March 11, 2025 • 31 mins
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Coach Stan Jackson, who has a wealth of experience both playing for Ohio State and now coaching at Westerville North HS, emphasizes that the values learned in sports—that accountability, hard work, and competition—carry over into every aspect of life. Coach Stan Jackson shares his journey through sports, weaving in practical wisdom that every athlete and parent should hear. He openly discusses the pitfalls of "Daddy Ball" and highlights how crucial it is for young athletes to earn their positions through genuine competition.
He draws on poignant experiences as a player and a father, reflecting on how he juggles responsibilities as a coach while ensuring his children are held to the same standards he expects from his players. Jackson encourages listeners to foster a culture where children understand the significance of hard work and commitment, rather than relying on favoritism. As youth athletes navigate the changing landscape of sports, especially in today’s competitive environment of scholarships and recruitment, he stresses proactive approaches parents should take.
Tune in for insightful stories and advice that provide a blueprint for building character and competence in young athletes. With Coach Jackson's commitment to mentoring, he inspires future generations to become warriors in life and sport. Join us, and if you find value in what you hear, share your thoughts, subscribe and leave a review!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Daddy ball doesn't work.
It doesn't help your son oryour daughter Make them earn it.
The more you put them in aposition that they don't have to
earn it, it just makes itharder at the next level.
If the first time your son ordaughter has to compete for a
position is in high school or incollege, how are they going to
know what they need to do if youdidn't make them compete early?
That's one of the biggesterrors I see in parents.
(00:21):
But be hard on them.
I'm hard on my boys.
I hold them accountable to ahigh standard.
A lot of times people don'tunderstand that.
That's the other thing I wouldsay Don't worry about the
outside noise.
Don't worry about the outsidenoise and don't set outcomes
that are unrealistic.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Welcome to Be A Baller podcast.
I'm your host, coach Tim Brown.
Today we have an amazing guestjoining us today, osu great Stan
Jackson and current headfootball coach at Westerville
North High School.
Stan has a wealth of experiencethrough sports, being a player,
team owner and a mentor tostudent athletes.
Stan, welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Thanks for having me.
I feel like you're slumming alittle bit.
I know some of the last guestsyou had are pretty high-ranking
in this community, so I feelprivileged to be amongst that
group.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
You are, you're in there.
You're in there.
You made the cut, you made thecut.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
That's good news.
I know it's a little differentfor you now being on that side
of it because usually yourexperience in broadcasting with
the big 10 network and 10, 10,all that kind of stuff, what,
what did you take from that,from that experience?
Yeah, that was a fascinatingexperience.
Um, because what I've gatheredis that most people that are in
the industry didn't play andtheir perspective is a lot
(01:40):
different.
Okay, they don't reallyunderstand the athlete, honestly
.
Honestly and it was frustratingat times to hear some of the
things that they were sayingabout athletes knowing what it
took to get there, like thisconcept of a bust, a pro bust.
I don't believe in that concept, but that's used quite often in
broadcast, especially sportsbroadcasting, and I think if
(02:00):
people understood what it tookto get to that position, to be
drafted in the top 10 of anysports league, they wouldn't use
that language Because you know,obviously there's a lot of
things that have to take placefor you to have success at that
level and there's a lot ofthings that can derail it.
I think about our guy, greg Oden, who was taken number one in
that same draft.
Kevin Durant was taken.
So a lot of people look back atthat and say, well, it was a
(02:22):
poor decision by Portland andGreg was a bust.
Well, greg had injuries thatderailed him.
So for me it's justunderstanding that most of the
people in the industry didn'treally understand the athlete
was fascinating, but other thanthat I had a lot of fun.
It's just a lot of fun stayingaround the sport, being around
the athletes and traveling theBig Ten countries, seeing all
(02:44):
the stadiums.
I mean it was pretty fun, right, right.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Speaking of that, let's go back to growing up in
Patterson, New Jersey.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Oh, way back yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Did you always—was football always your game?
Was football always your sport?
Speaker 1 (02:55):
No, no, it wasn't.
My father is a baseballenthusiast.
Oh, wow.
Baseball was the first sport mybrother and I played and I
loved the game, but it gotboring at one point.
You know, football the actionof football always, you know,
kept you attentive as a player,so to speak.
But baseball you play in theoutfield.
Sometimes you're sitting there,you're waiting, you never got a
ball hit to you.
(03:15):
You play third base.
You never get a ball hit to you.
So it got boring.
I regret that.
I do regret that, but baseballwas my first love.
But I always knew that I wasgood at football.
I played the big three Americansports, as I call it baseball,
basketball and football, and wehad a really good basketball
team.
I played with some really goodplayers.
I actually got a triviaquestion for you.
I may be the only guy in thecountry that has played
(03:38):
basketball and football with topten picks.
Wow, very few people would saythat.
Maybe Julian Peppers, whoplayed at North Carolina, okay,
okay, but Tim Thomas.
Tim Thomas was one of my highschool teammates.
He was drafted top 10 andplayed at Villanova and then,
obviously, playing at Ohio Stateand played with a lot of top 10
draft picks.
Sean Springers was my roommate,so yeah, but I knew at some
(04:01):
point that football would be theticket to get me out of
Patterson, new Jersey, and thatwas always the goal.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
You grew up with your older brother, were you guys
pretty competitive.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Very.
He's the reason why I played atOhio State.
He also played quarterback.
He played at Bethune-Cookman ohnice.
And really probably should haveplayed at a better school.
He was a better quarterbackthan me.
I was a little better athlete,a little taller, a little faster
, but he tore his knee I believethe sixth game of his senior
season, and back then in 1989,when you tore your ACL, that was
(04:32):
a big deal.
A lot of people didn't thinkyou would play again, but at the
time he had almost 2,000 yardspass and he was more of a passer
and so that bumped him down toplay at Bethune-Cookman.
So his experience at Division Iis a little different than mine
, but he would come back everysummer and we would work at the
quarterback position, and sothat really had a big impact on
my ability to play the positionat the high school level, to get
(04:54):
an offer at a place like OhioState.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
You know, speaking about basketball, there's a
story about when the Ohio Staterecruiter came to watch you play
.
Oh yeah, he came to abasketball game, he did, and the
word on the streets is that youput on a show that night.
Talk about that.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Well.
So I knew he was coming.
So my head coach, aminul Mathis, played strong safety at Ohio
State.
That's kind of how he reallyguided me to come here.
So he said, hey, ohio State'scoming tonight, so I need you to
let them know why they shouldbe offering you a scholarship.
So the funny thing is I didn'tplay great but I just I showed
my athleticism.
I had a really good basketballteam right, and I was more of a
(05:29):
rebounder, more of a defender,but every chance I got I tried
to tear the rim off, that's theword.
And he saw that Mike Stock wasthe guy who recruited me.
He saw that.
He saw this kid is an athleteand that was the end of it, Wow.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Wow, you know you were blessed to play quarterback
at Ohio State, win a Big Tenchampionship and a Rose Bowl
championship.
What was it like playingquarterback at Ohio State and
what life lessons did you learn?
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Bittersweet.
Okay, it was bittersweet at thetime, you know, because I'm a
competitor and I want to play.
I had never sat the bench in mylife, in my career, in any
sport.
I always played.
And then you got to Ohio Stateand you got these really good
players who are older and aheadof you and I had to sit for
three years and that was achallenge, having to learn how
(06:15):
to be ready and not play but yetstill prepare yourself like you
were the starter.
It was a learning curve for meand not being frustrated with
that.
So that was a challenge.
And then, obviously, when Iplayed, I had to split time with
Joe Germain and that wasn't fun, but all in all, I don't think
I would change it in hindsight,looking back at it.
