Wake Forest Athletics
GOLD RUSH: Jackson Back Where He Started
9/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sep 9, 2013
This article was originally published in the September 2013 edition of Gold Rush.
By Sam Walker, Gold Rush
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Derrick Jackson said that nobody is more excited about the upcoming season than he is, especially with his role as Wake Forest's new secondary coach. Jackson has been in the college coaching business since 1999, but not once has he had the opportunity to coach the skill group on which he played at Duke from 1989 to 1992.
Jackson started 40 straight games at safety for the Blue Devils and finished with 262 career tackles and six interceptions. He started as a redshirt freshman on the 1989 Duke team that went 8-4 and claimed a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. That team went on to play in the All-American Bowl. Jackson wasn't just a role player but a difference maker. He was selected as the team's Most Outstanding Defensive Back in both 1991 and 1992, and that is exactly what he wants to instill in every player under his tutelage.
His mantra of "Don't be that guy" is semantically diverse, but the players in his room already know it means don't be that guy making mental mistakes, don't be that guy unnecessarily giving up big plays, don't be that guy that leaves his teammates in untenable positions, and don't be that guy that fails to show outstanding character both on and off the field.
Until last year, when he coached the outside linebackers, Jackson had always been charged with coaching the defensive front. The chance to move to the defensive backfield presented itself after assistant coach Tim Duffie left to take over the secondary at Oklahoma State. Having a familiar face made for a more manageable transition, it made sense to Jackson and head coach Jim Grobe, and so Jackson asked to "go home."
"Once we knew Coach Duffie was leaving, I just told Coach Grobe I'd love the opportunity to coach the defensive backs," Jackson said. "I played back there obviously, so it was a position that was a natural fit for me. I had coached the defensive line primarily my entire career just because that's where I kind of got trained, but as you stay in coaching and football, you kind of learn all the positions, and it's still just a matter of teaching. There had been about a four-year span here where there was a new (secondary) coach each year and having a voice that wasn't going to be outside the program and having the trust of the players. Not being a new voice was something we thought about.
"I talked with Coach Grobe and (defensive coordinator) Coach (Brian) Knorr about how I would coach the guys. Having gone through the growing pains and the spring with them, I think it was ultimately the right move."
Now that Jackson has coached every defensive position group and special teams, he deeply understands the delicate balance of how what goes on up front affects what happens in the defensive backfield and vice versa. He has a complete perspective on what he wants from his corners and safeties.
"I've seen and heard a lot of different coaching styles. and there are things that I've picked up over the years that I think I would like to implement and will work well," he said. "My coaching of the secondary has come from people I knew and knowing who to go to get the right answers. I've always been able to learn within my coaching peer group, and so I think they trust me to do the homework and connect within the profession. But collectively we come to the right answers and will do what is best for Wake Forest football.
"Communication and trust are the most important things. Those players have to come out of those meetings knowing what I've told them is the truth and the best way to do things, and having played that position and been in their shoes perhaps they give me more trust. I've coached half the guys in that room on special teams. They knew my coaching style and expectations, so we weren't starting from scratch.
"Coach Jackson focuses on the little things," senior safety A.J. Marshall said. "If the little things are taken care of, the plays will be made because everybody has the ability. He preaches `Don't Be That Guy' to us, and this year we are really focusing on takebacks and getting the ball back for our offense. When he says `Don't Be That Guy,' we all take it to heart. Nobody wants to be "that guy" in front of 40- or 50-thousand people, so you have to buckle down and study the fundamentals like not being too high in your pedal or having your eyes in the right place.
"He knows what we have to do. We can text him for anything, and he's like our coach but also our father. He shares things that happen in other schools where guys have made bad decisions off the field, and we don't want to be this kind of guy that jeopardizes the team. He makes sure we are representatives of Wake Forest when we're off the field too. On the field he knows what we have to do, and he lets us play. Once we do, what he asks then, he lets us play and gives us a little freedom. It's always a competition, so you always have to add to your resume. He won an ACC championship, so he knows."
Ironically, Marshall was recruited by Jackson when Jackson was coaching at Syracuse, so Jackson now gets his opportunity to coach Marshall, only this time as a Demon Deacon.
"It's really easier now for me to sit in the meeting room because I've been at every level," Jackson said. "I appreciate every other job, how hard every other position is. But I tell our guys there's a higher level of accountability in the back because behind that is the goal line. You make a mistake back there, it's magnified. So that's the badge of honor you gain from playing defensive back because your margin for error isn't a big as maybe some guys on the front line because there are guys behind them that can protect them.
"On the back end, there are big plays that affect games, but that's the excitement of it, and having played there I told them they should be excited. Our job is to cover people and sometimes that means covering longer so guys can get to the quarterback. It's the front's job to pressure the ball, and if we have both then we have a chance to be really good."
Knowing the defensive scheme and having coached many of the players he is now coaching on special teams and again through the spring, Jackson is firmly in position to hit the ground running when players return in early August. He already wants to see some of the things he saw in the spring from a group of players who established themselves as arguably the best position group on the team.
"There's no doubt, and it's like I told Coach Grobe, it's never bad to go where there is talent," Jackson said. "We've got a steady group of guys that we kind of know who they are and what they need to do to improve, and a group of guys we don't know about. There are opportunities for guys to come in and compete as freshmen, but this year we have numbers and depth, and I don't know that we had a lot of that last year. The players make the depth chart, and the best players are going to play, so it's their job to show us why they are the best player, or the player with this skill set or these strengths. Now with numbers I think we'll have a lot of guys with roles and they are going to help us be a good football team. They can't be content with their roles but need to want to be a lead actor and to go out there in practice and work to change it."
Marshall said that this defense will not look the same.
"There's going to be a noticeable difference (in our defense) because we're all hungry," Marshall said. "Kevin (Johnson) is hungrier than ever, and Bud (Merrill Noel) is back with his head on his shoulders, and it's my last year, so we're all hungry. Me, (Ryan) Janvion, Duran (Lowe), (Allen) Ramsey, James Ward -- we're all just hungry and everybody is working hard. I think we're pushing the rest of the team. This is one of the best feelings I've had coming into a season, so I'm excited and everyone is healthy." Jackson said that he would prefer not hearing what the players are going to do.
"I like to see through their actions they are doing, what coaches are asking them to do fundamentally, and through discipline," Jackson said. "Coach Grobe is as a good a mentor out there teaching how to be technically proficient, and I think those are the things we want to hold our kids accountable for. If they are doing those things then it's my job to be a great teacher so they are in a better position. For me, going back to secondary is like going home, and there's nobody happier than me. Being in that secondary room feels natural, and I want Coach Grobe to look back at the end of the season and know he made the right decision. I know the guys are excited and want to make amends for some of the things that happened last year, so they're hungry for the challenge."
