Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Nebraska's Jackson goes 'home'
BY DIRK CHATELAIN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
Leon Jackson's work on the scout team last fall prepared him for a return to offense this spring.
LINCOLN - Young Leon Jackson was called to the headmaster's office soon after second semester started. There were issues to discuss. No one really knew who Leon was anymore. He was running all over, joining different crowds, pestering the older kids.
Perhaps an appointment, a serious heart-to-heart, would straighten things out.
The 19-year-old recalls his superior asking, "Leon, where are we going to put you?"
Uh oh.
"I want to go home," Jackson responded.
Uh oh.
Turns out, Bill Callahan's appreciation for Jackson has only grown since August, when the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder came to the coach with an idea. Turns out, home to Jackson doesn't mean Pasco, Washington; home is the offensive backfield.
Jackson barely spent enough game time on the field in 2005 to warrant shoe laces. On the practice field, he dabbled with offense, defense and special teams. The problem was as much his role as his performance.
Versatility holds high value on the basketball court or the soccer field, but football demands specialization, specific skills that one can repeat consistently. Coaches don't care much about a linebacker's tight spiral if he can't avoid a charging offensive tackle.
So when Jackson and Callahan sat down two months ago to discuss the kid's future, they needed to identify a role, or at least a position.
The options: free safety, receiver, I-back. If it were his decision, Callahan told Jackson, Leon would play all three.
Sorry, coach. Jackson chose the one he'd played since Pop Warner days, the one where he could most often touch the ball. Callahan obliged.
The decision means Jackson, labeled an "athlete" in recruiting circles, has completed his own circle in eight months.
During 2005 fall camp, Jackson noticed a logjam at I-back and an experience deficiency at free safety. He volunteered to switch positions. He wanted to get on the field.
Two months passed and Jackson never cracked the rotation. He sat behind starter Blake Tiedtke, Andrew Shanle and Tyler Fisher. In October, he said he wished he would've redshirted.
In high school, Jackson won the state 3-A 100-meter dash as a freshman and sophomore. He didn't even go out for track his last two years. He didn't love it. Last fall, he didn't love defense, either.
"I like to have the ball," Jackson said. "I want to be a weapon."
Jackson got a taste in November. He wasn't receiving many repetitions at safety, so one day assistant coach Bill Busch told him to switch to offense to help the scout team. His speed would help prepare the Blackshirts for Kansas State, Colorado and Michigan.
That's the only time Busch made the request, but Jackson kept leaving for the offensive sideline.
Former graduate assistant Aaron Stamn, who administered the scout team, instructed Jackson to work the Blackshirts as much as possible. If that meant catching the ball and cutting from one sideline to the next, go for it.
"When I say cutting back, I mean Barry Sanders cutting back," Jackson said. "Like the play would go right and I'd cut back left and go up the middle."
His antics - and ability - earned offensive scout team player of the year, despite just a month on the job. They also earned the ire of defenders. Before the Alamo Bowl, Jackson moseyed across the middle on a pass pattern. Senior LeKevin Smith raised his arm.
"Bam, I hit the ground," Jackson said. "He was like, 'I wasn't going to let you come through there.'"
The freshman initiation has now concluded. But in some ways, Jackson is back at square one: learning the offensive playbook. His role will likely include catching passes - he did a lot of that in high school - and challenging defensive edges.
Callahan said last week Jackson has the "ability to just line up anywhere on the field, whether it's dotting the 'I' or being in the offset position or being flanked out as a potential receiver on the perimeter."
Fellow sophomores Marlon Lucky and Cody Glenn have an advantage in experience. That doesn't seem to bother Jackson. Why have one great back when you can have four or five, he says. It's a predicament he'd rather face at I-back than anywhere else.
"I'm glad I'm back."
BY DIRK CHATELAIN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
Leon Jackson's work on the scout team last fall prepared him for a return to offense this spring.
LINCOLN - Young Leon Jackson was called to the headmaster's office soon after second semester started. There were issues to discuss. No one really knew who Leon was anymore. He was running all over, joining different crowds, pestering the older kids.
Perhaps an appointment, a serious heart-to-heart, would straighten things out.
The 19-year-old recalls his superior asking, "Leon, where are we going to put you?"
Uh oh.
"I want to go home," Jackson responded.
Uh oh.
Turns out, Bill Callahan's appreciation for Jackson has only grown since August, when the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder came to the coach with an idea. Turns out, home to Jackson doesn't mean Pasco, Washington; home is the offensive backfield.
Jackson barely spent enough game time on the field in 2005 to warrant shoe laces. On the practice field, he dabbled with offense, defense and special teams. The problem was as much his role as his performance.
Versatility holds high value on the basketball court or the soccer field, but football demands specialization, specific skills that one can repeat consistently. Coaches don't care much about a linebacker's tight spiral if he can't avoid a charging offensive tackle.
So when Jackson and Callahan sat down two months ago to discuss the kid's future, they needed to identify a role, or at least a position.
The options: free safety, receiver, I-back. If it were his decision, Callahan told Jackson, Leon would play all three.
Sorry, coach. Jackson chose the one he'd played since Pop Warner days, the one where he could most often touch the ball. Callahan obliged.
The decision means Jackson, labeled an "athlete" in recruiting circles, has completed his own circle in eight months.
During 2005 fall camp, Jackson noticed a logjam at I-back and an experience deficiency at free safety. He volunteered to switch positions. He wanted to get on the field.
Two months passed and Jackson never cracked the rotation. He sat behind starter Blake Tiedtke, Andrew Shanle and Tyler Fisher. In October, he said he wished he would've redshirted.
In high school, Jackson won the state 3-A 100-meter dash as a freshman and sophomore. He didn't even go out for track his last two years. He didn't love it. Last fall, he didn't love defense, either.
"I like to have the ball," Jackson said. "I want to be a weapon."
Jackson got a taste in November. He wasn't receiving many repetitions at safety, so one day assistant coach Bill Busch told him to switch to offense to help the scout team. His speed would help prepare the Blackshirts for Kansas State, Colorado and Michigan.
That's the only time Busch made the request, but Jackson kept leaving for the offensive sideline.
Former graduate assistant Aaron Stamn, who administered the scout team, instructed Jackson to work the Blackshirts as much as possible. If that meant catching the ball and cutting from one sideline to the next, go for it.
"When I say cutting back, I mean Barry Sanders cutting back," Jackson said. "Like the play would go right and I'd cut back left and go up the middle."
His antics - and ability - earned offensive scout team player of the year, despite just a month on the job. They also earned the ire of defenders. Before the Alamo Bowl, Jackson moseyed across the middle on a pass pattern. Senior LeKevin Smith raised his arm.
"Bam, I hit the ground," Jackson said. "He was like, 'I wasn't going to let you come through there.'"
The freshman initiation has now concluded. But in some ways, Jackson is back at square one: learning the offensive playbook. His role will likely include catching passes - he did a lot of that in high school - and challenging defensive edges.
Callahan said last week Jackson has the "ability to just line up anywhere on the field, whether it's dotting the 'I' or being in the offset position or being flanked out as a potential receiver on the perimeter."
Fellow sophomores Marlon Lucky and Cody Glenn have an advantage in experience. That doesn't seem to bother Jackson. Why have one great back when you can have four or five, he says. It's a predicament he'd rather face at I-back than anywhere else.
"I'm glad I'm back."
