WVU DL Coach Andrew Jackson Gaining Steam as Rising Star Assistant

Even though most feel WVU head coach Neal Brown is on the hot seat, West Virginia’s assistants keep getting recognized as among the best in the country at what they do.

Recently, it was wide receives coach Bilal Marshall being considered one of the top 30 coaches under 30 years-old, but now it’s one of WVU’s lead defensive coaches earning paise. Defensive line coach Andrew Jackson was included on a list of 30 “Power 5” assistant coaches believed to be rising stars.

Here’s what Matt Zenitz of On3.com had to say about Jackson.

“Through his first two seasons at West Virginia, Jackson has coached players such as Dante Stills, who was a first-team All-Big 12 selection each of his two years under Jackson before being selected in the sixth round of this year’s NFL draft.

Aided by Jackson and his unit, the Mountaineers ranked fourth in the Big 12 in rush defense last season.  Prior to West Virginia, Jackson was the defensive line coach at Old Dominion, the defensive tackles coach at James Madison and an analyst at Mississippi State. He was a graduate assistant at Penn State in 2015 and ’16.” 

WVSN photo/Kelsie LeRose

The 2023 season will be a big test for Jackson in his coaching career. WVU’s defense endured a tough season last year after previously being the program’s most consistent unit under Brown. It’s now up to Jackson and company to be much better this season and give the Mountaineers a chance to win more often as a team.

Could the WVU Defensive Line Actually be Deeper in 2023?

Despite losing the groups’ best player in Stills, Jackson has said that he actually feels this year’s defensive line could be deeper with a certain players stepping up into bigger roles.

Time will tell, but getting the West Virginia defensive line back to form without the Stills around to act as an eraser of mistakes, could do wonders to further the perception of Andrew Jackson as one of the best assistant coaches in the country.