Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Jackson Leaves Curley Wolves To Become Bulldog

After 28 years and four state football championships at Prescott High School, Eddie Jackson is calling it quits.

But, while Jackson is leaving Prescott, he's not leaving athletics. Instead, he will be taking over the floundering gridiron program at Hampton, where he will be athletic director and head football coach.

Monday afternoon, Jackson said he plans on coaching five more years, and thought his career would end at Prescott. However, earlier this month, officials from Hampton contacted him about making a move further east.

Hampton, according to the Arkansas Activities Association, is in the powerful 8AA conference. Other teams in the league include: Dermott, Pine Bluff Dollarway, Eudora, Lake Village, Star City, DeWitt and McGehee on the football field. Drew Central is included in the foray on the basketball court.

Jackson gave three reasons for leaving the Curley Wolves to become a Bulldog: professional advancement; politics; and financial consideration.

At Hampton, Jackson will return to the helm as athletic director, as well as being head football coach. This is something he did at PHS for 18 years until being reassigned two years ago.

He said the decision to reassign him was a detriment to the entire program.

On the other hand, Hampton offered him the chance to leave the classroom and spend the remaining years of his professional career on the field where he wants to be.

Politically, he said, a small group of administrators and school board members felt it was time for a change two years ago when Jackson was moved from athletic director to head football and track coach. In addition, he was given classroom teaching duties.

"I taught to the best of my abilities," he said, "and worked as hard at that as I did everything else.

During those two years, though, the Wolves went 26-2-1 on the football field, and won a track championship, while being runner up for the indoor/outdoor title.

The third reason, financial consideration, speaks for itself. Hampton, he said, has a good pay scale, better than Prescott's.

"All coaches here have worked so much for so long that salary is not a real consideration," he said. "At least it wasn't until the last few years."

When sending out resumes, Jackson said, he has listed the desire to change as being for professional advancement and financial considerations.

Leaving won't be easy for Jackson. He said it was an emotional scene when he told the football team about his decision last week.

The reality of the situation also hit him during the Merchant Relays Thursday, April 24, as he spoke to the various coaches who were in town for the meet.

Before making the final decision, Jackson was approached by Superintendent Don Johnston about staying.

Jackson had three conditions for staying: being returned to the position as athletic director; given the office time to do the job properly; and an equitable salary.

However, an agreement couldn't be reached and Jackson decided to take the Hampton position.

"Of all the good people the Lord made," Jackson said, "he dropped a whole bunch in Nevada County."

He said the friends and supporters of the PHS program can't be thanked enough for what they've done during the past 28 years.

On the downside, he said, there have been a bunch of "locker room lawyers" who want to do their job and someone else's.

The good, though, far outweighs the bad there's been during his tenure at PHS.

When talking about telling the football team he was leaving, Jackson said they were emotional. "They'll be resilient," he said. "It's critically important now for them to give their full support and dedication for whoever takes over.

"These are the two things I've always stressed to my players and the coaches I've worked with -- loyalty and commitment."

He said this was true for 26 years in Prescott athletics, but hasn't been the case for the past two years. The lack of loyalty and commitment, he said, has not been from the players, but from others.

Looking back over his 28 years at PHS, Jackson said the three things that stand out most in his mind are going undefeated in his first season at the helm; winning the 1992 state track championship; and the 1995 state AA football championship with the win over Nashville.

Kathy, Jackson's wife, is taking the move hard, he said. What's made it tougher though, is he had dreams of his son, Kyle, being a Curley Wolf. "All the other factors entered into it," he said. "We're trying to make the best of a difficult situation."

While Hampton has a football team now, it has been down since the mid-1980s and they are wanting to rebuild.

Jackson said the district has the finances available to do some major building projects and wants him to oversee them. This, he said, is exciting. The school wants to build a track facility, practice fields and remodel the coaches offices.

It currently has a new weight room, plenty of dressing space with metal lockers with locks and a new gym.

"The hardest part about leaving," he said, "is leaving the good people here. This is a school with a football rich tradition, and I'm thankful I had a small part in helping build that tradition.

"I look forward to getting back into athletic administration and directing an entire program. I've always wondered if what we've done here would work in another school."

While at PHS on the football field, Jackson's teams won the state title in 1972, '73, '75 and '95. His Wolves were state runners up in 1970, '76 and '83, making the semi-finals in 1985, '86 and '96.

Jackson's charges were district champs in 1970, '72, '73, '75, '76, '77, '81, '84, '85, '88 and '95.

In track, the Wolves were state champs in 1986, '89 and '92. They were state runners up in '82, '83, '87, '91 and '96. They were also indoor state runner up in '96.

The team won district titles in 1975, '79, '82-'90, '92, '93 and '96.