Veteran Linebacker Has Unfinished Business at UVA

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Options abound for college football players these days, especially for those who have earned their degrees, and linebacker James Jackson could have chosen to spend his final season of eligibility somewhere other than the University of Virginia.

The same is true for such teammates as Jahmeer Carter, Antonio Clary, Noah Josey and Jack Witmer, all of whom had spent their entire college careers in Charlottesville and graduated from UVA.

None of them left, though, and for that head coach Tony Elliott is grateful.

“That’s what I’m working towards: creating an environment where guys want to stay here,” said Elliott, who’s in his fourth year at Virginia. “Now, there’s a lot that goes into that. You still want to see guys be committed to being a part of something that’s bigger than themselves and being invested. That’s really the objective here, is to try and build a culture where guys want to be invested.”

Jackson said: “We chose UVA for a reason. We chose Coach E and this coaching staff for a reason. And we all have the same mindset, and we all carry that same chip on our shoulders.”

Since the end of last season, 32 transfers have joined the Cavaliers’ program, so Elliott is not opposed to player movement. Still, he said, he wants “to create an environment [where] guys that come here, they want to be here, they want to stay here, they feel like they’re being invested in all the way around, and then that in turn creates an investment in this football program.

“I want to be different, even though I accept the change that’s happening. All I can do is control what I can control, but I do want to be different in creating an environment that we still keep it about the college experience, because regardless of how the rules change, it’s still college ball. You’re still dealing with 18- to 22-year-olds, and I want to create an environment where they don’t feel like they need to leave and [they] understand that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”

Jackson, who graduated in May from the McIntire School of Commerce, started Virginia’s first six games last season. During that stretch, he said, he was “living in the moment” and not weighing his options for 2025. But Jackson missed five of UVA’s final six games with a foot injury, and “everything got flipped upside down for me,” he said.

The knowledge that he hadn’t been able to finish the season on his terms made the decision simpler for Jackson. “I wanted to come back after that, for sure,” he said.

Even with missing five-plus games with an injury, Jackson finished seventh on the tackles in tackles last season, with 45, and his return for a fifth year is a boon for the Wahoos’ defense in general and their linebacking corps in particular.

“It truly means everything when you have a guy like James Jackson, who’s played a ton of ball and loves the University of Virginia and our program,” said Mike Adams, who coaches the Hoos’ linebackers.

“It just bleeds into everybody that he talks to, everybody that he prepares with, everybody he plays with. And then even off the field, just walking by him, sitting next to him in the meetings, being with him in the locker room. He’s priceless, because he truly believes in this place and what we’re doing and that we can win a championship.”

Jackson, who’s from Pulaski County in Southwest Virginia, starred at North Cross School in Roanoke. His defensive coordinator at North Cross was Shannon Taylor, a former UVA standout who went on to play in the NFL.

After enrolling at Virginia in January 2021, Jackson played in 10 games as a true freshman that fall. He started six games in 2022, 12 in 2023 and all seven in which he played last season.

A tragedy ended Jackson’s second college season prematurely. In November 2022, UVA players Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry were shot and killed after returning to Grounds from a class field trip. Teammates who were in the program that fall were allowed to request another year of eligibility from the NCAA. That’s why Jackson was able to return for a fifth season, and he’s honoring Davis this year.

Jackson, who wore jersey No. 30 as a true freshman, switched to No. 7 in 2022 and played in that for three seasons. He’s in No. 1 this year. That’s the number Davis wore in 2022. (Wide receiver Suderian Harrison, who attended the same high school in South Carolina as Davis, also wears No. 1.)

Chandler and Perry wore Nos. 15 and 41, respectively, at Virginia that season.

“I’m one of the last people from the 2022 team,” Jackson said, “and those numbers mean a lot to me. That was the first time I was presented with the opportunity to wear one of those numbers, and I felt it was fitting for me to do that. I was pretty honored to even be considered for that, because it’s such an important thing for me. I just felt like as somebody from that team it made sense for me to wear that.”

Jackson admired the work ethic of Davis, who missed the 2021 season while recovering from a torn ACL.

“I watched how hard he fought to come back,” Jackson told the Daily Progress, “and I had a lot of respect for him and how hard he worked, how talented he was and how he was always trying to reach that potential that he had. I looked up to him.”

Injuries are something with which Jackson is all-too-familiar. In 2023, he sealed a historic road win for UVA by intercepting a North Carolina pass in the final minute, and he finished that season second on the team in tackles. But he played through an injury that required offseason surgery and forced him to miss spring practice in 2024. Then came the foot injury that hindered him last season.

Also banged up last fall were fellow linebackers Kam Robinson and Trey McDonald, who like Jackson had surgery after the season. Another linebacker, Stevie Bracey, missed the entire season with an injury.

“Last year was tough,” Jackson said, “watching guys go out there with [injuries] they knew they needed surgery on and playing through that. Kam and Trey both knew that they were gonna have to get some work done at the end of the year, and they pushed through that. So I was super proud watching them.”

The Cavaliers have more options at linebacker this season. The position group includes Jackson, Robinson, McDonald, Bracey, Landon Danley, Myles Brown and transfer Maddox Marcellus.

Neither Brown nor Danley played much last season, but they’ve “made a lot of strides,” Jackson said, “and I’m super proud of those guys. I’ve seen them come in, I’ve seen all their hard work, and I’ve seen how they’ve grown as players. And it’s a good feeling, for sure, because we have so much more depth in practice. It makes it easier in games, and overall it’s just better for the defense, because you’re going to have more guys. When someone’s tired, you get someone fresh on the field, get some fresh legs on the field.”

If he’s healthy, Jackson figures to take plenty of reps this season, which starts for Virginia with an Aug. 30 game against Coastal Carolina at Scott Stadium. That he chose to remain a Cavalier in 2025 delighted his teammates and coaches.

“He’s just a stalwart of this defense,” McDonald said. “It’s great to see. He’s been here for forever. We all trust him, and he’s such a great player, great to be around and great leader. There’s nobody else I’d rather have there.”

Jackson has “always been a guy that I could be absolutely real with,” Adams said. “He’s an excellent human being, and so he’s got a great future ahead of him. But then on the field, with his intensity, his preparation, he’s tough, he’s a leader, and guys believe in him. He plays when he’s tired, he plays when he’s hurt. He just absolutely loves playing defense for Virginia. So I love him.”

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