Jacksonville Jaguars coach Chris Jackson is leaving Florida to take the same position with the Texas Longhorns, according to multiple reports Tuesday.
#jaguars WR Coach Chris Jackson has informed Doug Pederson’s staff that he is taking the same position @TexasFootballper multiple sources #jaguars WRs caught 238 passes for 2,677 yards and 19 TDs in his only season in 2022, including historic seasons from Christian Kirk & Zay Jones
— Mia O’Brien (@MiaOBrienTV) January 24, 2023
The school confirmed the news Tuesday night that Jackson also held the title of passing games coordinator.
“We’re thrilled that Chris Jackson is a longhorn,” said Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian. “He is such a talented coach with a lot of football and life experience that we will benefit from having him on our team. Chris is a passionate and detail oriented guy who has taken a unique path to coaching but is as good as it gets when it comes to receiver development and preparation. He is a well respected coach with a great work ethic who studies the game and is a proven leader who not only helps his players improve on the field but also builds strong relationships with them. During his time in the NFL, he has worked with some exceptional coaches, all of whom quickly recognized his talent in the profession. Not only has he coached top-level players in the NFL for the past five years, he knows the position well, having been an NFL veteran, All-Pac-10 and 1,000-yard receiver himself. He played with Jeff Banks at Washington State, so he’s a guy we’re very familiar with and know will be a tremendous addition to our team. We look forward to getting it up and running.”
The news comes more than two weeks after former Texas wide receivers coach Brennan Marion was officially announced as offensive coordinator at UNLV, and eight days after Jackson appeared to deny reports linking him to the Longhorns.
But that was when Jacksonville was still in the playoffs, and after their elimination against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, Jackson could begin to finalize his agreement to join Sarkisian’s staff.
Jackson’s connection to the program is that he played with tight ends coach/special teams coordinator Jeff Banks in Washington State in 1996 and 1997, including for the Rose Bowl run led by Ryan Leaf in the last Season.
“My main thought in making this move originally was just young men,” Jackson said. “The excitement and opportunity to teach at the college level in a school with Texas renown is a great opportunity. Working with young men who are 17-18 years old and leave at 22, giving them a platform and allowing them to grow not just as footballers but as young men, that’s what attracted me too. I’ve always been passionate about it, and I’ve been able to do that at the NFL level, but there’s something very fascinating about these young men that I hope can inspire and guide through the position I’ve just left. Some of them will aspire to a professional career and just need some of that guidance and guidance to get there and I’ve seen that not only as a player but now as a coach. That’s the work for me – young men and development.
“Coach Sarkisian has always been phenomenal and a master of offense. Being a wide receiver myself, I really try to fully engage with his thought processes of why he does things and how he does things so that I can just be an extension of him. He’s not only had success at the college level, but also in the NFL, so I just want to take it all and add my experience and thought process as much as I can. But for me, coming to Texas and working under Sark’s leadership and with his amazing staff was a no-brainer. He’s done it at the college level and at the NFL level, and I know he’s changing the culture there. I just want to be a part of it.”
After a long professional career, mostly in the Arena Football League, with 13,355 receiving yards and 325 touchdowns, Jackson coached wide receivers at an Arizona high school before landing a job as a defensive assistant with the Chicago Bears in 2019. Jackson previously spent time with the Bears during training camp in 2018 thanks to the NFL’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship program.
Jackson transitioned into a role as assistant wide receivers coach in Chicago for two seasons before Doug Pederson hired him in Jacksonville last year for a successful season for wide receivers Christian Kirk and Zay Jones:
In his only season with the Jaguars, Jackson led the wide receivers unit to one of only three in the NFL to have two 80-plus players in 2022 in Christian Kirk (84) and Zay Jones (82). Both overalls were in the top 10 in Jacksonville history in a single season, with Kirk placing eighth and Jones placing 10th. Kirk also achieved his first 1,000-yard receiving season with 1,108 for ranked 14th in the league along with eight touchdowns that ranked fifth in Jaguars history. Meanwhile, Jones registered 823 receiving yards and five touchdowns, and Marvin Jones Jr. added 46 receptions for 529 yards and three touchdowns.
Though Jackson has no college football experience, particularly as a recruiter, he is a Mater Dei graduate who provides a connection to the talent-packed California program, and his rapid rise in the NFL ranks suggests an ability to adapt quickly too his new role on the Forty Acres.
“I know Texas is football,” Jackson added. “That’s what I know, and that’s coming from a California kid. I knew people never left Texas back then, especially if you were one of the top players in Texas you went there. I want to play a role in helping Coach Sark and the staff get back to that aspect where Texas is the only place these Texas kids want to go. Austin is a great city. My eldest son went to St Edwards for two years so I got a chance to put him up there and look around. I am very drawn to the city, to the lake, and downtown is beautiful. I’m just excited to be a part of it and to help continue to build the Texas tradition.”