How Center Grove, family prepared Tayven Jackson for his moment as IU football starting QB

BLOOMINGTON – Ray Jackson had seen this before.

When his son, Tayven, transferred from Tennessee to Indiana between semesters last winter, the two-time state champion at Center Grove thrust himself into a quarterback battle that would not resolve itself for months. Only this week, two games into the 2023 season, did IU coach Tom Allen finally declare an end to the competition, naming Jackson his starter over fellow redshirt freshman Brendan Sorsby.

But this wasn’t Jackson’s first experience under that particular pressure. To eventually become the starter at Center Grove — and that success-laden program’s all-time leading passer, no less — he had to win that job once, too.

The pressure, expectation and attention on a Trojan quarterback prepared him for high school success, and to navigate the same process years later, in college.

“He loved those moments,” Ray Jackson said. “Center Grove helped put him in a situation to make these easier now.”

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Tayven Jackson will make his first start as the Hoosiers’ clear and present starting quarterback Saturday, when the Hoosiers face Jeff Brohm’s Louisville at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

His age and experience make Tayven Jackson a relative novice in the college game. But his background has, in so many ways, prepared him for Saturday’s challenge.

He’s played— and won — inside Lucas Oil Stadium, as quarterback at Center Grove.

“The turf’s pretty hard,” he said. “The lights are very bright.”

He comes from an ultra-athletic family. His brother, Trayce, needs no introduction to IU fans, but the competitive streak doesn’t stop there. Jackson’s sister, Arielle, was a standout volleyball player at UIndy, and Ray played both in college and the NFL. So did his brother, Chris, Tayven’s uncle, now the wide receivers coach at Texas.

“My dad does a phenomenal job of keeping it real with me,” Tayven said. “When I found out I was going to be the starter, my dad called me and told me, ‘Check on Sorsby, because you’d want Sorsby to check on you.’ He puts it in perspective. What if you didn’t get that nod? How would you feel? You would want someone to be there for you.”

He spent more than a year at Tennessee, as good of a quarterback-finishing school as college football has today, learning the habits of successful players like Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton.

“They taught me, so well, how to be a pro,” Tayven said. “How to do everything the right way. How to act off the field. How to act on the field. I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t go to Tennessee and have them.”

And now, he gets to walk a path he chose at his in-state school, trying to do for Indiana football much of what Trayce did for Indiana basketball.

That in many ways starts Saturday, against the Cardinals. Jackson arrives to his first start as QB1 riding the best performance of his young career: 18-of-21 passing for 236 yards and a rushing touchdown. He steered all five of IU’s touchdown drives in a comfortable win over Indiana State.

“I just think we opened the offense a little bit more,” Tayven said, “and you got to see what me and Sorsby could really do.”

Even with those numbers, Indiana’s offense will remain an uncomfortable mystery for Brohm right up to kickoff at noon Saturday.

Which Hoosiers will Louisville prepare for, the triple option-heavy Week 1 IU or the much more balanced (and much less option-reliant) Week 2 IU? Was Week 1 just an Ohio State-specific game plan, keep things simple with two young quarterbacks and shorten a long-odds game from quarter to quarter? Or was Week 2 largely an attempt to get some passing film on those two QBs before making a final decision on one, not to be repeated as often against Power Five defenses?

Whatever the plan, it will be up to Tayven Jackson to execute it. When he transferred in from Tennessee, he expected nothing but what he’d earned, which proved to be this chance.

“He knew it was going to be a battle going in,” Ray Jackson said. “There’s a little bit of anxiety, because he wants to be the guy. But he also knows there’s a process, and he didn’t shy away from working hard and keeping his nose to the ground.”

When he takes the Lucas Oil Stadium field Saturday, Tayven Jackson will do so as a product of his experiences, his family and his own drive. All of which have led him here, right where he firmly believes he’s meant to be.

After Allen told his redshirt freshman signal caller he’d won the starting job, Tayven texted Trayce the news.

“Good job, young king,” Trayce responded. “Don’t look back.”

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football: Tayven Jackson's dad played in NFL, brother in NBA