Tayven Jackson, Indiana's new leader at QB, has the 'it-factor'
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The text sent to his family group chat was short and simple.
I got the nod.
Ray Jackson missed the message, so he called his son the next day.
“Hey man, did you meet with the coaches?” he asked. “What’s the deal?”
“Yeah, coach called us into his office and talked to us, and said, ‘Tayven, you’re going to be the starter,’” Tayven Jackson said back in a deadpan, flat-toned voice.
On Sunday, two games into IU’s season, head coach Tom Allen called Jackson and Brendan Sorsby – his competition and fellow redshirt freshman – into his office. With offensive coordinator Walt Bell in the room, Allen delivered both QBs the results of their months-long position battle at the same time, in the same fashion.
“It wasn’t like he called and started jumping for joy,” Ray continued, switching back to his normal voice. “I think he realized this is something that he wanted, he knew he had a chance to do it, and now the pressure of being The Guy – he’s got to wrap his head around that and prepare for that.
“He’s all about business.”
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Just hours before he’s due in Bloomington to report for fall camp, Jackson patrols the sidelines of Center Grove High School alongside a familiar face, his former coach Eric Moore.
“I probably have 3,400 hours of stories about him,” Moore says in a sarcastic tone, not 30 seconds into a phone interview.
Moore recalls their first interaction well. Jackson – age two – climbed into Moore’s lap, a complete stranger at the time. Jackson began talking to him, and not long after fell asleep. By that point, the other parents at the get-together had taken notice.
“You know that’s your quarterback one day?” a few asked.
A decade and a half later, the duo would make three consecutive appearances to the IHSAA 6A State Championship game, with back-to-back victories in Jackson’s junior and senior seasons. A four-star prospect and the 7th-ranked quarterback in his recruiting class, Jackson would go on to Tennessee before entering the transfer portal a year later. The combination of his family lineage and Indiana’s positional need made the Hoosiers a perfect landing spot.
But back home this past August, walking the same field that propelled him to hopeful stardom, Jackson’s mind is elsewhere.
For the last three years, Moore has battled bladder cancer, and Jackson has kept up with his progress – calling to check in on how his mentor is holding up. August 2nd is significant for both of them.
Jackson is set to begin his first fall camp as a Hoosier, and Moore is due to have surgery to help fight his ongoing battle with the disease. Jackson knows the dates of every procedure Moore has scheduled.
“What are you doing here?” Moore asks Jackson on the first of August. “Aren’t you reporting?"
“I’ve got two hours,” Jackson responds. “I was wanting to come and be with you for an hour.”
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Moore remembers Jackson as a bit of a late-bloomer, slow to develop into his present 6-foot-3, 215-pound stature.
He’d seen Jackson play at the developmental levels prior to high school – little league, middle school and the like – but he still wasn’t quite sure of how seamless the transition would be. Jackson, however, quickly made a strong impression.
“As a freshman, my son, Jackson Moore, was the senior quarterback and sort of took him under his wing,” Moore said. “(Tayven) made a couple throws and my son goes, ‘Holy cow, Dad. This guy’s gonna be really good.’ I said, ‘Well, we hope.’”
As Moore’s son graduated and handed Jackson the keys to the Center Grove offense, his skillset began to shine. He could run and throw, each at a high level, and displayed an exceptional learning ability.
Capitalizing on Jackson's arsenal of ways to beat defenders, Moore would sometimes let his Trojan offense get unconventional.
“He’s like Mahomes, his hands are like magicians,” Moore said. “We had a lot of fun doing tricky stuff with him.”
“When he’s having fun, he’s really unbelievable.”
In the eighth grade, Jackson wanted to lift with the older groups, but Moore and the Center Grove weight room coach, Marty Mills, restricted him, because he hadn’t yet learned to front squat and power clean.
“Okay,” Jackson said, “tell me how.”
Within minutes, Jackson vaulted to the top of the Trojans’ weight room charts, becoming one of the best front squatters and power cleaners. “He can just learn,” Moore said.
A sophomore starter for the first time, Center Grove began the first season with Jackson under center 1-4, and entered the state tournament 4-5. Moore acknowledges the struggles existed on a team level, yet Jackson’s initial leadership efforts also contributed.
After an improbable run in the following four weeks, however, the Trojans earned a spot in the state title game. Moore’s hope turned to trust.
