MOBILE, Ala. -- San Diego Chargers' coach Don Coryell, the NFL's resident genius of the passing game, will have plenty of aerial weapons when he coaches the South team Jan. 14 in the 35th annual Senior Bowl.
Bowl officials announced Tuesday that Coryell will have as his quarterbacks Walter Lewis of Alabama, Maryland's Boomer Esiason and Florida's Wayne Peace.
For wide receivers, Coryell can choose from Alabama's Joey Jones and Jesse Bendross and Southern Mississippi's Louis Lipps.
The South's running backs are no slouches, either. Maryland's Dave D'Addio and Miami's Albert Bentley are pro prospects. Furman's Stanford Jennings and McNeese State's Buford Jordan will also play for the South.
Senior Bowl general manager Bailey Slaton said the South team was blessed with size, speed and a wide assortment of football abilities. It will include 16 seniors from the Southeastern Conference, five of them from SEC champion Auburn and four from Alabama.
The South will be trying to reverse a trend that has seen the North team win seven of the last 10 Senior Bowl games, with one of the contests ending in a tie.
Lewis, the Most Valuable Player in Alabama's recent 28-7 upset of Southern Methodist in the Sun Bowl, follows a long line of Crimson Tide quarterbacks into the Senior Bowl, including Joe Namath, Kenny Stabler, Steve Sloan, Scott Hunter, Richard Todd and Jeff Rutledge.
Alabama coach Ray Perkins has called Lewis the best quarterback he's worked with since Dan Fouts. Lewis completed 56 percent of his passes this season for nearly 2,000 yards.
Peace was even more accurate for Florida, completing 186-of-292 passes for 2,079 yards.
Esiason, who passed for 2,332 yards this year, suffered a shoulder injury in Maryland's loss to Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl, but he has agreed to play in the Senior Bowl if the injury permits.
Lewis will have the benefit of working with two familiar targets in Jones and Bendross. Jones led the Tide with 31 catches last season, followed by Bendross with 27.
Lipps brings even more impressive statistics with him. He caught 42 of Southern Miss' 80 pass completions and excels as a kick returner.
Auburn's Ed West, who Tiger coach Pat Dye calls the most underrated player in the SEC, and Miami's Glenn Dennison are the tight ends. West excelled as a blocker but also led the wishbone team with 16 receptions. Dennison led Miami with 54 catches.
The South defensive front will include Auburn stars Doug Smith and Donnie Humphrey, as well as Freddie Gilbert of Georgia, Eric Holle of Texas and Andre Townsend of Ole Miss.
Florida's Wilber Marshall will lead the linebacker corps that will include Ed Williams of Texas, Jay Brophy of Miami and Kyle Clifton of Texas Christian.
The defensive backfield will include Georgia's Terry Hoage, Vanderbilt's Leonard Coleman, TCU's Allanda Smith, Mossy Cade of Texas and Tony Lilly of Florida.
Auburn's Al Del Greco will handle kicking duties while Alabama's Malcolm Simmons does the punting.
