“Just get your wins” has become the rallying cry of the Texas College football program under head coach Jarrail Jackson.

One year ago, Texas College gained the attention of the college football universe when they were defeated 96-0 by UTPB to open the 2023 campaign. Multiple factors played a role in the margin of victory, but one main factor was that 25 players were removed from the Steers bus moments before they departed Tyler for the contest.

That marked the second year in which Jackson had players removed from the bus after 10 players faced the same scenario before the Steers played Arkansas Baptist at the start of the 2022 season. The reason cited for removing the players each year was a delay in getting the athletes certified for competition by the NAIA.

But this is the 2024 season, and it’s not your typical Steers program anymore. Texas College has posted five official wins (their win against Westgate Christian does not count for NAIA purposes), which is the most for the program since 1958. Those five victories equal the number of Steers wins from 2016 through 2023.

To understand how Jackson turned the program around in only his third season at Texas College, one must know how he arrived in Tyler. The path is filled with unexpected turns and legendary college football coaches.

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Jarrail Jackson grew up in Houston and played high school football for the legendary Maurice McGowan at Houston Yates, where the Lions went 39-8-2 with three district championships during Jackson’s high school career.

He then committed to play for another legend, Howard Schnellenberger, at Oklahoma. However, Schnellenberger was fired after Jackson’s redshirt season, and he spent the next three years playing under Sooners head coach John Blake. However, it wasn’t until his senior season that Jackson’s collegiate career took flight.

That’s when Bob Stoops, another name you may have heard before, arrived in Norman, Oklahoma, and brought Mike Leach along to serve as his offensive coordinator. Yes, the same Mike Leach who later coached at Texas Tech and has a fantastic coaching tree to carry on his legendary offenses. To add another layer, Jackson’s roommate at OU was fullback Seth Littrell, who later became known for producing a few terrific offenses while head coach at North Texas. 

Jackson caught 54 passes for 659 yards and seven touchdowns, a school record at the time. That production led to him earning third-team All-Big 12 honors and a spot on the Buffalo Bills roster. One of the highlights of Jackson’s career leading into his senior season was returning a punt 51 yards for a touchdown with under seven minutes remaining in regulation to ignite a comeback win over Texas in 1996. 

He spent three years with the Bills, mainly on the practice squad, before embarking on a journey through multiple Arena Football League teams, including three stints each with the Tulsa Talons and Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz throughout his nine-year professional career.

Toward the end of his playing career, Jackson began coaching football during the offseason. He started as a wide receivers coach at Chickasha High School and was a volunteer assistant at Central Oklahoma.

However, in the next six years, he began preparing to become a head coach one day. His development began at Dartmouth under the legendary Buddy Teevens. Jackson spent six years with the Big Green and credits Teevens for teaching him the organizational skills that were valuable to Jackson throughout his career.

Mike Leach called Jackson in 2012 and offered him an administrative position at Washington State. Jackson spent the next three years as Director of Player Relations, involved in nearly every aspect of the program. Current North Texas head coach Eric Morris was on the Cougars' staff with Jackson as inside receivers coach. 

On top of his administrative duties, Leach also told Jackson to learn how a defensive secondary operates from Washington State’s defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach, Mike Breske.

“One of the best things Coach (Leach) did for me was put me with the secondary coach. It opened my eyes to what hurts a defense and how to call games on offense to exploit those weaknesses.”

However, Jackson became upset when he was not promoted to outside receivers coach after Dennis Simmons departed, so he left the Cougars to coach the wide receivers at Davidson. In hindsight, Jackson realizes leaving the Cougars wasn’t his best decision, and things never worked out for him at Davidson.

Jackson’s career took a twist after one season at Davidson. By the end of January 2016, he was teaching his daughter’s preschool class when the teacher went on maternity leave until school ended in May. He jumped back into football and spent the 2016 season in another off-field role as an offensive and recruiting assistant at Mississippi State.

Missing being on the gridiron as a position coach, Jackson departed the Bulldogs for NCAA Division II Central Oklahoma, where he served as wide receivers coach under his friend Nick Bobeck. The Bronchos wide receivers excelled under Jackson’s tutelage, highlighted by one of his proteges, J.T. Luper, finishing second in the voting for the Harlon Hill Trophy, the DII equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

As Jackson was preparing to enter the first meeting for spring camp at UCO in 2019, his life took another unexpected turn when Bob Stoops called.

“Well, Coach (Stoops) called, so I rearranged meetings and went to Norman,” Jackson said.

Once he arrived in Norman, he met another legendary offensive football mind, Hal Mumme. Stoops had recently been named head coach of the XFL Arlington Renegades and hired Mumme as offensive coordinator. The offer to become a wide receivers coach under those football legends was too much for Jackson to pass up.

