Todd Eskola paused before delivering the biggest line of the day. Clearly, the veteran Joe T. Robinson football head coach knew he was about to give a show-stopping quote.
“I’ve been coaching 22 years and I’ve never said this out loud,” Eskola said. “I would project Koilan Jackson to play at the next level.”
The next level isn’t the SEC, in this reference. It’s the NFL.
Eskola made that projection after coaching Jackson for just one season, and at a new position.
Jackson transferred to Joe T. Robinson last winter in hopes of making the move to wide receiver after playing quarterback at Little Rock Parkview. It was an instant hit, just as Jackson was with his new classmates and teammates. Arkansas didn’t wait for a game at wide receiver, extending an offer in the spring. Jackson committed soon afterward.
“He was a perfect fit,” said David Porter, the defensive end from Robinson who also is headed to Arkansas. “He clicked with all of us.
“We all knew Koilan from Parkview. We all knew him from around the community. He’s well liked by everyone. But he’s become about my best friend.
“We also knew what he was about on his last team. He was about the only good athlete they had. He stood out. And we knew he would be a difference maker for us.
“It was the instant he stepped on the field for practices, then it was obvious in his first game. He’d go up with two defenders, he’d catch it and they would both end up on the ground. He’d walk into the end zone.
“Man, he’s the truth — just as advertised.”
Porter radiated as he talked about his friend. His smile was matched only by Jackson’s.
“They are good kids and they are going to be smiling a lot,” Eskola said. “You saw them the way they are, always got that big smile.”
It’s a little more than just the smile with Jackson. It’s heart.
“That’s Koilan,” said Keith Jackson Sr., Koilan’s famous father with the College Football Hall of Fame plaque and Super Bowl ring. “He’s the one of my kids we say has a lot of love for everyone else.”
It was only appropriate that Keith Jackson put a heart on Koilan’s pendant when he came up with a unique Christmas present for the family this year.
Dad had four pendants made that, when put together, formed the state of Arkansas. And, yes, the southeast corner that is Koilan’s pendant has a heart next to the big “J” that is prominent on all four.
“They are pretty cool,” Koilan said of the four pendants. “I didn’t know my dad was that creative.”
Dad is sort of proud of the way it turned out.
“There is a cloth that I gave (wife) Melanie,” Keith Jackson said. “Then, there is (a pendant) for Keith Jr., Kenyon and Koilan, and one for me. Mine has a cross to represent our faith, so important in our family. Keith Jr. has a tree, because family is so important for him. He’s got a family now. And Kenyon’s has a football. He’s the grinder of the bunch, always trying to improve his football.
“I put ‘Genus Aviem Est Totum’ on the back of each one. That’s Latin for, ‘Family is everything.’”
They take the pendants off to lay on the cloth when at home.
“I do think it turned out pretty good,” Keith Jackson said. “The boys don’t take them off.”
No, said, Koilan, “The only time you do that is when we are at home to lay on the cloth.”
The love is there with all of his boys, but dad said it’s more obvious with Koilan.
“He’s the one who is going to kiss a baby,” Keith Sr. said. “He shows his love. You get it pretty quickly.”
The other thing you get quickly is his physical presence, especially the hands.
“He’s got massive hands, doesn’t he?” Eskola said. “You shake his hand, it swallows yours.”
Yes, it does. That came up with Jackson and Porter.
“Both of us wear gloves size 3XL,” Jackson said. “I wear size 14 shoes. David wears size 15 shoes. We think we are still going to grow a little bit.”
Porter, who stands 6-4, thinks there might be another couple of inches of growth left. His father is a little over 6-8.
“I’m not sure I’m going to get much taller,” Koilan said. “I might be a full 6-3 when I’m done, but I think I’m going to add a few more pounds.”
Koilan was listed at 6-3, 212 on the UA’s signing day release.
“I’m a few pounds more than that now,” he said. “But not much. I might play at 220.”
And he may play soon. The Hogs lost five senior wide receivers.
“When you put his film on compared to other wide receivers across the country that are five stars and all this stuff, he is good as they are if not better,” UA coach Bret Bielema said. “He has got a special chance. He is big, athletic, intelligent and obviously that it is a great environment that he has been raised in.”
Bielema called Koilan Jackson the sleeper of the class, but it’s not like he was ignored by all of the recruiting services. ESPN had him rated as a 4-star prospect.
If Jackson had played wide receiver throughout his high school career, perhaps the other recruiting services would have given him more than three stars. But he looked like a stud at Robinson.
“Big, long, physical and fast,” Eskola said. “And he’s got those great, huge hands. He’s a special player. I know that’s a bunch of cliches. But it’s 100-percent true.
“On top of that, he’s just a great kid. God blessed him with unbelievable talent.”
Porter may have known about Jackson before the transfer to Robinson, but Eskola claims he didn’t.
“Yes, I knew of his father,” Eskola said. “But I didn’t really follow Koilan (at Parkview), and I didn’t know he was coming.
“I got a call when his mom brought him the first day. They called from the office and said, ‘Coach, we have a new kid who wants to play football.’ That was a good day for us.
“It was clear the first day we worked out that he was incredible. He’s 6-3, 200 and could fly. And the work ethic was great. He didn’t say much. He said he was there to work. He did.”
Jackson plays with a physical nature that will serve him well at the next level. He likes to block.
“And he’ll go over the middle,” Eskola said. “The player he reminds me of who you saw in the SEC was Laquan Treadwell at Ole Miss. He’s going to take on defenders. We would motion him across the formation, then throw to Nathan Paige, our junior receiver. Koilan led the way.”
Jackson was clocked at 4.52 in the 40-yard dash at a Dallas combine. Soon after, Arkansas extended the offer, before he played wideout in a game.
“That was a laser time,” Eskola said. “When that number got to Arkansas, they pulled the trigger.”
There are thoughts that Jackson may be a lot faster now.
“I think so,” he said. “That’s a long time ago. And, it was right when I first started to play wide receiver. I’ve done a lot of running since then. I’m still learning to open up my stride.”
Clay Henry can be reached at [email protected].