(06:35):
I mean, those lessons are thelessons that built me, that
adversity of things they're ableto get through to help become
the man that I am, become thefather and husband I met my wife
at Ohio State.
Had I played somewhere else, Iwouldn't have the family that I
have today.
We've been married for 25 yearsin May, so that was bittersweet
.
A lot of tough moments, a lotof tough decisions with a lot of
(06:58):
people, tears at times, but allin all it was a great
experience.
The friendships I still have tothis day.
And very few people would saythey played quarterback at the
Ohio State University.
That's something that I can holdon to, and I also had the
privilege to be a captain there.
So a lot of good things fromthat experience.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
You said something there and I want to expound on
that for young folks aboutlearning to be ready.
Yep, can you expound on that?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
When you're a backup quarterback, you're typically
the most famous player on theteam right, at least from a fan
perspective unless yourquarterback is really good.
Exactly, everybody wants thebackup, and a lot of great
quarterbacks at Ohio State havebeen booed in horseshoe.
I'm one of them.
I remember when they booed BobHoyne.
I couldn't believe it.
Bob Hoyne, bob Hoyne so you'repopular and people think you're
(07:47):
better, so they want you to play, but at the same time you're
not playing, you're not gettingthe reps that the starter's
getting, and typically infootball it's an 80-20 split.
So how do you prepare yourselffor that moment that might come,
because you never know when ithappens.
When an injury occurs and forme it happened, I believe it was
Illinois we were playing andBob got knocked out the game and
had to come in and was able tothrow a touchdown to Rick Dudley
(08:08):
.
But early in my career Istruggled with that because I
wanted to play so much and Ifelt like I was better.
Just put me out there, I couldplay.
I didn't do the thingsnecessary to be prepared for the
moment and after my redshirtsophomore year, we were playing
Iowa in the horseshoe and we'reup 50 to nothing and that
offense was unbelievable.
That was Eddie George, terryKlan, rick Dudley, bob was the
quarterback, orlando Pace andWalt Harris decided that he
(08:32):
wouldn't put me in the game asthe backup.
Then he put Tom Hoying in and Iremember going to Matthew and I
said what's the deal with that?
Why are we making that decision?
He said well, you failed thequarterback test and then that
came out in the media.
Now, fail is a stretch.
I got four questions wrong on a50-question test.
Okay, but for Walt, if you'regoing to be a quarterback in his
program, you don't get anyquestions wrong because it's all
(08:54):
important and because of thatnow you're going to watch Tom go
in before you.
So it was a learning lesson.
So I learned that if I'm goingto play this position at this
level, I've got to be preparedfor the moment and I need to do
the things necessary to be there.
So I started watching more film, I prepared myself like I had
him before, and I never failedanother quarterback test.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Right, right, wow, that's a great story.
It's a great story.
You know, you also played inthe Canadian Football League and
was owner of a team in MarionOhio in the CIFL League.
How did those leadershippositions help you become the
man you are today?
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Well, you know, I think hopefully you can learn
from every station.
You are in life, right, and itchanges dramatically.
You know, you think back towhen you were 15 years old.
You're not the same persontoday than you were then and
even though you made somedecisions back then, that could
impact your life at 50.
Right, right.
And so, just at every station,learning what was important to
(09:52):
be a leader in those roles atquarterback is important.
Not only to do it by words, butby deeds.
Right, you got to go out andplay.
Well.
Now you just can't tell theguys, hey, I need you guys to
play.
Well, we need to go out and rah, rah, rah, and then don't go
out and perform.
That's perform In otherpositions, like in ownership.
You know that's not aboutperforming on the field, but
that's about managing rightManagement, managing money,
(10:15):
managing staff, managingexpectations, getting the best
out of your people.
And it's the same in what I dotoday with Buckeye State Bank,
being a founder of that right.
So managing people and gettingthe best out of them is a little
different than you managingyourself and being a player.
So that's what those positionshave taught me that leaders have
(10:36):
to always be willing to learnfrom people around you, even the
lowest of people, so to speak,and then you know applying those
lessons that you learnthroughout life the good, the
bad and the ugly.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
You know, as you transitioned to be a head
football coach at WestervilleNorth High School, what really
motivated you to take that on.
I know you were youth football.
I've seen the pictures of youout there with your sons.
What motivated you to be a?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
coach.
Well, you know, I didn't forceany of my sons to play any
sports, but once they startedplaying, you know, I wanted to
be a part of it and uh, and andjust watching.
So so, uh, my oldest son,stanley, was at Marshall.
Now it was his first yearplaying tackle football and I
had coached him in baseball andin basketball.
Tackle football I wasn'tcoaching, I was going to let
other guys have him.
And then I heard one of the dadsyo, put your head down in the
(11:20):
hole.
Ooh, all right, um.
And I knew that that wasn'tsomething that should be taught
at that level and I thought fora second I'm not sure sitting
this one out is the best courseof action.
And then I think it's Woody thefield that day and saying to
that coach hey, I know thelesson you're trying to teach,
(11:47):
but maybe you ought to usebetter words, right?
So then I told him so you don'twant someone to put his head
down because that puts him indanger.
What you're trying to get themto do is have a low pad level,
right.
And you know, obviously for dadswho haven't played at a high
level, sometimes they don't whatstarted it.
So I said I'm going to coachthem up through the sixth grade,
right?
Then you let them go to middleschool football and then I was,
(12:07):
just you know, honestlychallenged, sitting on the
sideline watching some of thehigh school coaching.
If I'm going to be totallyhonest, right, great guys.
But just you know, didn't knowenough about the game and I felt
like I could do a better joband not just coaching X's and
O's, because that's the easypart about building young men
Right, because that's our mottowe're here to build warriors, to
build men and, at the same time, help them achieve their goals.
(12:32):
Most high school footballplayers want to play at the next
level, so we probably do abetter job than most of reaching
out to make sure that our guysthat are capable and want to
play have an opportunity to playat the next level.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
You know you have speaking of next level.
You have a new, uniqueexperience being a recruited
player, being a parent and beinga coach.
So your experience is a littledifferent.
It is you can speak to allthree of those levels.
So how has that been being apart of all of that?
It's been fun.
The whole process.
It's been fun.
It's been frustrating, it'sbeen disappointing.
Let of that whole process.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
It's been fun, it's been frustrating, it's been
disappointing.
Let me just say this theprocess today is way different
than when I came out in 1993,right, I mean, these kids are
celebrities now.
Oh yeah, With the portal andwith NIL.
I just posted a video of NickPitino or Rick Pitino, who's
back coaching St John's.
He's got that program runningnow and he said we're not taking
(13:25):
a high.
You know, we've got some olderkids that are leaving the
program.
I can't replace them with highschool kids.
So it is harder today than everin the history of college
sports to earn a scholarshipcoming out of high school.
And I think what you're goingto see over the next few years
is that very few kids, maybeonly five stars, are getting
that opportunity.
And now you're going to seekids going to JUCOs where they
(13:46):
change the rule, Division IIschools, and they're going to be
feeders Because coaches arerealizing that you know what we
want older, stronger kids, notjust high school kids, and
coaches don't want to coach asmuch and they don't want to
develop as much anymore becausethey feel like if I develop a
kid I'm going to lose them tothe portal.
So I want to get a kid ready toplay right now.
It's really almost a pro levelat the Power Four.
(14:09):
So the recruiting is a lotdifferent and I'm learning on
the fly.
But the thing that I would sayis you have to be proactive now.
As a young athlete, I didn'thave to be, they came and found
me.
Now you have to be proactive.
You've got to get yourhighlights out there on Twitter.
You have to stay in contactwith coaches.
You have to visit the schoolsthat you want to go to.
You have to go to their camps.
(14:35):
I didn't have to do any of that,but now they want to see you in
person.
