West Virginia's T.J. Jackson was a force on the Mountaineers' defense this season, but even after his success, he still has much to prove.
Almost a year ago in January, Jackson, a native of Millbrook, Alabama, arrived in Morgantown, transferring from his in-state school Troy.
"It's been awesome since I've been here. It's a really, really cool experience. Being from Alabama, I only really see snow once every five years. I've seen it about five times this last month. It's really been like a cool experience coming up here, experiencing everything, experiencing West Virginia, experiencing the fans," Jackson said.
Jackson had a decision to make last offseason. He had one more year of eligibility and decided to enter the transfer portal. Jackson had interest from many schools but wanted to prove himself at a caliber of school like West Virginia.
"Honestly, I try to keep myself humble because even though I've done that, there's still going to be doubts from a lot of people. Even before I got here, there were some doubts about me even being successful here. There were a couple coaches telling me you should stay [group of five], those guys at power four levels really are that, and they [were] basically telling me I wasn't good enough to come play at power four. Every step I take, no matter what I do where I go, I always have to prove someone wrong because of myself. I never really get satisfied, and I always tell myself, I'll never be satisfied until I have to hang up them cleats," Jackson said.
Jackson's regular season stats were good enough to land him on the All-Big 12 First Team. He finished with 38.0 total tackles, 13.5 TFLs, and 6.5 sacks. Jackson said his success, though, was part of being told he wasn't good enough, lighting a fire under him that was not there prior.
"That one definitely motivated me a lot because once he told me, it lit a whole different fire inside of me. I was like, alright, I have to prove you wrong, and I got to prove a whole bunch of group because if you think it, I know a whole bunch of people are thinking it, so I have to prove them wrong as well," Jackson said.
Jackson has always carried a chip on his shoulder from his days in high school. Even this season, as he saw success on the field, he always was hungry for more.
"When I was coming out of high school, I wasn't recruited like that, I was recruited very lowly. So I always, like I said, coming up in life, I was always like the underdog with everything because of my size. It's kind of weird how I approach it because I never really sit back and am like I'm satisfied with that. Even with the stats I got now, I probably lead the nation in missed TFLs. I probably could have had like 20-something TFLs, but I missed them. I can never really be satisfied with what I've got because that's not really what I could have," Jackson said.
Part of staying hungry for Jackson is the external motivators, specifically his family. Jackson has a young daughter, and he wants to continue to produce for her and to support the rest of his family.
"I knew from the start from when I got here I wasn't going to be one of those guys to opt out of a bowl game because of my predictions for next year. I don't have a solidified draft round spot, so I know I have to take every chance I can to go out there and perform and show what I can do on every level of football," Jackson said.
Name, image, and likeness have seemed to play a role for Jackson as he said he's able to give his family support after they've supported him for so long.
"It's kind of been helpful a lot because, as y'all know, I have my kid. Being able to be that father, to be able to say I can take care of my kid and still make sure she's fed, she has clothes on her body. Just be able to have that mindset, I can help my mom now, and it's not all about she's just helping me," Jackson said.
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