TEXARKANA, Texas — The Arkansas coaches and family in northwest Arkansas want four-star junior defensive end Landon Jackson to be in Fayetteville.
His family members in Arkansas have been vocal to him about the Hogs.
“They really want me up there playing for the Razorbacks and I need to come down and start visiting them more,” Jackson said.
Jackson, 6-6, 242 pounds, had more than 20 scholarship offers, but he narrowed his list to Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M, LSU, Miami, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Washington in July.
He stays in contact with Coach Chad Morris and associate head coach Jeff Traylor.
“I probably text Coach Traylor every other day and probably text Coach Morris every week,” Jackson said.
ESPN rates Jackson a 4-star recruit, the No. 5 defensive end and the No. 17 overall prospect in the nation for the 2021 class.
During Traylor’s highly successful tenure at Gilmer High Schoool in East Texas, he became friends with Jackson's family.
“I’ve always had a good relaltionship with Coach Traylor,” Jackson said. “I’ve known him since I was in the like the fifth or sixth grade. It’s like I know I can always talk to him and even if I didn't choose Arkansas, he said I could still talk to him through the process.”
Jackson, who visited Texas for the Horn's game against LSU, was surprised by Arkansas’ loss to San Jose State.
“I bet they went into the game think they were about to dominate them,” he said. “Every team has a down game and you can tell it was probably one of their down games. They just have to bounce back and keep producing and getting better.”
He and his mother and other family visited the Hogs for the Fall Kickoff Cookout in July. He’s thinking he’ll be back up to Fayetteville later this season.
“Probably during our playoffs after our regular season,” Jackson said.
He was named the District 7-4A-II Defensive Newcomer of the Year after recording 98 tackles and a school record 11.5 sacks. He also had 23 quarterback hurries, 3 forced fumbles, an interception and 6 pass breakups as a freshman.
Jackson had 56 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and 9 sacks before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury late in his sophomore season. Pleasant Grove Coach Josh Gibson said Jackson has comeback stronger and faster after going through rehab.
“Lot of guys come back healthier this day and age and even stronger,” Gibson said. “It’s a setback when it happens, but we noticed this summer his speed improved and he was beating skill kids in our strength and conditioning runs. At this point, he has eight or nine sacks this early in the season and we have a lot of games left to play.”
“He’s an elite pass rusher coming off the edge with very good power.”
Jackson will start thinking about official visits early next year.
“I’ll figure this out around March or April and take them during the summer,” Jackson said.