They want to make sure thatyou're the height you say you
are, You're the weight that youcan run, and so it's different.
It's very similar to coming outof college football when you
have the NFL combine where allthe coaches and the doctors are
there and they're poking andprodding on you and they're
pushing you through.
You can do the Cybex machineand you run the 40 and jump the
vertical.
That's what's happening at thehigh school level.
Now they want to see you andwhen they get you on campus,
(14:55):
they put you through all thosepaces.
You run a 40.
You jump a vertical.
They measure you to see howhigh you are, how long your arms
are, and sometimes, if youdon't fit the metrics of that
Power 4 program.
They're not going to give youan offer, no matter how good you
are.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
You know, as you became head coach, you recruited
a whole lot of ex-Buckeyes.
I did that staff.
You know what inspired you tocreate such a unique team.
One and two what were youlooking for in those guys that
you hired?
What were you looking for?
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Well, it was a few things.
Number one I was working with afew of them anyway at the youth
level, right, and we all hadkids that were the same age, so
we were coaching together.
But the reality is, I'm lookingaround Central Ohio, I'm
looking at coaching staffs andI'm asking myself we're all the
former Buckeyes?
We're right here, we're inColumbus.
I know there are a bunch ofguys that would love to pour
into young people and they'repractitioners.
(15:46):
In essence, these guys havetheir masters in football, and
so I wanted to surround thesekids with the best of the best
guys who did it at a high level,who know what the expectation
is and who are going to hold thekids to a very high standard.
And we do.
We hold our kids accountable.
At the same time, most of theguys, every guy that we brought
(16:07):
on our staff, does somethingelse professionally, so it's not
just about football.
Beanie Wells is in broadcastingand owns a ton of property
across the state of Ohio, so ifone of our kids wants to go down
that track, he can talk toBeanie about doing that.
Reggie Germany owns andoperates Crumble Cookies, so if
somebody wants to be afranchisee, they can talk to
Reggie about it.
Ashante Webb is an agent, sonow you can talk to him.
(16:29):
Winfield Garnett had atechnology company.
I started a bank with mypartner, sean Keller, 11 years
ago, so if you wanted to go intofinance, you could talk to me
about that.
So all our guys have somethingelse that they do that our kids
can talk to them about and bementored in if that's something
that they want to do.
Jamar Martin is a teacher, so Iwas very deliberate around that
.
I didn't just want to have afootball guy that was just going
(16:51):
to come in and talk footballand then leave.
I wanted guys that were goingto be mentors beyond the game
Because at the end of the day,like I said earlier, in my
opinion we are responsible tobuild warriors.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
That's good.
That's good.
You know you're also a parentof three of those boys.
Three of those guys on the teamhave gone through the program.
How does that motivate you as acoach?
You know it's football 24-7,.
You know, after the game you'rein the car riding home with you
at the house watching film allnight.
You know what is that like Dad.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Well, ok, so let me just say this my wife is from
Massillon, ok, so my kids wereyoung, I never purchased a
football.
She brought them up and it's abig football family.
Gary Young Conley is her firstcousin, and so you know it's
kind of like a football pastime,right?
But yeah, no, we spent a lot oftime talking about the sport
(17:46):
because this is something thatthey chose to do, and so, yeah,
in the rides home if they didn'tplay.
Well, I'm not the dad thatholds back, and this is even
when I wasn't their coach.
But at the same time, I letthem know that when we walk on
the field, I'm not dad anymore,I'm Coach Jackson, and I'm going
to treat you like everybodyelse, and if you want something
(18:08):
on this field, you have to earnit, and if you don't earn it,
you know football did a lot forme.
You know, patterson, new Jerseyis one of the toughest
communities in America to livein, and football was a vehicle
for me to escape that, the samewith my brother, and so I know
how powerful a vehicle it can be, or any sport in particular,
(18:30):
and I know the lessons that youlearn between the white lines
will translate to theprofessional ranks of whatever
you want to do.
There's an assignment done.
I'm not panicking.
I've been in a two-minute drill.
I know it's like when a clockis ticking down and you're
trying to get something done.
So I'm not going to panic in myprofessional life.
Right, you get knocked down.
Well, guess what?
I've been knocked down a ton oftimes.
I've been cut.
So all those lessons they dotranslate and make you a better
(18:51):
person, and so that's why it wasimportant for my wife and I to
make sure that our kids didparticipate in sports.
Now, we didn't dictate whatsports, but once they chose it,
our rule was okay, now thatyou've chosen the sport, we're
all in.
Right, we're not going to halfbake this cookie, we're going to
fully bake it and make surethat we're all in and you here
doing everything you can to bethe very best you can be,
(19:11):
because I knew those lessonswould carry them a lifetime.
That's good.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
You know, as a father coach, what is it like
balancing, being a parent andleading a football program.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
That's a really good question.
I don't balance it.
I don't worry about it Becausewhen my boys hit the field
they're football players.
I'm not their dad and they'vegot to earn it.
And I think what happens whenyou earn it people around you,
they see it.
So my kids.
There's no daddy ball atWestfield North.
So Ronald was our quarterback.
He's a three-year starter.
He compiled over 3,700 yardslast year, 2,500 passing, 1,300
(19:46):
rushing, over 30 touchdowns.
If anybody has anything to sayabout that, the numbers speak
for themselves.
Trey, who was my youngest hestarted eight games for us had
75 tackles as a true freshman.
So they've earned their right.
And the other things I've doneis I've sort of insulated the
dad-son relationship.
So I didn't coach quarterbacksthe last two years.
(20:08):
Marcus Ray was our offensecoordinator.
I let him handle that.
People realized that therewasn't any favoritism happening
with my son because I wasn'teven coaching the position.
And the same thing with Major.
You know he played defense andCoach Martin had him and they're
the ones that made the decisionto make sure those guys were on
the field.
So that's kind of how I.
But football is in my DNA so wedon't really separate it and
(20:31):
it's in their DNA and they loveit and I've gotten a lot out of
football.
Right, I worked in broadcastingbecause I played football.
I'm part of this bank because Iplayed football, so I don't
separate the two.
What I try to do is just makesure that I don't overwhelm them
with talk of, you know, sports,sports, sports.
Because I truly believe thatthey're more than the sport that
(20:54):
they play.
But the sport is just teachingthem valuable lessons so that,
whenever they decide whatever itis that they want to do, those
lessons will carry them to besuccessful in those fields.
I want the guys to understandyou have a short amount of time
to play this sport.
Prepare yourself now for whenit's done.
Even if you played 15 years inthe NFL, you're still going to
(21:14):
be a young man and life goes onand you have to do something
else, and so that's the onlything that I've always been
concerned about with my sons.
I don't want them to experiencethat depression that athletes
have when they're done playing,because we get put on this
pedestal.
It's a high pedestal and it'sfun to be on there, but at some
(21:35):
point you got to come back downthere.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
That's good stuff, you know.
Speaking of that, what advicewould you give to parents who
are coaching their children?
Take me to that youth level,because you coached down at that
level.
I really want you to speak tothese youth parents.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Daddy ball doesn't work.
It doesn't help your son oryour daughter Make them earn it.
The more you put them in aposition that they don't have to
earn it, it just makes itharder at the next level.
If the first time your son ordaughter has to compete for a
position is in high school or incollege, how are they going to
know what they need to do if youdidn't make them compete early?
That's one of the biggesterrors I see in parents.
(22:09):
But be hard on them.
I'm hard on my boys.
I hold them accountable to ahigh standard.
A lot of times people don'tunderstand that, but that's the
other thing I would say.
Don't worry about the outsidenoise.
Don't worry about the outsidenoise and don't set outcomes
that are unrealistic.
Right, have your boys play, oryour girls play, the sport to
(22:33):
the best of their ability andlive with the outcomes that come
from that.