“The second half of that state championship game, he was amazing,” Moore said. Center Grove trailed by 17 points heading into the fourth quarter but fell just short of a comeback in a 20-17 loss. Jackson threw two touchdown passes in the final 15 minutes.
“I said, ‘I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t think we’re going to lose again.’”
He was right. Center Grove won the final 28 games under Jackson, steamrolling to two consecutive undefeated state titles.
Only two games finished within one possession.
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In a household full of athletes, Tayven, according to his father, is by far the best.
“There’s nothing the kid couldn’t do,” Ray said. “He wanted to play with the older kids because it was too easy. Anything that he did, like football, he played up.”
Ray always strived to put his kids in a position to succeed. Whatever path Tayven would choose, Ray would support by whatever means necessary.
After his sophomore basketball season, Tayven made his decision. Football stuck.
“He came to me and was like, ‘I want to be the best. Football is my ticket,’ Ray said. “He said, ‘Dad, I’m ready to do whatever you tell me to do.’”
Ray coached Tayven up until around the sixth grade and loved every second of it. The closeness of their relationship meant Ray knew Tayven’s nature – always competitive and fiery when something was on the line. The two related because, in truth, that’s how Ray was, too.
“I felt like Deion (Sanders), the way that he was with his kids,” Ray said. “I just wanted to win, and sometimes I didn’t see the bigger picture. I always had to hold him back because I didn’t want to let him go.”
Tayven had goals Ray was helping him accomplish, and Ray knew additional help was needed. A search for someone who could help make those aspirations a reality led Ray to Anthony Morelli – a former five-star quarterback and Big Ten starter at Penn State who’s been trusted for 12 years as the head of X-Factor QB Academy.
Morelli’s greatest asset is his experience, partially why Ray chose Morelli to be Jackson’s trainer through his years of crucial development. Ray and Morelli value keeping the company of those who accomplished what clients wish to accomplish themselves. Morelli lived it in the same fashion that Tayven hoped to, and the two quickly connected.
Tayven wanted to be in Elite 11, the premier quarterback competition consisting of the best high school signal-callers. He wanted to be an All-American. He wanted to be in a situation where he could be himself, Ray says. He just wanted to sling it.
Morelli has had to do what he calls “reconstructive surgery” in the past. Not for his own health, but for some clients’ throwing motions.
“Like, we have to start them all over again from the ground up,” Morelli said. “You can see some potential, but you know there’s a lot of work to be done.”
Jackson, however, proved different. He already passed the eye test before Morelli began his initial evaluation. “Just a natural athlete,” Morelli said, recalling his first impression of Jackson. “Very smooth, everything was effortless. The ball jumped off his hand.”
Guesswork and total makeovers weren’t required. Jackson brought Morelli a raw skillset and the desire to be polished and a work ethic up to the task of converting untapped potential to tangible improvement.
Jackson was ready to be shown the ropes.
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Ray describes his son as a “pleaser.”
Tayven, on the other hand, says his father does a phenomenal job of keeping things real.
“The one thing – you know, all of my kids have been successful in sports – but the one thing I think I’m proud of is how humble they are, how they continue to work and how they treat others,” Ray said. “My wife and I really laid that foundation. No matter how big you are when you come home, you’re still this little kid. You’re our son, we don’t want to hear about that.
“In this household, we never talk about the things that you’re good at. We talk about the things that you need to get better at. That’s how we’ve always done it.”
Ray sent Tayven off to Knoxville as a little kid, in his words, but says he returned home a young man. During his year behind NFL third-round draft pick Hendon Hooker and current Volunteer starter Joe Milton, Jackson learned the importance of being on time, taking notes, watching film, treating teammates correctly and honoring faith in a college setting.
“I told him you gotta be like a sponge,” Ray said of Tayven’s year at Tennessee. “You need to soak everything up because in the long run, this is what’s going to help you. Then when you get in that situation, you have to pay that back.
“I hear his interviews and he praises his teammates, he praises the moment and the opportunity and God. That’s one thing my wife and I have preached to him: no one’s bigger than God.”
So when Jackson won the starting role, Ray advised Tayven over the phone to check on Sorsby. He’d want him to do the same thing if Sorsby had won the job, and that’s what leaders do.
