Where he belongs

Jul. 22—Before Tremaine Jackson found his calling in coaching, he grew up on 816 Paul Quinn St. in Houston, Texas.

When Jackson was hired as the 11th head coach — and the first Black head coach — in the history of Valdosta State University football, he fell face down on his bed and cried.

When he was introduced as the Blazers new head coach on Jan. 6, he opened his press conference by saying, "Forgive me if I get emotional. I'm not supposed to be here."

Jackson, 38, was raised by his grandmother, Clara Jackson, and his mother, Regina Miller. Jackson credits his grandmother as the biggest influence in his life.

"My mom got married and moved out. I stayed and it became my grandma and me for a long time," Jackson said. "It made me kind of an older soul. It made me see things like she was seeing them. You're talking about a lady with just an 11th-grade education.

"Since she was 17 years old, she had been working on a small country farm and made it to the big city of Houston. She'd seen a lot and done a lot. She was an activist and did a lot in civil rights. I knew a lot of stuff your average 14-, 15- or 16-year-old didn't know because I had sat around in those conversations with those women and older men, so it made me an older soul. It made me see things differently than most of the kids my age. I think that's helped me a lot in coaching and being in this situation."

Growing up under his grandmother's watchful eye and spending countless Sundays in the church, Jackson lived the three things that have become staples in his coaching philosophy — #DOG; Discipline, Obedience, and Grit.

"Being disciplined — if you weren't disciplined at 816 Paul Quinn, you were gonna get beat up. That's what it was, and that was the first form of discipline I ever learned. You do what I tell you to do," Jackson said. "I often think now we ask people to do things — players, kids, 5-year-olds, we ask them. I was told what to do, and I was told to get it done in a timely manner. That's why we define discipline as doing what we say we're going to do.

"Being obedient — I remember hearing that word 'obedience.' I grew up in the church too, so everybody talks about the obedience of the church. I heard that word my whole upbringing. Then, when you really think about it, submitting and complying with the authority that's parenting. I had to submit and comply with my grandma. I didn't have a choice.

Jackson continued, "Then having grit, which is having passion and perseverance for long-term and meaningful goals. That's how I got into the situation I'm in. I learned that a long time ago. Most people never accomplish anything because they never fully submit themselves and have the passion and perseverance to finish it. So the #DOG mentality was formed well before I knew it was a #DOG mentality. The #DOG mentality was my upbringing, and it was a lot of people's, and I think that's why people relate to it."

Jackson went to Waltrip High School in Houston, where he walked the same halls as his mother, his brother, Patrick Swayze, and WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker.

"It was the best time of my life," Jackson said.

When he was a sophomore at Waltrip, Jackson was a nose guard standing a shade under six feet tall, playing for head coach Van Malone.

While most high school football players dream of making it big and playing in the NFL, Jackson's dream was to make it out of his neighborhood.

"I was just trying to play football to go to college, to get out of my neighborhood," Jackson said. "The NFL was a dream, like every kid, but the immediate need was to get out of the neighborhood. That's all my grandmother kept saying, 'You're going to the military or going to school. You ain't gonna stay around here.'

"I wasn't going to the military, so the day they came to do the ASVAB test, I made sure I was in the weight room."

During that time, Jackson's relationship with Malone became one that would lay the foundation of a coaching career that has taken him all over the country with stops at Texas A&M Kingsville, Abilene Christian, Sioux Falls, Colorado Mesa, and now, Valdosta State.

Malone grew up in the same neighborhood as Jackson, who stayed at his house on the weekends.

"I told Coach Malone, 'I want to do what you're doing for me,'" Jackson recalled. "I was staying at his house on the weekends. I was coming to school with him. He had grown up in my neighborhood. He and his wife basically adopted me, and I wanted to do that for somebody. "

"He was like, 'Listen, if you think what I'm doing for you is something, then when you make it — when you go to college and get your degree — you just turn around and do it for somebody else.' At that moment, I went, 'Man, I'm gonna be a coach.' That's why we do it. That's why I wanted to be a head coach to do it for a whole program and not just a position group and a side of the ball."

Having narrowed his focus on pursuing coaching, Jackson enrolled at the University of Lousiana-Monroe. He spent his first two years before transferring to Texas Southernto finish his academic and athletic career. In 2006, Jackson graduated with a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Houston.

In his time at Louisiana-Monroe, Jackson began cultivating his game plan for the day he'd one day roam the sidelines.

"I watched my coaches in college and started taking things from them that I liked or didn't like," Jackson said.

"I was at Louisiana-Monroe playing in the first ever Sunbelt Conference game. The Sunbelt Conference as we know it was not what it was in 2001. I watched the way we handled that. Louisiana-Monroe wasn't a very good football team."

"Sam Houston came to Monroe and whooped us, and they were 1-AA, and we were 1-A. I watched how we handled that situation. I had a coach quit at halftime of the New Mexico State game, 'I'm tired of it. I ain't doing this no more.' I watched that, and I thought, 'Man, I'm being coached by some quitters.' It was no disrespect to him, but when a joker comes in and quits at halftime just because we're getting beat, you're a quitter. You've got no grit. I always said I would never do that. When I'm a coach, if it ain't going good, we're going to find a way to turn it around; even if we lose, we're going to find a way to turn it around."

In 2006, Jackson lived in San Antonio — three hours and 19 minutes from where he grew up in Houston — with his girlfriend, who later became his wife, until they divorced. Jackson and his girlfriend were expecting a baby girl, Harmony.

Little did Jackson know, he was about to stumble upon his first coaching job.

One day, Jackson was on FootballScoop.com looking for openings when he came across an opening for a tight ends coach at Texas A&M-Kingsville.