Everybody can't play power, foreverybody can't go to the NBA
or the NFL, right, and that's OK.
But the lessons that they learnin the sport will have them be
professionals and something elseelse, and so don't get tied to
social media and chasing statusand posting things that are
(22:55):
ridiculous, because it's hardertoday than ever Highlight.
And it's harder today than everto get a Power Force
scholarship.
And if that's the ultimate goal, I don't think that's fair to
your kid.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
That's good.
You know I worked for theFellowship of Christian Athletes
, been on staff for about20-plus years and I know you
guys have an FCA group there atNamalong.
The football team as well asthe chaplain comes in.
Can you share how importantthat is, that aspect for the
team, for the program?
Speaker 1 (23:22):
You know I'm going to be really transparent here.
Number one I think it's vital.
I think establishing yourfoundation in what you believe
is important, and the way thatI'm going to be transparent is I
don't think we've done a greatjob at that.
Honestly, I think we've droppedthe ball a little bit at
Westerville North and that's myresponsibility.
Obviously, we do the FCA and weencourage that.
(23:43):
We want our kids to go, but Idon't think I've done a good
enough job of displaying mybeliefs to our team in a way
that it could be a little moreeffective.
So that's laid on my heart alloffseason and we're going to do
a better job going forward.
But for me it's justestablishing truth in the
building, the truth that I liveby, the truth that helped me
(24:05):
escape poverty, the truth thatdelivered my mother from drug
and alcohol abuse.
The truth that delivered an18-year-old man my father when
he had my brother to being whohe is today.
I've watched it firsthand.
I've watched Jesus kick thedoor down.
So, knowing all of that,sometimes I think I need to be a
little more transparent withour football team and I will be
going forward.
(24:26):
But having any partners thatcan come in and help that, I
think, is very important.
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Well, I do know this.
I've been hanging out with yourson, Ronald, and I know just
solidly you've done a great jobthere.
I know that.
I know that just watching himand just how he carries himself
and you can just see the HolySpirit all over when he walks in
that room, when he shows up toour mentor groups, it's a whole
(24:52):
to our mentor groups, it's awhole different deal, you know.
And he walks in there.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
That's exciting.
That's exciting to hear.
I just wanted to let you knowthat We've been blessed.
We've been blessed, yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
You know, as a coach, you had a unique opportunity to
impact not only your playersbut also the community in
Westerville.
So can you talk about how yousee yourself building a lasting
legacy through your program?
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Well, there's a few things.
Number one Westerville is avery unique suburb.
It's not like most suburbs.
40% of our kids are on free andreduced lunch, and so that's a
challenge for us, because wedon't practice until 4 o'clock,
so we're doing a lot of thingsdifferently.
So we feed our kids six days aweek.
So our kids get out of schoolat 2.10, and then there's a
(25:32):
two-hour window before wepractice.
We don't release them, theirhour is after school, and so we
send them to study table and wefeed them.
So every day there's a sacklunch where there's a sandwich
and chips and a drink that goesout, and then they're required
to go to study table After thatfirst hour.
Then they go lift weights orthey watch film, right, and then
obviously we go onto thefootball field, and so I think
that's a part of it making surethat the kids have what they
(25:55):
need to thrive and be successful.
I'm going to ask them to giveme their very all that we got to
make sure that we're feedingthem and things of that nature,
and I'm not sure a lot ofcoaches or communities do that
and understand what you'reasking when you want your kids
to get full effort and theyhaven't eaten, when you want
your kids to give full effortand they haven't eaten.
Secondly is just making sureour community understands what
we have, what we're dealing withand we had to change our
(26:17):
culture.
We're still battling some ofthat culture.
It lost for a long time and Ithink that's one of the biggest
things that we'll leave as alasting legacy is that winning
is something that we can't do atWestville North.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
As a guest on the Be A Baller podcast.
We ask all our guests to committo what we call the wisdom
pledge, and that is about beingintentional literally in every
conversation, sharing wisdom.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Can you share one piece of advice or life lesson
from your coaching experiencethat you would pass on to our
audience?
As far as a wisdom word Iwouldn't say from my coaching
experience alone, but just ingeneral.
From my coaching experiencealone, but just in general I've
had the privilege of beingaround a lot of really great men
that shared a lot of veryvaluable lessons, and the first
one was my father and this is agreat story, so I hope we got
the time.
So my father's a hardworking.
He was 18 when I had my brother.
(27:08):
I came three years later, so hewas young, he didn't have a
clue, but they figured it outand he stayed.
He stayed in the generation thatwas leaving and he instilled in
us principles that his fatherinstilled in him, and one was
you know you work for what youget.
And so you know, I was a goodkid and my father worked hard
and I remember he brought me myfirst bike right and it was a
used bike.
We lived on the second floorand it was my responsibility to
(27:30):
carry that bike up the stepsright Because it was my bike,
but it was an old, used bike andsometimes I'd leave it down,
but nobody bothered it.
Well, my father saw that Iloved it.
He said you know, we're goingto get you a new bike.
He paid $200 for a Mongoose andI remember it like it was
yesterday and back then, rightIn 1985, $200 was significant,
but my job was the same.
This is your responsibility,this is your bike.
(27:54):
I've worked hard for the moneyI'm giving it to you, but you
have to take care of it.
So you must carry this bike upthe steps every night because if
you don't, this bike is goingto be gone.
He said I know what you didwith the other one.
If you leave this one down,it'll be gone.
It'd be the last bike I've everpurchased you.
Well, one night, after ridingall over the city with my
brothers, I was just too tiredto carry it up and it was a
heavy bike and I left itdownstairs.
(28:15):
Came out the next morning, thebike was gone.
I thought my dad had took it toteach me a lesson.
So I called him and he said no,I don't have your bike, it must
be gone.
Last bike I'll ever buy you andto this day he has never
purchased me another bike.
It's a very valuable lesson andI pass that lesson on to my
kids and to our team.
You have to earn everything youget and you have to respect
(28:35):
what's given to you, because towhom much is given, much is
required.
That's good.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
That's good.
That's a great story.
That's how I was back in theday I was.
Today.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
I'm not replacing this $200 back then was a lot of
money.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
You know this has been a great episode.
I really enjoyed theconversation as we kind of come
around the corner and you kindof alluded to some of these
things before.
But what are some of those lifelessons you want your players
to take away from theirexperience playing at
Westerville North High School?
Speaker 1 (29:04):
So we have a mantra at Westerville North.
There's a saying that I heardand it said that you know that
tough times make tough men andtough men make easy times and
easy times make weak men.
So it's our responsibility tobuild warriors and we take that
very seriously, especially forkids some of the kids living in
(29:24):
suburbs.
Your parents have made it easyfor you and when it's easy you
don't realize how much it'sgoing to take hard work from you
to be successful.
So I want the kids tounderstand that we're trying to
build warriors.
We're trying to build men, andreal men stand up to a standard.
They don't fall for the friedice cream or the things that
(29:46):
they see in the movies or whatthey hear in music.
They realize that there's astandard that they need to live
up to.
You wear Westerville North onyour jersey.
You're representing us.
You have the last name of yourfamily.
You're representing that.
Live up to the standard thatyour family has set for you and
don't take the easy way out.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Wow, that's powerful.
Live up to the standard.
Live up to it.
Live up to that standard.
Well, that's all the time wehave for today's episode on Be A
Baller Podcast.
I want to thank our specialguest, coach Stan Jackson, for
his commitment to paying forwardand being a blessing to the
next generation.
Coach Jackson, thanks forbuilding a legacy in sports and
empowering the next generationto success, and don't forget to
(30:30):
subscribe to our podcast so youcan stay up to date on all our
latest episodes.
