Friday, September 12, 2008 11:02 PM CDT
Still living in Charleston, Jackson is now EIU's opponent
By BRIAN NIELSEN, Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
No way, Shannon Jackson insists, that he would have his wife go from the African studies class she teaches at Eastern Illinois to O’Brien Stadium to scout football practice.
We have to assume Sumalayo Jackson would not force EIU linebacker Alain Marcelin who is in that class to divulge this week’s game plan that she can relay to her husband and defensive coordinator at Indiana State.
These are possibilities you can at least throw out jokingly leading up to Eastern’s 6 p.m. home opener and Hall of Fame game today against Indiana State at O’Brien.
After three seasons as Eastern’s defensive line coach under Bob Spoo, Jackson took the defensive coordinator job at Indiana State where he was an NCAA Division I-AA All-American in 1999.
He and his wife still live in Charleston while she continues to teach at Eastern, although in this business where college football coaches’ work week hours sometimes reach triple figures during the season, Shannon Jackson spends some nights with the in-laws in Terre Haute.
But still, couldn’t he either sneak home some day or have his wife check out Eastern’s practice?
“Oh, c’mon,” Jackson said with a laugh. “Not at all. It’s not what Eastern Illinois does. It’s all about us. It’s about how fast we take the learning curve.”
Yes, certainly more than some X’s and O’s strategy is involved as Indiana State tries to end the nation’s longest losing streak of 15 games as part of a 1-39 stretch when taking on an Eastern Illinois team that is ranked 20th in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.
“You can watch them on film and see what they’re doing,” Indiana State coach Trent Miles said of the Panthers. “Shannon, last I’d heard, he hasn’t put on pads for a long time. I wish he could.”
Instead, since Jackson was a freshman on coach Dennis Raetz’s 1996 team that went 6-5, the Sycamores have had 11 straight losing seasons and three coaching changes.
Chosen to resurrect the program was Miles, a Terre Haute native and a wide receiver for the Sycamores in 1982-86, including two playoff
seasons.
“I think he is doing things the right way,” EIU coach Bob Spoo said. “For whatever reason, they suspended their quarterback for the first game. That shows he is laying down the law.”
With sophomore quarterback Charles Dowdell benched last week, Miles’ Indiana State coaching era got off to a rocky start with a 52-0 loss at Eastern Michigan.
“You don’t ever feel good losing 52-0,” Jackson said. “This was the very first game for a lot of our kids. The biggest thing for us is teaching them how to compete, how to practice hard and how to play hard and teaching them to be a Division I football player. For us it’s just trying to teach them how to compete.
“When almost half the team is new guys, which our team is, you’re trying to build a foundation. That’s both offensively and defensively. We’re trying to lay a foundation and build upon that.”
No one is saying this will come quickly.
“It’s kind of hard to have confidence when you’re 1-39,” Miles said. “As a coach, I want us to be competitive and play hard on the field. Obviously, winning helps your confidence. Losing is like a disease. It comes in and sticks and breeds a whole new culture.”
While seeking a fourth straight postseason playoff berth, Eastern Illinois, after starting its season with losses to Football Bowl Subdivision teams Central Michigan and Illinois, is not without its problems as well.
So however automatic wins are supposed to be over the Sycamores this year, Spoo is not counting on anything.
“I think they are a better football team to be honest with you,” the EIU coach said. “They’re kind of scary. They have some young guys and bring some enthusiasm to them.”
That’s without even mentioning the opposing defensive coordinator still lives in Charleston but now is trying to beat his former team.
“It will seem strange because of the relationship with a lot of the coaches and players,” Jackson said. “Coach Spoo was so great. I picked up so much working for him for three years.”
Contact Brian Nielsen at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
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