"It was no money. It was room and board, and if you need a class or two, we'll see what we can do," Jackson recalled. "I sent the guy an e-mail, and I happened to be so close — Kingsville was two hours away from San Antonio — until he was like, 'If you can get down here and we like each other, I'll give you the job.'"

Jackson didn't have much money. He was down to $8 remaining in his bank account and a half a tank of gas. Feeling as though this was now or never, Jackson overdrafted his account to fill up his gas tank and buy himself food to make the two-hour drive to Kingsville.

"I made it down there and back, and I told my daughter's mom at the time, 'If I don't go do this, I will never get into coaching,'" Jackson said. "I went and did it, got the job, and left the car with them. She had to finish school and graduate, and I went and got into coaching with room and board in Kingsville, Texas."

Sixteen years later, Jackson is taking his second head coaching job in a place much different from Houston or Grand Junction, Colorado, where he spent two seasons as the head coach at Colorado Mesa.

His work with the Mavericks — a 10-3 record over two seasons, including an 8-2 mark in 2021 — caught the eye of Valdosta State Director of Athletics Herb Reinhard.

"I think what impressed me, even more than the football coach, is what else he brings to the table," Reinhard said at Jackson's introductory press conference. "And I'm talking about what he brings to the table; he brings to the table with passion — sincere passion. Tremaine told me very early in the interview that he coaches to change lives. He told me about how his life was changed through football and how his goal and why he does what he does is so he can change the lives and improve the lives of young men through the game of football."

A life Jackson is charged with improving is that of his 16-year-old daughter.

Being a successful football coach and being a father can be a bit of a double life. But for Jackson, the balancing act isn't a balancing act at all.

Actually, Jackson says he only knows one way when it comes to his life and career — being a coach through and through.

"My daughter grew up on a football field," Jackson said. "From the time she could walk to 12, my daughter was running on the field after every home game. I coach her the same way I coach these boys, and I coach them the same way I coach her. There are no excuses. My daughter and I talk about being a DOG."

"I've learned that this is just who I am. I can't flip. Some coaches talk about flipping from dad mode to coach mode. To me, it's the same mode because some of our players don't have dads. I just chose to be a dad for everybody. My daughter has been very gracious in sharing her dad with 100-plus dudes every year. It's really worked out and intertwined really well."

Since arriving in January, moving 1,879 miles from his life in Grand Junction to Valdosta has been a welcomed change for Jackson.

The comfort foods of the South aren't new to the Houston native. If anything, reacquainting himself with the food he grew up on makes Jackson feel more at home than ever.

Not only has the food given him a sense of home, but the Southernhospitality has also made Jackson's process of settling in almost seamless.

"Man, I'm in heaven," Jackson said. "The last few stops, Grand Junction especially, there isn't soul food in Grand Junction. You eat a lot of McAlister's in Grand Junction, Colorado. Having restaurant options out here and being a big dude is all I needed to see."

"Most of all, the people are different. People speak to you down here. It's that true Southernhospitality. In some places I've been, they couldn't care less. You can tell that what we're doing — football, mentoring men — is just more important, and it's looked at differently than some places I've been."

Culture-wise, Jackson may be in heaven.

The South Georgia heat and humidity, not so much.

"The weather? It's starting to get hot. I ain't been in that in a while," Jackson laughed. "I'm playing with my house now. When I was in Grand Junction, I used to cut the air off all day. But now, I cut it off yesterday, and I went, 'Nah, we're just going to have to turn it down now.' I'm learning those things, but this city, this town, this area is a lot like my neighborhood in Houston. I feel really comfortable here and always have. I've never felt out of place. It's been really good."

Jackson led his Blazers through their first spring practice in preparation for his inaugural season as head coach.

Upon his arrival, Jackson has won over much of the Valdosta community with his infectious energy, big personality, and commitment to doing things the right way.

When the Blazers took the field for their annual spring game on April 8, the community turnout was one of the highest ever for the event.

"People support people they believe in," Jackson said. "We believe that you've got to go to them to get folks to believe in you. From the day I said that at that press conference, we've tried to go to people, take our players to people, and give the city back to us. Hopefully, that hospitality that support stays. It's been awesome."

When it comes to coaches, often, they are judged solely on wins and losses. Jackson has shown himself to be an aggressive recruiter this offseason, already having garnered several top recruits and a bevy of commitments for next season.

More important than wins and losses, Jackson has built his reputation on being a champion of academic excellence.

In 2021, Jackson coached two Academic All-Americans and one AFCA Second Team All-American. Twenty-one Mavericks were All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) performers under Jackson, including RMAC Offensive Freshman of the Year Karst Hunter.

"I'm looking forward to the season because our boys love to knock folks out. We'll hit folks anyway, but I'm looking forward to graduation and seeing what our boys do post-Valdosta State," Jackson said. "To me, that's how I'm going to be judged. Everybody around here might judge me on football games, but I'm going to be judged on the people I had under me. What did we pour into them as a program? That's the most important thing to me."

Jackson and the Blazers open the 2022 regular season at home against Keiser Hawks Thursday, Sept.1 at 7 p.m.

Fresh off their second run to the Division II national championship game in the last three seasons, the Blazers expect to be in the conversation as they look to add a fifth national title to their trophy case.

"These boys are hungry, and we're excited to show the community that," Jackson said. "As a coach, especially at Valdosta State, you're charged with turning water into wine every January to August. January, you get this team, and you don't know what you will be. But in August, that water better is wine because those folks are ready to drink, and it better be something good. We look forward to that challenge."

Shane Thomas is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times.