Recruiting on the back burner for St. James quarterback Jackson

St. James quarterback K.J. Jackson has plenty of suitors for his services at the college level but he’s intent of making the most of his junior season in 2022. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Recruiting always heats up in the month of July as highly touted players consider their college offers and select their collegiate choice.

That isn’t the case for St. James junior K.J. Jackson, who is intent on helping the Trojans improve on last year’s second-round loss to Jackson. 

“For me, right now, I feel like I can block it out pretty well,” Jackson said. “Right now, I’m playing high school football and my goal is to win a high school state championship. I feel like when we get that accomplished, that’s only going to boost my recruiting (status). So the best my team is, is going to be the best for my recruiting, so my focus is solely on being the best for my team and making my team go as far as we can while playing my role.”

But his role is expected to be a little different this year. When he broke into the starting ranks as a freshman, head coach Jimmy Perry was insistent on keeping the pressure off his budding star quarterback. A year later, he was a record-setting sophomore. Now, Perry said, it’s time to get out of Jackson’s way and let him lead the Trojan offense.

“The first year, we didn’t put much on him at all and he still had a good year,” Perry said. “Last year, we increased it. This year, everything’s on him. We were probably 60 percent RPO (run-pass option) last year; we may be 80 percent RPO this year with what he can do, the way he understands defenses and what to look for. Somebody’s going to get a real jewel at quarterback in a couple of years.”

Last year, Jackson set the school record for career passing touchdowns (45) with two years still remaining. He completed 87 of 131 passes for 1,992 yards and 28 touchdowns with only three interceptions and also rushed for 139 yards and seven touchdowns. The completion percentage (66.4 percent) and passing touchdowns (28) are school records and are remarkable numbers for a wing-T quarterback. 

“In the ninth grade, he was starting to learn what he needed to do,” offensive coordinator Neal Posey said, “and we were trying to make the decisions for him to make it easy and successful. Last year, he started to learn more about what he needed to do as a facilitator to get the ball in the right spot without us telling him. Now, he knows what everybody’s got to do, plus where he needs the ball to be. For us as offensive coaches, it makes us be hands-off where we can manipulate other things and he can play and have fun.”

Having fun means playing in seven-on-seven camps (where the Trojans finished first at Samford after an impressive showing at Auburn), not worrying about recruiting visits. Jackson visited some schools in early June, but will wait until next spring to narrow down his wish list. He currently has offers from Kentucky, Louisville, Ole Miss, Missouri, Penn State, Arkansas, Troy, Samford and Alabama State, along with four others. 

“I haven’t really narrowed anything down,” Jackson said. “For me, I haven’t really exploded like I think I will. This season will be big in my recruiting process. After this season, maybe next spring is when I’ll start narrowing things down a little bit.”

He -- and his coaches -- expect Jackson to “explode” as a recruit, as he put it, because much of the talent is returning to the Trojan offense along with a quarterback who knows what to do with the ball in his hands.

“He knows what we’re looking for, what we’re expecting and if we get anything different, he knows how to adjust to it,” Perry said. “If we don’t get the shot we want, he knows where to go with the ball after that. It’s a lot like AJ McCarron did at Alabama. If he got what he was looking for, he could take the shot; if he didn’t, he knew where to outlet the ball where they’re not. K.J. is a lot like that.”

Jackson studies more film than anyone on the team, Posey said, a reflection of a player learning his opponents’ weaknesses while making sure his teammates are in the right position to exploit those weaknesses.

“He’s smart,” Posey said. “I can tell him one time, ‘this time, we’re going to switch this route to this because it will help with coverage’ and he’s got it. He’ll never question it again. He puts it right into his reads, he knows his reads, he knows the routes. To me, that’s what separates him from all these other quarterbacks that are getting recruited is that he, mentally, is so advanced. He thinks on a level that college kids probably don’t think on.”

The three-sport star, a coach’s son, remains humble and hungry, helping the basketball team reach the state tournament for the first time last year and the baseball team to win the area. Now, it’s time to tap into his ability to help the football team advance past the second round for the first time since 2003 or perhaps reach the semifinals for the first time in school history.

“I know I’m not anywhere close to my full potential,” he said. “I don’t even think my cup is half full yet because quarterback is somewhat new to me so learning just as much as I can take in from these coaches is great. We love new wrinkles. Coach Posey is a real offensive minded guy and he loves new wrinkles, too. We throw in something new almost every practice just to see if it’ll work.”

Of course, Posey has plenty of options. He can rely on Jackson’s immense passing talent, utilize his athletic ability as a runner or put the ball in the hands of tailback Cosner Harrison, who could be the Trojans’ all-time leading rusher by the end of the 2022 season. 

“I love sitting back and throwing it, but watching ‘Cos’ run it is something beautiful, too,” Jackson said. “I like handing off the ball, turning around and ‘Cos’ is 50 yards downfield. I’m meeting him in the end zone, celebrating. I like the balance we have.

“Me and ‘Cos’ don’t care who touches the ball. As long as we’re scoring and we’re winning, it’s great, but I think I will be carrying the ball more this year, putting a bigger load on me. I’m not the young underclassman any more.”

The Trojans have put together a 10-2 record in three of the last four years, but each of those 10-win seasons have ended with a loss in the second round of the state playoffs, including last year’s loss to Jackson. The players, Jackson said, are determined to go farther in the state playoffs this season.

“It feels like we’ve flipped the switch,” he said. “We’re really getting kicking. It feels like we’re really getting into the season. We’ve been focusing on seven-on-seven but now it’s time to focus on the season. Once we get ready, it’s going to be special and I can’t wait. Five weeks.”