Our podcast guests are alwayswilling to share wisdom and
inspire others to build a legacythat lasts Absolutely.
Thanks for your time.
Thanks for having me.
It's been great.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
It's fun.
If you enjoyed our show, pleaseshare this podcast with family
and friends.
Be a Baller podcast isavailable on all major podcast
stations.
Be sure to come back next weekas we continue to discuss on how
to build a lifelong legacy.
Until then, don't forget to bea baller.
This podcast was created byCoach Tim Brown and produced and
edited by the video productionclass of Worthington Christian
(31:03):
High School.
Daddy ball doesn't work.
It doesn't help your son oryour daughter Make them earn it.
The more you put them in aposition that they don't have to
earn it, it just makes itharder at the next level.
If the first time your son ordaughter has to compete for a
position is in high school or incollege, how are they going to
know what they need to do if youdidn't make them compete early?
That's one of the biggesterrors I see in parents.
(00:21):
But be hard on them.
I'm hard on my boys.
I hold them accountable to ahigh standard.
A lot of times people don'tunderstand that.
That's the other thing I wouldsay Don't worry about the
outside noise.
Don't worry about the outsidenoise and don't set outcomes
that are unrealistic.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Welcome to Be A Baller podcast.
I'm your host, coach Tim Brown.
Today we have an amazing guestjoining us today, osu great Stan
Jackson and current headfootball coach at Westerville
North High School.
Stan has a wealth of experiencethrough sports, being a player,
team owner and a mentor tostudent athletes.
Stan, welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Thanks for having me.
I feel like you're slumming alittle bit.
I know some of the last guestsyou had are pretty high-ranking
in this community, so I feelprivileged to be amongst that
group.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
You are, you're in there.
You're in there.
You made the cut, you made thecut.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
That's good news.
I know it's a little differentfor you now being on that side
of it because usually yourexperience in broadcasting with
the big 10 network and 10, 10,all that kind of stuff, what,
what did you take from that,from that experience?
Yeah, that was a fascinatingexperience.
Um, because what I've gatheredis that most people that are in
the industry didn't play andtheir perspective is a lot
(01:40):
different.
Okay, they don't reallyunderstand the athlete, honestly
.
Honestly and it was frustratingat times to hear some of the
things that they were sayingabout athletes knowing what it
took to get there, like thisconcept of a bust, a pro bust.
I don't believe in that concept, but that's used quite often in
broadcast, especially sportsbroadcasting, and I think if
(02:00):
people understood what it tookto get to that position, to be
drafted in the top 10 of anysports league, they wouldn't use
that language Because you know,obviously there's a lot of
things that have to take placefor you to have success at that
level and there's a lot ofthings that can derail it.
I think about our guy, greg Oden, who was taken number one in
that same draft.
Kevin Durant was taken.
So a lot of people look back atthat and say, well, it was a
(02:22):
poor decision by Portland andGreg was a bust.
Well, greg had injuries thatderailed him.
So for me it's justunderstanding that most of the
people in the industry didn'treally understand the athlete
was fascinating, but other thanthat I had a lot of fun.
It's just a lot of fun stayingaround the sport, being around
the athletes and traveling theBig Ten countries, seeing all
(02:44):
the stadiums.
I mean it was pretty fun, right, right.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Speaking of that, let's go back to growing up in
Patterson, New Jersey.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Oh, way back yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Did you always—was football always your game?
Was football always your sport?
Speaker 1 (02:55):
No, no, it wasn't.
My father is a baseballenthusiast.
Oh, wow.
Baseball was the first sport mybrother and I played and I
loved the game, but it gotboring at one point.
You know, football the actionof football always, you know,
kept you attentive as a player,so to speak.
But baseball you play in theoutfield.
Sometimes you're sitting there,you're waiting, you never got a
ball hit to you.
(03:15):
You play third base.
You never get a ball hit to you.
So it got boring.
I regret that.
I do regret that, but baseballwas my first love.
But I always knew that I wasgood at football.
I played the big three Americansports, as I call it baseball,
basketball and football, and wehad a really good basketball
team.
I played with some really goodplayers.
I actually got a triviaquestion for you.
I may be the only guy in thecountry that has played
(03:38):
basketball and football with topten picks.
Wow, very few people would saythat.
Maybe Julian Peppers, whoplayed at North Carolina, okay,
okay, but Tim Thomas.
Tim Thomas was one of my highschool teammates.
He was drafted top 10 andplayed at Villanova and then,
obviously, playing at Ohio Stateand played with a lot of top 10
draft picks.
Sean Springers was my roommate,so yeah, but I knew at some
(04:01):
point that football would be theticket to get me out of
Patterson, new Jersey, and thatwas always the goal.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
You grew up with your older brother, were you guys
pretty competitive.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Very.
He's the reason why I played atOhio State.
He also played quarterback.
He played at Bethune-Cookman ohnice.
And really probably should haveplayed at a better school.
He was a better quarterbackthan me.
I was a little better athlete,a little taller, a little faster
, but he tore his knee I believethe sixth game of his senior
season, and back then in 1989,when you tore your ACL, that was
(04:32):
a big deal.
A lot of people didn't thinkyou would play again, but at the
time he had almost 2,000 yardspass and he was more of a passer
and so that bumped him down toplay at Bethune-Cookman.
So his experience at Division Iis a little different than mine
, but he would come back everysummer and we would work at the
quarterback position, and sothat really had a big impact on
my ability to play the positionat the high school level, to get
(04:54):
an offer at a place like OhioState.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
You know, speaking about basketball, there's a
story about when the Ohio Staterecruiter came to watch you play
.
Oh yeah, he came to abasketball game, he did, and the
word on the streets is that youput on a show that night.
Talk about that.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Well.
So I knew he was coming.
So my head coach, aminul Mathis, played strong safety at Ohio
State.
That's kind of how he reallyguided me to come here.
So he said, hey, ohio State'scoming tonight, so I need you to
let them know why they shouldbe offering you a scholarship.
So the funny thing is I didn'tplay great but I just I showed
my athleticism.
I had a really good basketballteam right, and I was more of a
(05:29):
rebounder, more of a defender,but every chance I got I tried
to tear the rim off, that's theword.
And he saw that Mike Stock wasthe guy who recruited me.
He saw that.
He saw this kid is an athleteand that was the end of it, Wow.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Wow, you know you were blessed to play quarterback
at Ohio State, win a Big Tenchampionship and a Rose Bowl
championship.
What was it like playingquarterback at Ohio State and
what life lessons did you learn?
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Bittersweet.
Okay, it was bittersweet at thetime, you know, because I'm a
competitor and I want to play.
I had never sat the bench in mylife, in my career, in any
sport.
I always played.
And then you got to Ohio Stateand you got these really good
players who are older and aheadof you and I had to sit for
three years and that was achallenge, having to learn how
(06:15):
to be ready and not play but yetstill prepare yourself like you
were the starter.
It was a learning curve for meand not being frustrated with
that.
So that was a challenge.
And then, obviously, when Iplayed, I had to split time with
Joe Germain and that wasn't fun, but all in all, I don't think
I would change it in hindsight,looking back at it.
(06:35):
I mean, those lessons are thelessons that built me, that
adversity of things they're ableto get through to help become
the man that I am, become thefather and husband I met my wife
at Ohio State.
Had I played somewhere else, Iwouldn't have the family that I
have today.
We've been married for 25 yearsin May, so that was bittersweet
.
A lot of tough moments, a lotof tough decisions with a lot of
(06:58):
people, tears at times, but allin all it was a great
experience.
The friendships I still have tothis day.
And very few people would saythey played quarterback at the
Ohio State University.
That's something that I can holdon to, and I also had the
privilege to be a captain there.
