Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Jackson is healthy, ready to do damage
He says goal is to win ACC Championship
CORAL GABLES — On Tuesday afternoon, Demetrius Jackson was back on the football field, eyes focused on the ball carrier in front of him.
Moments later, the Hurricanes defensive end shared a good-natured laugh with the George Washington Carver Elementary student he’d playfully challenged to a little football during one of Miami’s annual community outreach events.
This fall, Jackson likely won’t have many smiles for the opposing quarterbacks and running backs he’ll be chasing down when he returns to the Hurricanes’ rotation. He missed the last five games of the season because of a torn meniscus in his right knee that required surgery.
He will, however, have a greater appreciation for the game he missed and a deeper understanding, he says, of what he and his teammates will have to do to get the Hurricanes back to the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game.
“It feels good to be back out there running, just having confidence in my knee and knowing everything is all right,” said Jackson, a former standout at Miami’s Booker T. Washington High. “My expectations haven’t changed. Even last year, my goal was to win the ACC Championship and you take one step at a time then, and get to the playoffs.
“But it hasn’t changed. Just one day at a time, like I’ve been saying, get 1 percent better. Win out, take one game at a time, put the work in and come December, I’m very confident we’ll be seeing Clemson again. It’s up to us if we want the outcome to be
different.”
Jackson, who had 18 tackles including 7.5 for losses and 3.5 sacks before he was hurt last season, will be called on to be one of the anchors on a defensive line that has undergone some massive changes since last year.
Defensive end Chad Thomas, a teammate of Jackson’s at Booker T. Washington, graduated and was a third-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns. Junior defensive tackles RJ McIntosh and Kendrick Norton both bypassed their senior years and will begin their NFL careers this fall, McIntosh with the New York Giants, Norton with the Carolina Panthers.
Defensive end Trent Harris graduated, too. And defensive linemen DJ Johnson and Ryan Fines both transferred out of the program.
But while a limited participant during spring drills, Jackson says he saw young linemen like Jon Ford, a former Dillard High standout, and Jon Garvin, a former Lake Worth High standout, take steps forward.
He expects the Hurricanes — who were fourth in the nation last season with 44 sacks and held opponents to just 4.7 yards per play — will still be a force up front. And Jackson said he’s determined to do his part to help Miami build on its defensive success under coordinator Manny Diaz, who has turned the unit into a more aggressive, physical group.
“It’s been great to see those guys go all in,” Jackson said. “I’m very confident going into the summer, as we started workouts today, and camp that we’re going to have a good squad. One to two people don’t stop the show here. It’s never going to stop the show. We have to put it all in because we have a group of guys that can really go get it done, especially with the guys coming in in Tito [Odenigbo] and Nesta [Silvera] and Jordan Miller. I’m really confident in the guys that we had this spring and the guys that just got here.”
Odenigbo arrives
One of the players Jackson said he felt should be able to contribute immediately is Odenigbo, a graduate transfer from Illinois, who, according to Miami, has now enrolled and is taking summer classes.
Odenigbo played in 10 games for the Illini last season, notching 29 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss. He also had a sack, broke up two passes and blocked a kick.
Odenigbo isn’t the only graduate transfer the Hurricanes are expected to add this summer. Former Tennessee offensive lineman Venzell Boulware is expected to arrive in Coral Gables in the near future.