Former South Effingham QB looking to continue college career after 2nd knee surgery
Former South Effingham standout quarterback Taylor Jackson says his first knee surgery — about two years before his first snap at Brevard College — left him frustrated.
“I got to a low place,” Jackson said. “When you’ve been playing as long as I have, sports almost becomes your identity, and when you’re not playing, you’re lost.”
Now, after transferring to Reinhardt University in Waleska, Georgia, he’s had a second knee surgery and will be staring at another seven months away from the playing field.
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Unlike his first hiatus, the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder is staying positive. He said he will have seven months to learn just by being in the Eagles quarterback meetings and helping on game day from the sidelines.
When Jackson has been healthy, he’s been productive. As a senior with the Mustangs, he was the fuse to an explosive offense that featured receivers Zach Taylor, Noah Hoang, Adam Napier and Alex Cela, and had powerful Austin Blaske (now at the University of Georgia) on the offensive line. Then the offense added Calvary Day transfer running back Rocko Griffin (now at Vanderbilt) in the backfield.
Jackson set school single-season records with 1,981 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. And SEHS won six games that season — coach Nathan Clark’s first — after winning just four games in the previous three seasons combined.
“We had a lot of seniors on that (2019) team and I think we were just tired of losing,” Jackson said. “We were ready to do whatever it took.”
Jackson’s big season, however, didn’t lead to many college offers despite a Hudl package that highlighted the dual-threat quarterback’s strong arm, agility in the pocket and propensity for big plays.
He accepted an opportunity to show skeptical recruiters wrong at Division III Brevard, located in the Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina.
“I felt like I was better than where I was, maybe I could have played Division II, maybe lower Division I, but Brevard was giving me a chance and it was only five hours away from home,” said Jackson, whose brother Tyler Hagan played tight end at Savannah State University.
COVID put a damper on the 2020 season for the lower divisions of college football. Brevard moved a few games to the spring. But two weeks before the first game, Jackson tore the ACL in his left knee.
He was cleared to play after the first two weeks of the fall season and in Brevard’s fifth game, finally got a chance to make his first start.
In front of a Tornado homecoming crowd, which included his family, Jackson threw for 204 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-0 victory over Maryville College.
Jackson was named the USA South Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
“I think for some people it was eye-opening,” Jackson said.
The next week, against LaGrange, he tweaked his knee and just wasn’t the same the rest of the season. He said he learned months later that he had a torn meniscus.
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He transferred to Reinhardt in January, began spring ball, and the knee went out again. And for the second time, he needed ACL surgery on his left knee.
“You worry about the knee, especially your mobility and not being hesitant once you come back,” Jackson said. “I like to think I’m a pocket passer who can extend plays by running. It was a big part of my game.”
Despite redshirting this season, he will be busy with school work as a sociology major with a focus on criminal justice. He will learn the Reinhardt offense and rehab with the 2023 season as a target.
“I know I’ll have to work hard to come back,” Jackson said.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: South Effingham High School quarterback Taylor Jackson now at Reinhardt
