When it comes to having chips on a shoulder, arguably no one has one bigger than four-star Texas commit Ja’Quinden Jackson.
After leading his Duncanville Panthers to the 6A Division I State Championship game last year against Galena Park North Shore and losing in heartbreak fashion, Jackson has been on a mission to not only prove his team’s placement in Texas high school football lore, but also his place in the conversation of being one of the best high school football players to come through the state of Texas.
“We’re just taking everything one week at a time,” Jackson said. “We have to wait until that clock says 0:00 each time out. Stay hungry, stay humble, that’s all we gotta do.”
This past offseason has seen Jackson make incredible strides not only as a quarterback, but as an athlete as well. When faced with critiques about his throwing motion following the 2018 season, Jackson spent the offseason performing a new motion and technique to better his team in 2019 and improve his worth at the quarterback position.
“I think he has gotten much better,” Duncanville head coach Reginald Samples said. “His mechanics have gotten better, he’s learned to read coverages better, and now he is better at scrambling to throw rather than scrambling to run.”
“I worked on [the throwing motion] every single day,” Jackson said. “Day in and day out I worked on it, no days off. I feel myself getting better.”
Despite his increasing work ethic at the position and his talent for it in his senior year at Duncanville, when it comes to playing at Texas in 2020, he is still staying true to being an athlete rather than sticking to one option.
“I’m trying to work harder than everybody. I’ll work harder than anybody at any position. Wherever they need me to play, I’ll play.”
His loyalty to the Texas program stems from the coaching staff’s ability to connect with Jackson and his family before and after his commitment on June 3rd.
“They have showed me love like no other. They showed my momma love too and if you can show her the same love you show me, that’s all I really care about.”
The coaches that have stood out to him in the process were current SMU wide receivers coach and former Texas assistant receiver coach Ra’Shaad Samples along with Tim Beck, Bryan Carrington, and Tom Herman.
In response, Jackson is trying to show the same love back by playing recruiter to other recruits across the nation to help build the Texas program in any way he can.
“I can’t really speak on who right now,” Jackson said laughingly. “But I’m trying to have people around me that I can count on and depend on.”
As he looks forward to his future at Texas, Jackson is still able to stay grounded by his motivation to be the player he is: his mother.
“I have one goal and it’s to buy my mom a house. That’s all, just to get her out from where we’re at.”
