Jack Bicknell never stood a chance. Coaching was always going to be in his plan.
His father, Jack Sr., was a head coach and coached his son at Boston College. But he tried to steer him in a different direction when it came to his own career choices.
“He said ‘do something different’. He’s like please don’t do this. But you know he knew it was a great life. I mean, heck I had no chance. I was going to be a coach,” he said.
Outside of his father, all of his mentors also were in the coaching profession, which only further cemented his interest in following that path. There was a moment where he potentially considered another path with a startup company in San Francisco called Apple, but that didn’t happen.
His mother didn’t want him to go out West either, so he made the decision to follow his heart and dive headfirst into the coaching profession.
“So I went right into being a GA and making $300 a month,” he said.
Bicknell, now 62, has made a long career out of the coaching profession with stints all over the college landscape as well as with multiple NFL Franchises. And just like his family did growing up, his own family has been centered around the game.
“It’s the same thing I’m doing, the same thing to my girls. You know, and it’s people don’t realize how serious it is for these families,” he said. “And they can’t help it.”
The latest stop of his career has brought him to West Virginia with a coach with whom he has a shared history with both as players on the field competing against each other and in the profession on the staff at Mississippi earlier in their careers.
“I just think his intensity with how he brings it every single day to work and his ability to make people rise up. You know what I mean? And, you know, just get that wave going and the ability to inspire people and push people to become the best people they can be,” Bicknell said.
Bicknell has shown the ability to adapt all throughout his career and it didn’t take long to see what Rodriguez was about and how he is direct with what he does and doesn’t like in the moment.
“He's really a lot of fun to be around. He's a funny, very funny man. It's hard to – you know, it's hard to see sometimes, but he's got a great sense of humor. The players love him and we love him. And so, you know, it's exciting for me to be back with him. I have a lot of loyalty to that guy,” he said.
Just another stop in the long career of Bicknell and one where he is looking to make an impact, following in the footsteps of a profession that it seemed were always predestined for him. And his passion for the job is still burning quite strongly.
“I could be 62 years old out fishing somewhere right now. I don't want to be fishing,” he said.
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