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David Williams rushed to Courtney Jackson’s house after hearing that Jackson’s mom, Jori, had gone into cardiac arrest.

Jackson, who just received the life-changing phone call from his dad Derrick, was in the midst of a sub-six hour drive back to Monroeville, Penn, just weeks away from 2020’s training camp. Williams met him at the house, reassuring Jackson that he could always reach out to him.

Jackson has been accustomed to Williams’ offer for a long time. The wide receiver remains in constant communication with the people from his hometown who molded him into SU’s top receiving option on the depth chart. Whether it be studying tape or getting a confidence boost in early years at Syracuse, Jackson continues to lean on those closest to him, including during his transition from running back to receiver.

Jackson sends Williams his practice clips from training camp and during the season to see how he can improve his route running. Williams, a former wide receiver at Michigan State University, could always point out the small details of his game, such as adjusting his stem and his hips in and out of his break.

At Gateway (Penn.) High School, Williams was Jackson’s first specialized receiving coach. He started playing the position during his sophomore year since the Gators’ head coach, Don Holl, wasn’t sure where to play him. While Jackson had primarily played running back for most of his career, the Gators already had an established starter.

Initially, Jackson began rotating between cornerback and special teams. He was the backup receiver, behind recent NFL draft pick Jaquan Brisker.

Brisker couldn’t play in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state semifinal game, placing Jackson in the starting role. He made roughly 10 catches and scored two touchdowns in the Gators’ three-point loss.

“He kind of went off,” Holl said. “It was like ‘Hey, here’s what the future looks like for me going forward.’”

After that season, Williams gave Jackson more individualized training. Since Jackson already had the speed of a running back and could break past defensive backs with ease, a big part of their training dealt with non-ball related drills. Williams incorporated a lot of footwork exercises, helping Jackson master the route tree rather than focusing on straightforward throw and catch repetitions.

Jackson returned the opening kickoff of his junior season for a touchdown, embarking on a record-breaking final two seasons at Gateway. The Gators went 26-3 during that span. Jackson finished his junior year with 96 receptions for 1,916 yards and 24 touchdowns (a Pennsylvania state-best), leading Gateway to a PIAA Class 5A West regional championship.

To my lady, The most wonderful woman in the world. You brought so much happiness and were the glue that kept everything together. The most loving, caring, and nurturing mother a child could ask for. I am so grateful I was able to learn to look at the world the way you did. My best friend, my #1 fan, my queen, I LOVE YOU forever twin :purple_heart: rest easy mom

A photo posted by c.jackson

“I always felt better with the ball in my hands,” Jackson said. “So when I started getting recruited that’s what I wanted to do in college.”

But Jackson weighed 135 pounds at the start of his senior season. Derrick never wanted to involve Jackson in weight training until he built a serious interest for football.

Derrick arranged a personal training session for his son on a November Sunday morning during his freshman year at Gateway. Jackson enjoyed it, but Derrick wanted to be fully convinced that the wide receiver was ready to take his strength training seriously.

“If you ever want to come back, you have to come to me and ask me to take you because I’m not going to force you to (train),” Derrick said on the car ride home from the gym. “If this is what you want to do, every Sunday morning, knock on my door and we’ll go to the gym.”

And that sparked a weekly tradition the father-son duo kept for the remainder of his high school career.

Williams noticed the differences in the weight room. He stressed how big of a component lifting is at the Division-I level, telling Jackson that all he’d be doing is “lifting, running and eating.”

Jackson also had a major advantage when it came to transitioning into Syracuse’s offensive system. Holl was very good friends with former SU coaches Justin Lustig and Reno Ferri, and the group would always share details about play selection and overall systems. While the offense seemed “perfect” for Jackson’s style, even scoring a touchdown in his first SU spring game, Jackson didn’t immediately make an impact.

“There were a lot of nights, a lot of days, conversations on the phone where he was down on himself, he wasn’t sure where he stood,” Derrick said.

Jackson let his dad know anytime he made a reception or ran a “great route,” Derrick said. He showed Derrick his training clips during their routine FaceTime calls. Now, Jackson doesn’t need to make those weekly calls as he’s just two yards shy of 100 receiving yards so far this season.

One tradition that remains the same is in Jori’s honor. Jackson prays before every game, but Derrick has made sure to continue a family tradition that began when his son was in high school. Derrick sends Jackson a text with some encouraging words two hours before each game, always ending the message with something Jori would always say.

“It really drove him to work that much harder, because he knows how much his mom loved watching him play football,” Williams said. “And you saw it click, because he knew now I’m doing this for my mom and my family.”

Before Syracuse’s season-opener against Lousiville, Derrick ended his message with this phrase: “You deserve the world and today you go out and take it. I love you son. Go have fun. Be good or be good at it.”

“I’ll always put that saying in there, just as a way that he can still be close to her,” Derrick said.

Published on September 19, 2022 at 1:38 am

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu