Sons of former Ohio State football star Stanley Jackson following in his footsteps
The day before Westerville North’s 2022 season opener, Stanley Jackson Jr. and Ronald Jackson got into a heated argument. Both were feeling the same pressure, knowing what the upcoming set of games meant for them.
Stanley, the Warriors’ running back, was heading into his senior season, his last chance to make an impression on Division I college programs.
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Ronald, the Warriors’ quarterback, was a sophomore who wasn’t sure of his status on the depth chart. He was fighting a senior for the starting job and finding it not as easy as he thought it would be.
And both, coming into their last varsity high school season together, carried aspirations of following in the footsteps of their father: Stanley Jackson Sr., the former Ohio State quarterback, who played for the Buckeyes from 1994-97.
The pressure boiled over, leading to a shouting match.
Jackson brothers push each other
But to Stanley Jackson Jr. and Ronald Jackson, that’s just what brothers do.
They fight. They push one another. They talk about everything. Their bond gets stronger.
And it’s something Ronald realizes is temporary. He won’t be on the same practice field as his brother next year. He knows he won't be able to ride with him to school.
Sharing the backfield with the person he trusts more than any other is a dream come true. And it’s something Ronald isn’t taking for granted.
“This is his last ride,” Ronald said. “This is our last ride together.”
'I thought I owned the No. 8'
Stanley Jackson Sr. knew when it was his last ride.
In the second game of his second season with the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League after playing four years at Ohio State, he “blew up” his knee. And while he returned to the field with Winnipeg the next season, he wasn't the same mentally or physically.
“At that moment, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can do this anymore,’ ” Jackson said.
Jackson did manage to get healthy enough again to play three seasons with the Marion Mayhem in the Continental Indoor Football League, but he wasn’t willing to move forward if football took him outside of Columbus, where he and his wife Ronita were raising their sons.
For Stanley Jackson Sr., that was the next trigger, moving on from the game he still loved in his early 30s.
“I played with a guy who’s got a gold jacket in the NFL, played with a Heisman Trophy winner,” Jackson said, referring to former OSU teammates Orlando Pace, an NFL Hall of Fame offensive lineman, and Eddie George, who took home the Heisman in 1995. “So the best of the best. … We all experienced some sort of depression when it was over. Because we weren’t prepared for it.
“Even if you played 15 years — most of us don’t get that — but if you play at a place like Ohio State, you (are) still 1% of football players in the country. But when it’s over, it’s still devastating because this is what you expect to do for the rest of your life.”
When his sons first took the football field, Stanley Sr. never talked about his days as a Buckeye unless they brought it up. He didn’t discuss their prospects of playing in the NFL, knowing how hard it would be.
Instead, he instilled in them a love of the sport and prepared them for the day the sport ceased to love them back. It's the same lesson he shares with current Ohio State players when he gets the chance to visit the program.
“‘I thought I owned the No. 8,’” Jackson said he told OSU's players. “‘For five years it was mine, and I was the greatest 8 to come through yet. The reality was I was just renting it. So for all these years sitting with these numbers and (thinking) that you’re going to be remembered forever, it’s not gonna happen. The next guy is gonna get you pretty quick.’”
Stanley Jackson Jr. and Ronald Jackson catch the football bug
Stanley Jr. and Ronald caught that same football bug as their father. That’s when their father began to push.
Stanley Sr. was never their head coach, but he was an assistant on the offensive side.
“I was hard as hell on them,” Stanley said. “Really hard. I raise my voice a lot in sports. People around me used to think I was crazy for doing that. But there’s always been a method to my madness.”
That method included teaching Ronald early on the schemes most were not learning until high school − reading defenses and designing high-school level offenses using high-low, triangle and bootleg concepts.
And after he moved from quarterback and fullback to full-time running back at Westerville North, Stanley Jr. was watching film of NFL running backs Jonathan Taylor and Leonard Fournette, seeing how they approached running lanes and read opposing linebackers to find one-cut holes to burst through at the line of scrimmage.
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“That has made my job easier,” Stanley Jr. said. “Like having someone who’s played at such a high level be able to coach me at home, tell me what I have done wrong on film, it has helped me.”
Ronald remembers his father being incredibly patient, allowing him to learn the intricacies of the game at his own pace. But at the same time, Ronald said his father never held back.
“He’s been hard on me and just tough,” Ronald said. “Ever since I was a kid, he said, ‘It’ll go by fast. Don’t waste it.’ That’s when the passion came. That’s when I knew I wanted to be the best.”
'He's always been tough'
Stanley Jr. always knew he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“I’ve been dreaming about playing college football,” he said. “Once I get the opportunity, I’m going to take it and go with it.”
But it did take a change of direction.
Stanley Jr. transferred from Westerville Central at the urging of his father, who watched his son play as the only sophomore on a senior-heavy varsity team but fail to get any carries at fullback after initially coming in at quarterback.
After Stanley Jr. moved to Westerville North, he had a conversation with his father, who asked his son to pick a path. As a result of that, he devoted his attention to playing running back.
As a junior, he battled through a knee injury, and garnered the attention of multiple Division II and III programs, along with Army, Navy and Mid-American Conference teams.
“He and I have had to learn on the fly,” Stanley Sr. said of the recruiting process. “It’s so much different than when I came out − the recruiting process, the stars.
“I made some mistakes in recruiting with Stanley. I didn’t put him out early enough on the camp circuit. I just didn’t know the things we’re doing now.”
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When he watches his son play, Stanley Sr. sees a tenacious back who punishes opposing defenses with his physicality and 6-foot, 210-pound frame.
“He’s always been tough,” Stanley Sr. said. “He’s the kid that fell down and never cried. He’s always been tough, always been willing to run through a brick wall.”
It’s why Stanley Sr. is confident his son will have the opportunity to play in college. It’s why he told Stanley Jr. to focus on the present instead of what could happen in the future.
And that’s the approach Stanley Jr. has taken.
“It really came by fast,” he said. “I’ve always had coaches who play high school, college football (tell) me, like, 'Cherish every moment because it goes by fast.' And it really did go by fast.”
It’s something Stanley Jr. doesn’t think his brother Ronald, a sophomore, understands yet.
“He’ll learn as he grows,” he said.
Ronald Jackson: 'Baby Kyler Murray'
While Stanley Jr.’s role was secured heading into his senior season at Westerville North, Ronald is still adjusting to being the team’s starting quarterback.
Although he’s always loved the limelight, matching his outgoing personality, there have been growing pains for the sophomore starter.
Against Delaware Hayes, as he tried to force the ball downfield to lead his team back from a large deficit, he threw four interceptions.
“I was, in essence, trying to win the game in one play,” Ronald said. “And my dad, he called me over. He was just telling me ‘Take it one play at a time. Take what the defense gives you,’ because I was forcing the balls, and I was throwing picks. I was trying to win it in one play.”
That's somewhat understandable given Ronald's ability to scramble “when everything hits the fan” and look downfield to make the big play.
“We haven’t been shy about this,” Westerville North coach Bryan Johnson said. “I think he’s going to be a top two or three quarterback that I’ve ever coached when it’s all said and done.”
Stanley Sr. knows Ronald is still growing, calling him “baby Kyler Murray” with his ability to improvise outside the pocket and feeling confident that if his son reaches 6 feet — he's now 5-10, 160 pounds — he would be a Power 5 quarterback.
With Ronald, his father said, he just has to be patient.
“I told him, ‘It’s just like anything else. You have a box that they’re going to put you in,’ ” Stanley Sr. said. “‘They’ll continue to put you in a bigger box the more they trust you.’”
Stanley Jackson Sr. is not the typical high school football parent
By the time Sunday comes, Stanley Sr. is tired of football.
After watching his son Tre Jackson — calling him by his middle name “Major” — roll through seventh-grade opponents as a 5-11, 215-pound running back on Wednesday, Stanley Jr. and Ronald Jackson on Friday and numerous college football and NFL games Saturday and Sunday, he just wants to escape and watch a movie.
But not Ronita, who he said drives the idea that his family is a football family.
“She’s telling me, ‘If you want to watch that, go to the bedroom,’” Jackson said.
Jackson said his wife is completely different from him from the stands. She's the family’s cheerleader, according to him, screaming each time one of her sons touches the ball.
“I’m not the typical parent who just thinks their kids are the best,” he said. “When Ronald doesn’t make a throw, I’m mad at him. If Stan misses a read or a cut, I’m mad. I see it from what they are not doing as opposed to what they are doing.”
But seeing both of his sons in the same backfield is what he was hoping for, leaving his job at the Big Ten Network to be able to watch them both play each weekend.
“Makes you emotional sometimes to sort of see them interact as brothers and play the game that I love that I know gives them a lot of joy, but also teaches a lot of lessons,” he said. “They have grown together.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Former Ohio State QB Stanley Jackson's sons following his footsteps
