Linebacker Nick Jackson is high-end acquisition for Hawkeyes’ defense

IOWA CITY — Cade McNamara blinked twice and scratched his nose once Tuesday.

The media pack of white males who redefined “casually dressed” then tried to read the tea leaves about his health and status for Saturday’s Iowa football season-opener.

The transfer quarterback has been the straw stirring the offseason drink for the Hawkeyes, and understandably. Insert someone who’s a 63 percent career passer who started for a Big Ten champion at Michigan just two years ago, and that’s the biggest news in Eastern Iowa since the last time the creek ran high.

Not long ago, Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz treated the NCAA transfer portal as a secondhand store. Suddenly, it’s regarded as an upscale boutique. And it’s not just McNamara.

A transfer acquisition that probably hasn’t gotten enough notice came by way of Virginia in fifth-year linebacker Nick Jackson. If his dossier isn’t the defensive equivalent of McNamara’s on offense, it’s in very close pursuit.

Much, in fact, like Jackson was as a Hoo in Charlottesville, always chasing the football and whomever is holding onto it.

Can you lose Butkus Award-winner Jack Campbell to the NFL and not have a drop-off at linebacker? It seems unlikely. Yet, it may be possible as Jackson works with Jay Higgins to replace graduated starters Campbell and another top talent, Seth Benson.

Jackson arrived with a body of work as impressive as his 6-foot-1, 238-pound body of, well, body. Get this:

He led the Atlantic Coast Conference in tackles per game last year. And in 2021. He began his streak of three straight 100-tackle seasons in 2020, a 10-game season.

Jackson was second-team All-ACC in 2021 and 2022, third-team in 2020. He has 33 career starts, including the Orange Bowl when he was a first-year freshman. He was a two-year team captain.

This is no reclamation project, no placeholder until a younger player emerges during the season. This is a dude, one the Hawkeyes sorely needed at his position.

Why Iowa?

“It was just the culture, the history, and just everything behind the program,” Jackson said Tuesday. “Coach (Seth) Wallace and Coach (Phil) Parker, how detail-oriented they were and how they had a plan to coach me and help me to get better.

“Within the scheme, this was just going to help me grow my knowledge and help me become a better football player. So then eventually when I can make the next step, hopefully to the NFL, I’ll be more prepared.”

Jackson, from Atlanta, could have jumped to the NFL last winter. He wasn’t there yet. It speaks well of players when they realize that. He could have been on Tuesday’s massive list of players cut from NFL rosters.

He committed to Iowa in February, and arrived in June after graduating from Virginia where he majored in commerce.

“Business with a concentration on IT and marketing,” Jackson said. “I’m very interested in that space, very interested in the financial world.”

There are a lot of postseason honors in college football, with some significant and others not as much. One that Jackson got seems notable for the spectrum it covers.

Namely, he was one of the Athletes of the Year of the National Strength and Conditioning Association. The NSCA says the honorees are recognized for their athletic accomplishments, but also their dedication and personal integrity.

“Jackson diligently puts in the work on and off the field,” said Virginia football strength and conditioning coach Adam Smotherman. “He exhibits respect, personal excellence, integrity, leadership, and incredible work habits in all he does.”

He has practiced with the Hawkeyes for a month, and here’s what Ferentz says about Jackson today:

“He operates at a high level. … He’s got a lot of pride. He’s an intelligent guy who really works at it.

“He’s everything we hoped for and he’s also assumed a leadership role on top of that.”

Yeah, Jackson came to Iowa from the high-end store in the transfer portal. Good get.

Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com