Foppa
New member
Jackson to return to NU
BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
Leon Jackson will remain at Nebraska after all. Husker football coach Bill Callahan announced Tuesday that the I-back has been reinstated to the team following a player-coach meeting during which they “discussed several topics.”
“(Jackson) indicated to me that he wants to be here at Nebraska and contribute to our team,” Callahan said in a prepared statement. “We are giving Leon another opportunity to flourish as a student-athlete.
“One of the reasons I chose to come back to college football was the opportunity to help young men like Leon realize their full potential on and off the field. We believe Leon’s best days are ahead of him, and we look forward to helping him to reach his goals.”
Callahan on April 24 had released a statement announcing Jackson’s departure from the team. Callahan, at that time, said it was Jackson’s decision to leave the program. The sophomore-to-be had been frustrated about his standing in the I-back pecking order, behind classmates Cody Glenn and Marlon Lucky.
Jackson, a native of Pasco, Wash., couldn’t be reached Tuesday for comment. But his father, Leon Jackson Sr., said he urged his son to stay at Nebraska during their Sunday conversation.
“He wanted to go back to the team and didn’t know how to go about it,” Jackson Sr. said from Pasco. “He felt he had made a mistake and was confused about what he was going to do. I think he felt like he had given it a try there, but I don’t think he felt like he had given 110 percent and put his heart into it.
“Leon was thinking he could go somewhere else and play. I told him that this isn’t high school, that you can’t dictate to the coach when you’re going to play.”
Although Callahan had released Jackson from his scholarship, it was conditional on the player transferring to a non-NCAA Division I-A school, said Jackson Sr., who spoke with Callahan last week and again Monday morning.
“Coach Callahan was adamant that Leon could do the things he needed to do right there (at Nebraska),” Jackson Sr. said. “He just needed to focus.”
The player’s original decision to leave the program wasn’t related to poor grades, Jackson Sr. said. However, he said, his son’s grades have slipped during the last few weeks of turmoil, “but they’re not out of control. He’s going to have to play catchup (this summer).”
In the April 15 Red-White Game, Jackson carried 12 times for 52 yards while seeing action for both teams. Meanwhile, Glenn rushed 16 times for 98 yards and Lucky 15 for 84, both playing exclusively with the first-string offense.
Jackson, among the most touted recruits in Nebraska’s heralded class of 2005, began his college career last August as an I-back before quickly switching to free safety during preseason camp. He wound up his first season last December practicing at wide receiver, then moved back to I-back prior to this spring.
In addition to Glenn and Lucky, the Huskers have junior-to-be Brandon Jackson, who missed spring practice recovering from shoulder surgery, and incoming junior college transfer Kenny Wilson.
“Leon’s like any other kid — he just wants to play,” Jackson Sr. said.
BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
Leon Jackson will remain at Nebraska after all. Husker football coach Bill Callahan announced Tuesday that the I-back has been reinstated to the team following a player-coach meeting during which they “discussed several topics.”
“(Jackson) indicated to me that he wants to be here at Nebraska and contribute to our team,” Callahan said in a prepared statement. “We are giving Leon another opportunity to flourish as a student-athlete.
“One of the reasons I chose to come back to college football was the opportunity to help young men like Leon realize their full potential on and off the field. We believe Leon’s best days are ahead of him, and we look forward to helping him to reach his goals.”
Callahan on April 24 had released a statement announcing Jackson’s departure from the team. Callahan, at that time, said it was Jackson’s decision to leave the program. The sophomore-to-be had been frustrated about his standing in the I-back pecking order, behind classmates Cody Glenn and Marlon Lucky.
Jackson, a native of Pasco, Wash., couldn’t be reached Tuesday for comment. But his father, Leon Jackson Sr., said he urged his son to stay at Nebraska during their Sunday conversation.
“He wanted to go back to the team and didn’t know how to go about it,” Jackson Sr. said from Pasco. “He felt he had made a mistake and was confused about what he was going to do. I think he felt like he had given it a try there, but I don’t think he felt like he had given 110 percent and put his heart into it.
“Leon was thinking he could go somewhere else and play. I told him that this isn’t high school, that you can’t dictate to the coach when you’re going to play.”
Although Callahan had released Jackson from his scholarship, it was conditional on the player transferring to a non-NCAA Division I-A school, said Jackson Sr., who spoke with Callahan last week and again Monday morning.
“Coach Callahan was adamant that Leon could do the things he needed to do right there (at Nebraska),” Jackson Sr. said. “He just needed to focus.”
The player’s original decision to leave the program wasn’t related to poor grades, Jackson Sr. said. However, he said, his son’s grades have slipped during the last few weeks of turmoil, “but they’re not out of control. He’s going to have to play catchup (this summer).”
In the April 15 Red-White Game, Jackson carried 12 times for 52 yards while seeing action for both teams. Meanwhile, Glenn rushed 16 times for 98 yards and Lucky 15 for 84, both playing exclusively with the first-string offense.
Jackson, among the most touted recruits in Nebraska’s heralded class of 2005, began his college career last August as an I-back before quickly switching to free safety during preseason camp. He wound up his first season last December practicing at wide receiver, then moved back to I-back prior to this spring.
In addition to Glenn and Lucky, the Huskers have junior-to-be Brandon Jackson, who missed spring practice recovering from shoulder surgery, and incoming junior college transfer Kenny Wilson.
“Leon’s like any other kid — he just wants to play,” Jackson Sr. said.
