned to grayshirt and have enroll after the 2008 season.

"We've signed a couple of good young players," he said. "This would be a natural choice for somebody that may want to move into an opportunity at quarterback."

Crowe said he was still performing his "due diligence" and hadn't talked to Perrilloux yet.

He said he had had been looking for a transfer to give the Gamecocks some experience at the position.

"I've talked with numerous possibilities," Crowe said. "We were looking. This didn't just come knock on our door. We've been looking."

Once one of the nation's top quarterback prospects, Perrilloux was suspended three times over the past year.

He was on the fringe of a counterfeiting investigation and was caught trying to enter a Baton Rouge casino with false identification. He also was involved in a nightclub fight in November. That caused him to miss a game at Alabama, though he was cleared of wrongdoing.