However, everything changed when the pandemic hit, leaving the XFL a defunct league and Jackson without a job. So, Jackson started working at a Boys and Girls Club, where he found himself coaching the nephew of his former quarterback at Oklahoma, Josh Heupel, in 7-on-7.

Jackson quickly returned to football and spent the 2021 season at Tyler as offensive coordinator until Texas College suddenly had a head coach opening when former Dallas Cowboys legend Greg Ellis left the Steers to accept the same role at the university now known as Nelson, formerly SAGU.

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“The (Texas College) job was intriguing to me because you’re in East Texas, where there’s football talent everywhere,” Jackson said.

As Jackson contemplated whether to apply for the Texas College job, he consulted with the mentor he knew would have the perfect words for this situation – Mike Leach.

“He reminded me that I’ve never turned down a challenge and, in his way, explained the only way this program could go was up,” Jackson recalls. “He saw it as a win-win opportunity because you’re supposed to lose here. But if you win, you’ll be known for turning that program around.”

But turning around the Steers program would be a chore, considering that its facilities and funding resemble those of some underfunded junior colleges more than an NAIA program.

Since his arrival, Jackson has also served as the head baseball coach. He is the only college football head coach in Texas who spends the offseason as a head coach for another sport at the university. The school has provided him with an assistant coach for this season, who Jackson hopes will transition into the head coach position next year so he can focus on recruiting and other duties that come with being the head football coach.

However, Jackson isn’t alone in performing multiple duties at Texas College. Three of his four full-time assistant football coaches live in a dorm room on campus. All four assistant coaches have another job on campus, from working in the dorms (Chief of Staff Stefan Cotton and defensive line coach Dante’ Carter) to offensive coordinator Andrew Bates serving as Sports Information Director and defensive coordinator Nathaniel Jones coaching track along with handling administrative duties.

Another challenge the staff faces is having a practice field that floods for a few days when it rains. When they do have practice on the field, it’s the responsibility of the coaching staff to mark lines on the field. The coaching staff is in the study hall to ensure the players finish their school work, and last year, Jackson found sponsors to ensure the players had the equipment they needed.

Yet, the Texas College Steers are 5-2 and one win away from posting the program's most wins in a season since 1948.

“Everybody does a good job of doing their part to help out. There’s no complaining. It is what it is; we will make the best of it. We have fun doing it, too, and our kids have bought into that mindset,” Jackson said. “Some of these kids we bring in here are on their last strike in college and football. But to watch them walk across the stage and graduate feels pretty good.

The win total isn’t the only thing changing around the Steers football program.

“I’d wear a Texas College shirt to the Walmart around the corner from our campus, and people would ask me where that school is located. They thought it had closed down. Now, they know who we are and our players.”

Jackson and the team have become mainstays in the Tyler community and often invite youth football teams to the games. The Whataburger near campus now displays messages of support and wears Texas College shirts while serving customers on football Saturdays.

Next February, the program will be represented on a national stage after wide receiver Terrell Hookfin was selected to attend the Allstate HBCU Legacy Bowl. This all-star game, which will be televised on the NFL Network, features the best NFL draft-eligible players from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Watching Hookfin in the Legacy Bowl will be a proud moment for Jackson.

“It’s hard to get kids to stay when we’re not giving scholarships and the lack of resources we have here,” Jackson said. “But we’ve been able to keep a core of kids like Terrell. He was the first kid I signed when I got here, and he’s been loyal and playing well.”

The environment around the football program closely resembles a large family, which works when they need to hold each other accountable.

“Last week, we were in a close game against Oklahoma Panhandle State, and the coaches got onto me because I went into my “Leach Mode” and tried to throw a fade route with 30 seconds remaining,” Jackson said. “We’ve had a pretty good turnaround, but we’re not finished. It’s nice to see our kids get the recognition they deserve for all their hard work and dedication to the program. A ton of credit goes to my coaching staff. Those guys work hard to develop a game plan and make sure our guys play sound football.”

Flashback to the viral story about the Steers' 96-0 loss to open the 2023 season. After that story was published, Texas College hired a compliance person. That’s not the only help the program has received from the university recently, as they furnished the equipment for the athletes this season.

There is a discussion building around improving the weight room and the practice field, but that’s something Jackson will believe when he sees the work being done.

“We’re in Year 3 now, so we know the situation and what to expect from our administration. We understand that finances will be limited, but we don’t use excuses here,” Jackson said. “It’s not an obstacle. It’s an opportunity. God blessed me to be the head coach at Texas College and to coach the great kids we have in this program.”

Jackson also understands that the key to future improvements for the football program is continuing to “just get your wins.”