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When Tremaine Jackson interviewed at Valdosta State three years ago, the school president asked him a simple but pointed question: What can you bring here to beat West Florida?
West Florida was the 2019 D-II national champions and had emerged as the annual hurdle of the Gulf South Conference. They’re a well-funded program that operates like a Division-I operation. Jackson gave the only answer he had.
“If you hire me, you’ll have the one thing West Florida won’t, “Jackson said. “That’s me.”
“It’s one of those things when you say it, you go, ‘Dang, I probably blew it,'” Jackson told CBS Sports with a laugh. “But I was dead serious. I just know how to get things done, man.”
He wasn’t lying.
Valdosta State enters the Division II playoffs this week as the No. 1 team and with a 10-0 record. It took a bit for Jackson to get the Blazers where he wanted, but they’ve emerged as a powerhouse in Year 3 with an average scoring margin of 34 points per game. West Florida? The Argonauts lost to Valdosta State, 28-7, in their regular season finale.
That success is a big reason why Jackson’s emerged as a popular name in FCS coaching searches and even a few on the FBS level, where several search firms and schools have had conversations with him this cycle.
Not that it always went that well for Jackson in his first year taking over from the successful Gary Goff, who left for an FCS job at McNeese State.
Jackson, who previously coached Colorado Mesa, remembers showing up on campus following the 2021 season. He picked Valdosta State because he felt like it’s a place where he could compete for championships. Then he dove into the books and came away with an uneasy feeling that there wasn’t close to enough in the cupboard.
Division II…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/meet-valdosta-states-tremaine-jackson-the-d-ii-coach-catching-the-eye-of-fcs-fbs-programs-with-his-rise/
Author : Chris Hummer
Publish date : 2024-11-28 07:00:00
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