Background
Darrell Jackson Jr. grew up in Gadsden County, Fla., with his parents (Darrell and Lisa). His uncle (Dexter Jackson) played safety at Florida State and was a fourth-round pick (No. 113) in the 1999 NFL Draft. He played in the NFL for 10 seasons (1999-2008) and was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXXVII with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Darrell Jackson Jr. didn’t play any organized sports as a child, but he was always around the game of football. Weighing just 200 pounds before his junior year, Jackson joined the football team (despite having zero experience) and has said there was something special about the coaching staff that made him want to stick with it. While playing next to Joshua Farmer on the defensive line, he posted 51 tackles, 19 tackles for loss and five sacks in his first season. Jackson bulked up to 260 pounds before the start of his senior campaign, then helped Gadsden reach the playoffs in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. He finished his senior year with 23 tackles, five tackles for loss and one sack, while adding a 15-yard touchdown catch at tight end.
A three-star recruit, Jackson was the 89th-ranked defensive lineman in the 2021 class and the No. 95 recruit in Florida. It didn’t take him long after he started playing football to get on the recruiting radar — in January 2020, he received his first FBS scholarship offer from Maryland. A week later, at a Tennessee junior event, Jackson received an offer from the Volunteers and committed on the spot. Prior to his senior year, he added offers from Boston College, Georgia Tech, Miami and Mississippi State. Just before signing day, Jackson decommitted from Tennessee and flipped to Maryland. He was the eighth-ranked recruit in Mike Locksley’s 2021 class (Chop Robinson was No. 1). Jackson entered the transfer portal after one year at Maryland and wanted to return to his home state. He took visits to Florida and Florida State before committing to Miami.
After one season as a starter for the Hurricanes, Jackson jumped back into the transfer portal with the intention of transferring to Florida State because he wanted to be closer to his mother, who was battling a serious illness. (She lives in Quincy, Fla., 25 miles from Tallahassee.) His waiver for immediate eligibility was denied by the NCAA because he was a multi-transfer player, so he redshirted in 2023.
Jackson graduated with a degree in social science (December 2024). He accepted an invitation to the East-West Shrine Bowl and was a late call-up to the Senior Bowl.