ELLISVILLE – There is a sense of newness all over for the running backs at Jones County Junior College.

Not only do the Bobcats have three new running backs on the 2009 roster, they also have a new running backs coach.

Junior college coaching veteran J. Mike Smith is now the running backs coach at JCJC. Smith comes to Jones after serving at Hinds Community College for the past 22 years, including the past six years as head coach.

Smith retired after the 2008 season and now loves his role at JCJC. His son, Hunter, is also a trainer on the team.

“It is a breath of fresh air for me,” he said. “I am really enjoying it. There are some really good people down here.

“I’m getting my son involved in school here and we are having a great time.”

In the backfield, Smith is tutoring redshirt freshman Kwumaine “Bubba” Brown (5-10, 195) of Osceola High School in Kissimmee, Fla., Bay Springs freshman Justin Gaines (5-10, 190) and Laurel freshman La’Darious Portis (5-10, 190).

Brown was one of the most highly sought after players in Florida during his senior prep season in 2007. He signed with Kansas State University, but was placed into Butler Community College (Kan.). He also had offers from West Virginia University and the University of Central Florida coming out of high school.

As a high school senior, Brown carried 294 times for 2,405 yards and 44 touchdowns. He averaged 8.2 yards per carry and was second runnerup for “Mr. Football” in the state that year.

Smith said Brown has impressed in preseason workouts.

“Bubba has been the main guy so far,” he said. “He is a complete back. He is a playmaker with great speed and he can block as well. He is knowledgeable with what he is doing and the experience of being in college for a year helps him a whole lot.

“Once he breaks the line of scrimmage, he is the kind of guy that can take it to the house. He does a pretty good job of blocking and he can be a great one. He has quick feet and he does things you just can’t coach.”

Gaines has also done well in practice and has impressed the coaches with his work ethic.

“He is probably not the overall complete back type of player, but the thing you really notice with Justin is that he is going to work really hard at everything he does,” said Smith. “He is going to get better and better because he is such a hard worker. He picks up things really well, scheme-wise.

“I guess picking up the blitz is a bit of a weakness for him because of his overall size. But he works very hard and he will play hurt. He has a chance to improve day-by-day.”

Portis is more of a power back for the Bobcats. He adds another dimension to the team.

“If you look at him, La’Darious has more of a true fullback body than a tailback body,” said Smith. “He has got fairly good movement. He is not going to outrun anybody when he breaks to the next level because he does not have that type of speed.

“We have used him as a fullback when we line up in short yardage situations and as a fullback in the I-formation, things like that.”

Smith said all three running backs bring a little something different to the table and all three have been doing well in preseason.

“They are all basically good kids,” he said. “They don’t miss much practice and they get their reps. We have some good competition and good balance with those three.

“Bubba is the complete back, Justin does everything we ask him to do and La’Darious is more of a power back. They give us a solid 1-2-3 punch.”

Smith also noted all three backs have good hands, which is important to the type of offense the Bobcats run.

“Not only can they run it well, but they can catch it, too,” said Smith. “They have responded well to all aspects of it – running game, passing game and blitz pick-up.”

Coaching running backs has also been an adjustment for Smith. The Magee High School product went to Co-Lin and was named a first-team NJCAA All-American as a lineman.

He has coached only offensive and defensive lines his whole career, until he arrived to work for head coach Eddie Pierce and the Bobcats. But he was familiar with the Bobcats’ scheme because he coached with JCJC offensive coordinator/quarterbacks/receivers coach Brad Griffin at Hinds.

“I have never coached anything other than the line,” said Smith. “I kind of knew what they did, but not really the specifics. When you don’t coach them directly, you don’t get to learn the nuts and bolts of it.

“But Coach Griffin is an outstanding offensive coordinator and I was familiar with what they were doing because we were doing things very, very, very similar when I was at Hinds.”

Smith has been pleased with the welcome he has received from the coaches, staff and everyone on the JCJC campus.

“The folks here have been good to me,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun. I hope we can have a great year and I hope I can contribute in some way or another to help us win a state championship.”

JCJC, ranked No. 14 in the NJCAA/JCfootball.com preseason poll, opens the season at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27, at Itawamba Community College. The game can be heard on www.jcjc.edu and on WGDQ-FM, 93.1, with Lance Pittman calling the play-by-play and Mark Easley providing color commentary. The pregame show begins at 6:30 p.m.