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 left, however, 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 team 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.