“I remember how sad he was when he didn’t get the nod (to start versus Ohio State), and you can only imagine what Brendan’s feeling like,” Ray said of the conversation.
Jackson needed to continue supporting Sorsby, helping him prepare and continually pushing one another. It’s the best way that each can continue moving forward. It’s also a depiction of who Jackson is as a person and a testament to his upbringing.
“He’s real positive, he really has a big heart,” Moore said. “He loves people, he cares about people.”
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Morelli, in addition to hosting weekly training sessions with ranging age groups, runs an experience camp in the summer allowing kids from the Indianapolis and surrounding areas to spend two days getting as much of a feel for the college experience as possible.
From the weight room to conditioning, to on-field work and the general aspects of the life of a college athlete, campers receive a crash course in what to expect should they eventually reach that level one day. This past year, Jackson came back to help Morelli run the camp as one of his counselors.
He was a massive hit.
“Guys gravitate toward Tayven,” Morelli said.
Campers rotate from station to station led by individual counselors, developing different aspects of their skillset and learning about each counselor’s experiences. Attendees soon had a favorite station to visit.
“The guys at Tayven’s station, you can hear them all over there having a good time, screaming, yelling,” Morelli continued.They’re so into it. They’re excited about it. He just brings a lot of energy and guys just love being around him. So I think that all his positive energy and vibes bring the best out of everybody.”
Throughout learning to become an effective leader, Jackson leaned on his parents and coaches to drill into him the importance of translating attitude to performance. On game days, he’s always on display, always on a pedestal. He’s the one heralded for victories and the target of pointed fingers for losses. Judgment is inevitable and his every move is put under a microscope. He knows that’s what comes with being a quarterback.
“He wants to prove to his teammates that he’s a great quarterback,” Ray said. “He wants to prove to his coaches that he could be counted on and that he’s a leader, and he’s going to do the things that they need him to do to win.”
By building relationships and trust with teammates, Jackson earns the respect his position commands. The common goal is victory, and the camaraderie that accompanies it comes as a result of the aspects under his watch.
“At the end of the day, does he want to win the Heisman trophy? Yes. Does he want to win a national championship? Yes. But he wants to walk away as one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play at IU.
“It’s not about I, but it’s about we. He wants to win.”
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Jackson stands off to the side as his teammates are interviewed, waiting patiently for the spotlight to fall onto him.
One by one, his teammates trickle out as the reporters wander the direction of the TV broadcast cameras. They played around with the positions but finally settled on one that won’t have Indiana’s new starting quarterback be backlit.
As Jackson saunters over and sits down around 12:15 p.m. Monday, the brim of his Los Angeles Dodgers hat slightly shades his face. To begin, he’s asked if he expected the news he received a day prior.
“It was a dream come true,” Jackson says, although his monotone voice could suggest otherwise. “It’s everything that you want to hear from a coach. Coming here, it’s been a struggle, it’s been hard going through a quarterback battle. It was a relief.”
That’s all he’s done throughout his playing career – meet big moments and continually excel in them. His poise, composure and overall cool-headed demeanor keeps the limelight from ever being too bright.
In Jackson’s junior year, Moore recalls a late-game heroics versus No. 2 Cathedral. The No. 1-ranked Trojans missed a game-tying 30-yard field goal with just over three minutes left, but Center Grove stuffed Cathedral on their own 46-yard line to take back possession with 1:14 to go – trailing 13-10.
Before his offense took the field for the game’s final drive, Moore approached Jackson.
“‘Listen, that’s over,’” Moore said to Jackson. “‘Think of the three best plays you like, and be able to do a really good job with it,' and the rest was history on that.”
Now on the Cathedral side of the field, Jackson found Connor Delp for 14 yards over the middle. Then, Ethan Veith for 15. Finally, on what would be Center Grove’s final offensive play of the night, running back Carson Steele picked up the free blitzer and Jackson evaded left, then threw on the run while moving toward the line of scrimmage.
Touchdown. Jackson to Veith. He’d done it again.
“The guys feed off that,” Morelli said. “When the moment gets really big and the ball is in Tayven’s hand, they feel good about it. That’s a part of who he is, he’s been that way ever since I’ve known him. What more would you want from a starting quarterback in the Big Ten?
“He’s just different. He just has that it-factor.”
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