So a lot of good things fromthat experience.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
You said something there and I want to expound on
that for young folks aboutlearning to be ready.
Yep, can you expound on that?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
When you're a backup quarterback, you're typically
the most famous player on theteam right, at least from a fan
perspective unless yourquarterback is really good.
Exactly, everybody wants thebackup, and a lot of great
quarterbacks at Ohio State havebeen booed in horseshoe.
I'm one of them.
I remember when they booed BobHoyne.
I couldn't believe it.
Bob Hoyne, bob Hoyne so you'repopular and people think you're
(07:47):
better, so they want you to play, but at the same time you're
not playing, you're not gettingthe reps that the starter's
getting, and typically infootball it's an 80-20 split.
So how do you prepare yourselffor that moment that might come,
because you never know when ithappens.
When an injury occurs and forme it happened, I believe it was
Illinois we were playing andBob got knocked out the game and
had to come in and was able tothrow a touchdown to Rick Dudley
(08:08):
.
But early in my career Istruggled with that because I
wanted to play so much and Ifelt like I was better.
Just put me out there, I couldplay.
I didn't do the thingsnecessary to be prepared for the
moment and after my redshirtsophomore year, we were playing
Iowa in the horseshoe and we'reup 50 to nothing and that
offense was unbelievable.
That was Eddie George, terryKlan, rick Dudley, bob was the
quarterback, orlando Pace andWalt Harris decided that he
(08:32):
wouldn't put me in the game asthe backup.
Then he put Tom Hoying in and Iremember going to Matthew and I
said what's the deal with that?
Why are we making that decision?
He said well, you failed thequarterback test and then that
came out in the media.
Now, fail is a stretch.
I got four questions wrong on a50-question test.
Okay, but for Walt, if you'regoing to be a quarterback in his
program, you don't get anyquestions wrong because it's all
(08:54):
important and because of thatnow you're going to watch Tom go
in before you.
So it was a learning lesson.
So I learned that if I'm goingto play this position at this
level, I've got to be preparedfor the moment and I need to do
the things necessary to be there.
So I started watching more film, I prepared myself like I had
him before, and I never failedanother quarterback test.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Right, right, wow, that's a great story.
It's a great story.
You know, you also played inthe Canadian Football League and
was owner of a team in MarionOhio in the CIFL League.
How did those leadershippositions help you become the
man you are today?
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Well, you know, I think hopefully you can learn
from every station.
You are in life, right, and itchanges dramatically.
You know, you think back towhen you were 15 years old.
You're not the same persontoday than you were then and
even though you made somedecisions back then, that could
impact your life at 50.
Right, right.
And so, just at every station,learning what was important to
(09:52):
be a leader in those roles atquarterback is important.
Not only to do it by words, butby deeds.
Right, you got to go out andplay.
Well.
Now you just can't tell theguys, hey, I need you guys to
play.
Well, we need to go out and rah, rah, rah, and then don't go
out and perform.
That's perform In otherpositions, like in ownership.
You know that's not aboutperforming on the field, but
that's about managing rightManagement, managing money,
(10:15):
managing staff, managingexpectations, getting the best
out of your people.
And it's the same in what I dotoday with Buckeye State Bank,
being a founder of that right.
So managing people and gettingthe best out of them is a little
different than you managingyourself and being a player.
So that's what those positionshave taught me that leaders have
(10:36):
to always be willing to learnfrom people around you, even the
lowest of people, so to speak,and then you know applying those
lessons that you learnthroughout life the good, the
bad and the ugly.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
You know, as you transitioned to be a head
football coach at WestervilleNorth High School, what really
motivated you to take that on.
I know you were youth football.
I've seen the pictures of youout there with your sons.
What motivated you to be a?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
coach.
Well, you know, I didn't forceany of my sons to play any
sports, but once they startedplaying, you know, I wanted to
be a part of it and uh, and andjust watching.
So so, uh, my oldest son,stanley, was at Marshall.
Now it was his first yearplaying tackle football and I
had coached him in baseball andin basketball.
Tackle football I wasn'tcoaching, I was going to let
other guys have him.
And then I heard one of the dadsyo, put your head down in the
(11:20):
hole.
Ooh, all right, um.
And I knew that that wasn'tsomething that should be taught
at that level and I thought fora second I'm not sure sitting
this one out is the best courseof action.
And then I think it's Woody thefield that day and saying to
that coach hey, I know thelesson you're trying to teach,
(11:47):
but maybe you ought to usebetter words, right?
So then I told him so you don'twant someone to put his head
down because that puts him indanger.
What you're trying to get themto do is have a low pad level,
right.
And you know, obviously for dadswho haven't played at a high
level, sometimes they don't whatstarted it.
So I said I'm going to coachthem up through the sixth grade,
right?
Then you let them go to middleschool football and then I was,
(12:07):
just you know, honestlychallenged, sitting on the
sideline watching some of thehigh school coaching.
If I'm going to be totallyhonest, right, great guys.
But just you know, didn't knowenough about the game and I felt
like I could do a better joband not just coaching X's and
O's, because that's the easypart about building young men
Right, because that's our mottowe're here to build warriors, to
build men and, at the same time, help them achieve their goals.
(12:32):
Most high school footballplayers want to play at the next
level, so we probably do abetter job than most of reaching
out to make sure that our guysthat are capable and want to
play have an opportunity to playat the next level.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
You know you have speaking of next level.
You have a new, uniqueexperience being a recruited
player, being a parent and beinga coach.
So your experience is a littledifferent.
It is you can speak to allthree of those levels.
So how has that been being apart of all of that?
It's been fun.
The whole process.
It's been fun.
It's been frustrating, it'sbeen disappointing.
Let of that whole process.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
It's been fun, it's been frustrating, it's been
disappointing.
Let me just say this theprocess today is way different
than when I came out in 1993,right, I mean, these kids are
celebrities now.
Oh yeah, With the portal andwith NIL.
I just posted a video of NickPitino or Rick Pitino, who's
back coaching St John's.
He's got that program runningnow and he said we're not taking
(13:25):
a high.
You know, we've got some olderkids that are leaving the
program.
I can't replace them with highschool kids.
So it is harder today than everin the history of college
sports to earn a scholarshipcoming out of high school.
And I think what you're goingto see over the next few years
is that very few kids, maybeonly five stars, are getting
that opportunity.
And now you're going to seekids going to JUCOs where they
(13:46):
change the rule, Division IIschools, and they're going to be
feeders Because coaches arerealizing that you know what we
want older, stronger kids, notjust high school kids, and
coaches don't want to coach asmuch and they don't want to
develop as much anymore becausethey feel like if I develop a
kid I'm going to lose them tothe portal.
So I want to get a kid ready toplay right now.
It's really almost a pro levelat the Power Four.
(14:09):
So the recruiting is a lotdifferent and I'm learning on
the fly.
But the thing that I would sayis you have to be proactive now.
As a young athlete, I didn'thave to be, they came and found
me.
Now you have to be proactive.
You've got to get yourhighlights out there on Twitter.
You have to stay in contactwith coaches.
You have to visit the schoolsthat you want to go to.
You have to go to their camps.
(14:35):
I didn't have to do any of that,but now they want to see you in
person.
They want to make sure thatyou're the height you say you
are, You're the weight that youcan run, and so it's different.
It's very similar to coming outof college football when you
have the NFL combine where allthe coaches and the doctors are
there and they're poking andprodding on you and they're
pushing you through.
You can do the Cybex machineand you run the 40 and jump the
vertical.
That's what's happening at thehigh school level.
Now they want to see you andwhen they get you on campus,
(14:55):
they put you through all thosepaces.
You run a 40.
You jump a vertical.
They measure you to see howhigh you are, how long your arms
are, and sometimes, if youdon't fit the metrics of that
Power 4 program.
