2022 Countdown to IUFB Kickoff: 10 Days (Myles Jackson)

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The 2022 Hoosier Huddle Countdown has reached the “top ten”! Glory, glory hallelujah there are only ten days remaining until the kickoff of the 2022 IU football season. Today’s profile was set to be a double-feature but David Ellis has left the team (we wish him the best of luck moving forward), leaving us with Myles Jackson as the lone #10 on the roster.

Name: Myles Jackson

Hometown: Jonesboro, Georgia (transfer from UCLA)

Position: Outside Linebacker/BULL

Year: Redshirt Sophomore

Height/Weight: 6’2”/255 pounds

The Indiana Hoosiers needed a talent infusion. After a disastrous 2021 campaign, Tom Allen looked far and wide for players he felt were hungry to make a difference and players he knew had the talent to improve his squad. His search took him to the West Coast and brought the addition of Myles Jackson, a redshirt sophomore originally from Georgia. Jackson played at Mill Creek High School as a weakside defensive end, garnering 184 tackles with 16 sacks in his three-year high school career. He committed to Chip Kelly and the UCLA Bruins and was able to earn his debut on November 7 against Colorado. However, he suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Buffaloes after getting one tackle for a loss. As a redshirt freshman in 2021 and still coming back from the injury, he played in seven games with six tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery.

During spring practice, he made an early impression on the IU coaches. “He’s a different cat,” position coach and special teams coach Kasey Teegardin said. “That’s the best way I can explain it. He is different and that’s what this program needed. He is going to make us a better team.”

The Hoosiers envision Jackson as an athletic addition at the Bull position, a hybrid role that requires a lot of different attributes: speed, athleticism, strength and competitiveness. Jackson believes the role, particularly the way IU’s version of the Bull is used, is ideal for him.

“What I really like here is the versatility of the position,” Jackson said in April. “I feel very comfortable in my role and what I am asked to do. It has been making a lot of sense to me and that is credit to Coach Teegardin and the way he teaches everything. He teaches it very clearly and makes it so that we can understand it the best way possible.”

Others are noticing those traits as he was voted onto the team’s leadership council and is already competing for snaps with returning starter Alfred Bryant and incoming freshman Dasan McCullough. Bryant is a redshirt senior and Jackson has another three years of eligibility remaining so it seems clear he’ll have a large impact now and in the future.

The countdown continues with a new profile each and every day so come back to hoosierhuddle.com daily!