Speedy returner has knack for getting into end zone

Mike Jackson was in “a bad situation.”

Jackson was in the fifth grade when he competed against the team of Sheldon Smith, who was the coach of a rival youthleague team at the time.

“He was wearing No. 99,” Smith said incredulously. “They had him playing the offensive and defensive lines. It was a bad situation because he was out of position.”

Smith talked to Jackson and his mother and convinced Mike to join his team, the Richmond Perrine Giants, as a running back and wide receiver.

A couple of years later, the Giants lived up to their name, winning the 2016 youth-league national championship in Orlando (14-and-under and 155 pounds and under). Smith coached that team, which included Jason Marshall, now a five-star cornerback with the Florida Gators; Corey Collier, a four-star safety for the Gators; Brashard Smith, a fourstar wide receiver for the Miami Hurricanes; and Jackson, a three-star wide receiver who signed last week with FIU.

“We called them ‘the Golden Boys,’ ” Smith said. “Our park’s colors are blue and white. But we bought the kids chromegold helmets like the 49ers.”

Jackson, who is one year younger than those other three players, followed them to Palmetto High, where he had a brilliant four-year career, returning 10 kickoffs and four punts for touchdowns.

FIU signed Jackson as a wide receiver and kick returner. But Jackson is so talented that he was named The Miami Herald’s 2021 Defensive Player of the Year, intercepting 11 passes and running three of them back for touchdowns in his only season as a starting cornerback.

“That dude is a ball magnet,”

Smith said.

What makes the kick-return statistic even more impressive is that opponents kicked away from Jackson for most of 2021.

After running seven kicks back for touchdowns as a sophomore and four as a junior, Jackson was held to two such scores last year.

“They pretty much stopped kicking him the ball,” Palmetto coach Mike Manasco said. “Punters angled the ball out of bounds. Kickoffs would go out of bounds, too. We would deny the penalty, but they would do it again. It got ridiculous.

“Mike is one of the fastest guys in Miami. He runs a legit 4.4 [40-yard dash].”

All of this raises the questions: If Jackson is so good, how come 247 Sports lists 176 receivers better than him, and why didn’t he sign with a Power Five program?

For starters, there’s Jackson’s size.

He’s listed at 5-8 and 160 pounds, not that it bothers new FIU coach Mike MacIntyre.

“If you can’t touch him, you can’t [tackle] him.” MacIntyre said. “I’m really excited about his explosiveness. We see

Jackson guys like that [in the

NFL], making plays.”

As for Power Five schools, Jackson — who is exceptionally quiet — said he was recruited by LSU, Georgia, Miami, Maryland, Louisville and West Virginia.

But in every case, Jackson said, the coaches recruiting him were fired or left the program, and the school’s interest dwindled.

Sheldon Smith said the transfer portal was also a factor.

“Schools don’t want to develop a high school player if they don’t have to,” Smith said. “They want bigger and more ready-made receivers.”

Manasco said Jackson — at the prep level — reminds him of ex-Hurricanes receiver/returner Devin Hester.

Smith, meanwhile, told Jackson about T.Y. Hilton, a smallish under-recruited player who signed with FIU back in 2008 when Mario Cristobal was the coach.

Jackson hadn’t heard of Hilton initially but …

“He researched it, and he told me, ‘Coach, you’re right,’ ” Smith said. “But I think Mike is more explosive at the same age. He’s deadly in the return game.”

THIS AND THAT

Smith, who sat in on the Jackson home visit, said MacIntyre was “blunt and real” in his recruiting pitch. MacIntyre quickly closed the deal with Jackson, who took no more visits after FIU.

Smith advised Jackson to not be in a hurry to get on the field. “I told him to get in the weight room, learn the playbook and be a sponge,” Smith said. “Then, when it’s time to play, play.”

AA