They're not going to give youan offer, no matter how good you
are.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
You know, as you became head coach, you recruited
a whole lot of ex-Buckeyes.
I did that staff.
You know what inspired you tocreate such a unique team.
One and two what were youlooking for in those guys that
you hired?
What were you looking for?
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Well, it was a few things.
Number one I was working with afew of them anyway at the youth
level, right, and we all hadkids that were the same age, so
we were coaching together.
But the reality is, I'm lookingaround Central Ohio, I'm
looking at coaching staffs andI'm asking myself we're all the
former Buckeyes?
We're right here, we're inColumbus.
I know there are a bunch ofguys that would love to pour
into young people and they'repractitioners.
(15:46):
In essence, these guys havetheir masters in football, and
so I wanted to surround thesekids with the best of the best
guys who did it at a high level,who know what the expectation
is and who are going to hold thekids to a very high standard.
And we do.
We hold our kids accountable.
At the same time, most of theguys, every guy that we brought
(16:07):
on our staff, does somethingelse professionally, so it's not
just about football.
Beanie Wells is in broadcastingand owns a ton of property
across the state of Ohio, so ifone of our kids wants to go down
that track, he can talk toBeanie about doing that.
Reggie Germany owns andoperates Crumble Cookies, so if
somebody wants to be afranchisee, they can talk to
Reggie about it.
Ashante Webb is an agent, sonow you can talk to him.
(16:29):
Winfield Garnett had atechnology company.
I started a bank with mypartner, sean Keller, 11 years
ago, so if you wanted to go intofinance, you could talk to me
about that.
So all our guys have somethingelse that they do that our kids
can talk to them about and bementored in if that's something
that they want to do.
Jamar Martin is a teacher, so Iwas very deliberate around that
.
I didn't just want to have afootball guy that was just going
(16:51):
to come in and talk footballand then leave.
I wanted guys that were goingto be mentors beyond the game
Because at the end of the day,like I said earlier, in my
opinion we are responsible tobuild warriors.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
That's good.
That's good.
You know you're also a parentof three of those boys.
Three of those guys on the teamhave gone through the program.
How does that motivate you as acoach?
You know it's football 24-7,.
You know, after the game you'rein the car riding home with you
at the house watching film allnight.
You know what is that like Dad.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Well, ok, so let me just say this my wife is from
Massillon, ok, so my kids wereyoung, I never purchased a
football.
She brought them up and it's abig football family.
Gary Young Conley is her firstcousin, and so you know it's
kind of like a football pastime,right?
But yeah, no, we spent a lot oftime talking about the sport
(17:46):
because this is something thatthey chose to do, and so, yeah,
in the rides home if they didn'tplay.
Well, I'm not the dad thatholds back, and this is even
when I wasn't their coach.
But at the same time, I letthem know that when we walk on
the field, I'm not dad anymore,I'm Coach Jackson, and I'm going
to treat you like everybodyelse, and if you want something
(18:08):
on this field, you have to earnit, and if you don't earn it,
you know football did a lot forme.
You know, patterson, new Jerseyis one of the toughest
communities in America to livein, and football was a vehicle
for me to escape that, the samewith my brother, and so I know
how powerful a vehicle it can be, or any sport in particular,
(18:30):
and I know the lessons that youlearn between the white lines
will translate to theprofessional ranks of whatever
you want to do.
There's an assignment done.
I'm not panicking.
I've been in a two-minute drill.
I know it's like when a clockis ticking down and you're
trying to get something done.
So I'm not going to panic in myprofessional life.
Right, you get knocked down.
Well, guess what?
I've been knocked down a ton oftimes.
I've been cut.
So all those lessons they dotranslate and make you a better
(18:51):
person, and so that's why it wasimportant for my wife and I to
make sure that our kids didparticipate in sports.
Now, we didn't dictate whatsports, but once they chose it,
our rule was okay, now thatyou've chosen the sport, we're
all in.
Right, we're not going to halfbake this cookie, we're going to
fully bake it and make surethat we're all in and you here
doing everything you can to bethe very best you can be,
(19:11):
because I knew those lessonswould carry them a lifetime.
That's good.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
You know, as a father coach, what is it like
balancing, being a parent andleading a football program.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
That's a really good question.
I don't balance it.
I don't worry about it Becausewhen my boys hit the field
they're football players.
I'm not their dad and they'vegot to earn it.
And I think what happens whenyou earn it people around you,
they see it.
So my kids.
There's no daddy ball atWestfield North.
So Ronald was our quarterback.
He's a three-year starter.
He compiled over 3,700 yardslast year, 2,500 passing, 1,300
(19:46):
rushing, over 30 touchdowns.
If anybody has anything to sayabout that, the numbers speak
for themselves.
Trey, who was my youngest hestarted eight games for us had
75 tackles as a true freshman.
So they've earned their right.
And the other things I've doneis I've sort of insulated the
dad-son relationship.
So I didn't coach quarterbacksthe last two years.
(20:08):
Marcus Ray was our offensecoordinator.
I let him handle that.
People realized that therewasn't any favoritism happening
with my son because I wasn'teven coaching the position.
And the same thing with Major.
You know he played defense andCoach Martin had him and they're
the ones that made the decisionto make sure those guys were on
the field.
So that's kind of how I.
But football is in my DNA so wedon't really separate it and
(20:31):
it's in their DNA and they loveit and I've gotten a lot out of
football.
Right, I worked in broadcastingbecause I played football.
I'm part of this bank because Iplayed football, so I don't
separate the two.
What I try to do is just makesure that I don't overwhelm them
with talk of, you know, sports,sports, sports.
Because I truly believe thatthey're more than the sport that
(20:54):
they play.
But the sport is just teachingthem valuable lessons so that,
whenever they decide whatever itis that they want to do, those
lessons will carry them to besuccessful in those fields.
I want the guys to understandyou have a short amount of time
to play this sport.
Prepare yourself now for whenit's done.
Even if you played 15 years inthe NFL, you're still going to
(21:14):
be a young man and life goes onand you have to do something
else, and so that's the onlything that I've always been
concerned about with my sons.
I don't want them to experiencethat depression that athletes
have when they're done playing,because we get put on this
pedestal.
It's a high pedestal and it'sfun to be on there, but at some
(21:35):
point you got to come back downthere.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
That's good stuff, you know.
Speaking of that, what advicewould you give to parents who
are coaching their children?
Take me to that youth level,because you coached down at that
level.
I really want you to speak tothese youth parents.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Daddy ball doesn't work.
It doesn't help your son oryour daughter Make them earn it.
The more you put them in aposition that they don't have to
earn it, it just makes itharder at the next level.
If the first time your son ordaughter has to compete for a
position is in high school or incollege, how are they going to
know what they need to do if youdidn't make them compete early?
That's one of the biggesterrors I see in parents.
(22:09):
But be hard on them.
I'm hard on my boys.
I hold them accountable to ahigh standard.
A lot of times people don'tunderstand that, but that's the
other thing I would say.
Don't worry about the outsidenoise.
Don't worry about the outsidenoise and don't set outcomes
that are unrealistic.
Right, have your boys play, oryour girls play, the sport to
(22:33):
the best of their ability andlive with the outcomes that come
from that.
Everybody can't play power, foreverybody can't go to the NBA
or the NFL, right, and that's OK.
But the lessons that they learnin the sport will have them be
professionals and something elseelse, and so don't get tied to
social media and chasing statusand posting things that are
(22:55):
ridiculous, because it's hardertoday than ever Highlight.
And it's harder today than everto get a Power Force
scholarship.
And if that's the ultimate goal, I don't think that's fair to
your kid.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
That's good.
You know I worked for theFellowship of Christian Athletes
, been on staff for about20-plus years and I know you
guys have an FCA group there atNamalong.
