Four-star Nebraska LB Devon Jackson very intrigued by ASU
Devon Jackson’s recruitment started out normal. In the weeks prior to the pandemic disrupting life, the then-sophomore had a good lead on a possible interested school.
Jackson’s 7-on-7 coach was good friends with Arizona State defensive graduate assistant Steven Beard and told Jackson to call the Sun Devils’ GA. Jackson thought the whole thing was completely out of left field. Why was ASU recruiting a sophomore from Omaha, Neb.? Turns out, Beard was an offensive coordinator for a high school in Omaha back in 2015, forming relationships that are now helping him in Tempe.
Jackson called Beard and began forming a relationship with him as well as Sun Devils’ co-defensive coordinator (and now defensive coordinator) Antonio Pierce. A few weeks after COVID-19 brought the sports world to a halt, the Sun Devils handed an offer to the 6-foot-2, 195-pound outside linebacker in the Class of 2022.
Since then, Jackson’s offer list has jumped to 15 schools, including Oklahoma, Auburn, Miami, and a heap of programs in the Midwest.
The good news for a program such as Arizona State is Jackson can’t stand the cold. As he spoke with Devils Digest, he complained it was -10 degrees in Omaha, and his mind was drifting to a future in the sunshine.
“I’m done with the cold,” he said. “My dad went to the University of Illinois (to play football), and he said if he had to do it over again; he would have gone somewhere warmer … I’ll go as far away as possible.”
And it helps ASU's cause that Jackson has formed a great relationship with Pierce.
“Coach Pierce, he’s one of my favorite coaches in the country. He keeps it real,” he stated. “I want to get into business, and coach Pierce has talked to me about some of the stuff he’s done, like owning car dealerships.”
While describing ASU’s recruitment of him, Jackson shifted the conversation to note that he’s dropping his Top 5 list on Saturday.
“Hint, hint. Wink, wink,” he said with a chuckle.
When describing how he chose his top five schools, Jackson mentioned that it came down to mostly his relationship with the coaches and how he thought he would fit in their scheme.
Just looking at the raw numbers, it seems Jackson would be a match made in heaven for ASU’s four-down scheme in Pierce’s first season as the sole defensive coordinator. He prefers linebackers with height (Jackson is 6-2) and speed.
“I’m not just a typical linebacker because I don’t have the typical linebacker speed,” Jackson said. “I ran a 10.9 (100-meter dash).”
Jackson, though, ran that 10.9-second 100-meter dash back in 2019 -- during his freshman year (He also said he lost the race to a senior who ran a 10.8). And the last time he played a down of football was that following season. Schools in Omaha, Jackson said, didn’t have a football season this year, which means colleges will have two full years without having seen him play on the gridiron.
Not having film from his junior season, Jackson said, has caused some schools to decrease their communication with him.
But not the Sun Devils.
“That’s why I like ASU,” Jackson said. “Because they stuck with me and stayed in contact even though I didn’t have a junior season.”
Jackson said he’s thinking about committing before his senior season kicks off in August and the Sun Devils will likely be in the mix to earn his services.
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