The football team as well asthe chaplain comes in.
Can you share how importantthat is, that aspect for the
team, for the program?
Speaker 1 (23:22):
You know I'm going to be really transparent here.
Number one I think it's vital.
I think establishing yourfoundation in what you believe
is important, and the way thatI'm going to be transparent is I
don't think we've done a greatjob at that.
Honestly, I think we've droppedthe ball a little bit at
Westerville North and that's myresponsibility.
Obviously, we do the FCA and weencourage that.
(23:43):
We want our kids to go, but Idon't think I've done a good
enough job of displaying mybeliefs to our team in a way
that it could be a little moreeffective.
So that's laid on my heart alloffseason and we're going to do
a better job going forward.
But for me it's justestablishing truth in the
building, the truth that I liveby, the truth that helped me
(24:05):
escape poverty, the truth thatdelivered my mother from drug
and alcohol abuse.
The truth that delivered an18-year-old man my father when
he had my brother to being whohe is today.
I've watched it firsthand.
I've watched Jesus kick thedoor down.
So, knowing all of that,sometimes I think I need to be a
little more transparent withour football team and I will be
going forward.
(24:26):
But having any partners thatcan come in and help that, I
think, is very important.
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Well, I do know this.
I've been hanging out with yourson, Ronald, and I know just
solidly you've done a great jobthere.
I know that.
I know that just watching himand just how he carries himself
and you can just see the HolySpirit all over when he walks in
that room, when he shows up toour mentor groups, it's a whole
(24:52):
to our mentor groups, it's awhole different deal, you know.
And he walks in there.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
That's exciting.
That's exciting to hear.
I just wanted to let you knowthat We've been blessed.
We've been blessed, yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
You know, as a coach, you had a unique opportunity to
impact not only your playersbut also the community in
Westerville.
So can you talk about how yousee yourself building a lasting
legacy through your program?
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Well, there's a few things.
Number one Westerville is avery unique suburb.
It's not like most suburbs.
40% of our kids are on free andreduced lunch, and so that's a
challenge for us, because wedon't practice until 4 o'clock,
so we're doing a lot of thingsdifferently.
So we feed our kids six days aweek.
So our kids get out of schoolat 2.10, and then there's a
(25:32):
two-hour window before wepractice.
We don't release them, theirhour is after school, and so we
send them to study table and wefeed them.
So every day there's a sacklunch where there's a sandwich
and chips and a drink that goesout, and then they're required
to go to study table After thatfirst hour.
Then they go lift weights orthey watch film, right, and then
obviously we go onto thefootball field, and so I think
that's a part of it making surethat the kids have what they
(25:55):
need to thrive and be successful.
I'm going to ask them to giveme their very all that we got to
make sure that we're feedingthem and things of that nature,
and I'm not sure a lot ofcoaches or communities do that
and understand what you'reasking when you want your kids
to get full effort and theyhaven't eaten, when you want
your kids to give full effortand they haven't eaten.
Secondly is just making sureour community understands what
we have, what we're dealing withand we had to change our
(26:17):
culture.
We're still battling some ofthat culture.
It lost for a long time and Ithink that's one of the biggest
things that we'll leave as alasting legacy is that winning
is something that we can't do atWestville North.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
As a guest on the Be A Baller podcast.
We ask all our guests to committo what we call the wisdom
pledge, and that is about beingintentional literally in every
conversation, sharing wisdom.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Can you share one piece of advice or life lesson
from your coaching experiencethat you would pass on to our
audience?
As far as a wisdom word Iwouldn't say from my coaching
experience alone, but just ingeneral.
From my coaching experiencealone, but just in general I've
had the privilege of beingaround a lot of really great men
that shared a lot of veryvaluable lessons, and the first
one was my father and this is agreat story, so I hope we got
the time.
So my father's a hardworking.
He was 18 when I had my brother.
(27:08):
I came three years later, so hewas young, he didn't have a
clue, but they figured it outand he stayed.
He stayed in the generation thatwas leaving and he instilled in
us principles that his fatherinstilled in him, and one was
you know you work for what youget.
And so you know, I was a goodkid and my father worked hard
and I remember he brought me myfirst bike right and it was a
used bike.
We lived on the second floorand it was my responsibility to
(27:30):
carry that bike up the stepsright Because it was my bike,
but it was an old, used bike andsometimes I'd leave it down,
but nobody bothered it.
Well, my father saw that Iloved it.
He said you know, we're goingto get you a new bike.
He paid $200 for a Mongoose andI remember it like it was
yesterday and back then, rightIn 1985, $200 was significant,
but my job was the same.
This is your responsibility,this is your bike.
(27:54):
I've worked hard for the moneyI'm giving it to you, but you
have to take care of it.
So you must carry this bike upthe steps every night because if
you don't, this bike is goingto be gone.
He said I know what you didwith the other one.
If you leave this one down,it'll be gone.
It'd be the last bike I've everpurchased you.
Well, one night, after ridingall over the city with my
brothers, I was just too tiredto carry it up and it was a
heavy bike and I left itdownstairs.
(28:15):
Came out the next morning, thebike was gone.
I thought my dad had took it toteach me a lesson.
So I called him and he said no,I don't have your bike, it must
be gone.
Last bike I'll ever buy you andto this day he has never
purchased me another bike.
It's a very valuable lesson andI pass that lesson on to my
kids and to our team.
You have to earn everything youget and you have to respect
(28:35):
what's given to you, because towhom much is given, much is
required.
That's good.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
That's good.
That's a great story.
That's how I was back in theday I was.
Today.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
I'm not replacing this $200 back then was a lot of
money.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
You know this has been a great episode.
I really enjoyed theconversation as we kind of come
around the corner and you kindof alluded to some of these
things before.
But what are some of those lifelessons you want your players
to take away from theirexperience playing at
Westerville North High School?
Speaker 1 (29:04):
So we have a mantra at Westerville North.
There's a saying that I heardand it said that you know that
tough times make tough men andtough men make easy times and
easy times make weak men.
So it's our responsibility tobuild warriors and we take that
very seriously, especially forkids some of the kids living in
(29:24):
suburbs.
Your parents have made it easyfor you and when it's easy you
don't realize how much it'sgoing to take hard work from you
to be successful.
So I want the kids tounderstand that we're trying to
build warriors.
We're trying to build men, andreal men stand up to a standard.
They don't fall for the friedice cream or the things that
(29:46):
they see in the movies or whatthey hear in music.
They realize that there's astandard that they need to live
up to.
You wear Westerville North onyour jersey.
You're representing us.
You have the last name of yourfamily.
You're representing that.
Live up to the standard thatyour family has set for you and
don't take the easy way out.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Wow, that's powerful.
Live up to the standard.
Live up to it.
Live up to that standard.
Well, that's all the time wehave for today's episode on Be A
Baller Podcast.
I want to thank our specialguest, coach Stan Jackson, for
his commitment to paying forwardand being a blessing to the
next generation.
Coach Jackson, thanks forbuilding a legacy in sports and
empowering the next generationto success, and don't forget to
(30:30):
subscribe to our podcast so youcan stay up to date on all our
latest episodes.
Our podcast guests are alwayswilling to share wisdom and
inspire others to build a legacythat lasts Absolutely.
Thanks for your time.
Thanks for having me.
It's been great.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
It's fun.
If you enjoyed our show, pleaseshare this podcast with family
and friends.
Be a Baller podcast isavailable on all major podcast
stations.
Be sure to come back next weekas we continue to discuss on how
to build a lifelong legacy.
Until then, don't forget to bea baller.
This podcast was created byCoach Tim Brown and produced and
edited by the video productionclass of Worthington Christian
(31:03):
High School.
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