Cal Football: Sam Jackson V's High School Coaches Rave About the Transfer QB

Cal fans would only need to spend a few minutes visiting with Sam Jackson V’s high school football coach to get pretty excited about the potential of the Bears’ new transfer quarterback.

Jackson played at Naperville Central High, a large school in the Chicago suburbs, and spent the past two seasons at TCU. A redshirt freshman dual-threat quarterback, he transferred to Cal this week and sounds like a good fit for new offensive coordinator Jake Spavital’s scheme.

Here’s just the first 60 seconds of what former Naperville Central coach Mike Stine says in the video at the top of this story when I asked him to describe Jackson’s skill set:

“He definitely is a unique athletic talent. Everyone is going to see that. He can run 4.4 in the 40, he can windmill dunk a basketball and he can throw a football 70 yards. He’s extremely dynamic. He’s a playmaker. That’s what you’re going to see on the field.

“But above and beyond that he has a high football IQ. He has a good work ethic. He wants to be special, he wants to be great. His goal is to play in the NFL and I’m sure he’s eventually going to get to the NFL.”

Now, Jackson may not even have stepped foot on campus yet — presumably that happens before classes begin next week. He’ll have to win the job in spring practice, but he fits the mold of what the Bears are hoping to do with the position.

At TCU, Jackson played this season under former Cal coach Sonny Dykes and behind Heisman Trophy runner-up Max Duggan and backup Chandler Morris, who also was a redshirt freshman.

Stine, who coached high school football for more than 30 years, is retired and living in Texas. But he has remained close to a couple dozen former players now competing at the college level and he attended Monday's CFP national championship game between TCU and Georgia.

He says Jackson -- who threw just six passes in two seasons at TCU and completed them all -- is ready for a fresh start at Cal.

“An opportunity for him to come in and use his skills on the field and try to earn a starting spot and be able to call a team his again. It’s been a while since he’s been that guy, since high school,” Stine said. “I know he’s excited to get at it and start grinding and earn that opportunity.”

Jackson played wide receiver as a sophomore at Naperville Central, whose starting quarterback that season was Payton Thorne, now at Michigan State.

“He was a quarterback when he came to Naperville. But he’s such a special athlete — he was too good an athlete to be sitting on the sideline as a sophomore. He had 15 touchdown catches that year,” Stine said,

“The thing about a receiver is he only touched it 50 times for us. As a quarterback, he’ll touch it every snap. That’s where he needs to be because he will make plays.”

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted Illinois officials to postpone the 2020 season to the spring, so Jackson did not have a senior campaign after graduating mid-year to enroll at TCU.

Mike Ulreich, Naperville Central’s head coach the past two years, was the team’s defensive coordinator when Jackson moved from receiver to quarterback, and his defense faced Jackson every afternoon.

“He did things in games and every day in practice that just kind of blew you away throwing the football,” Ulreich said. "He’s got enormous hands. The ball just explodes off his fingers. He’s got a very smooth, natural motion and the ball just kind of jumps out of his hand.

“He’s really gifted running the ball as much as throwing the ball. He really likes to see himself as a pocket quarterback. He loves throwing the football. But when he takes off and runs it’s dangerous as well.”

Stine talks in the video above about Jackson’s ability to extend plays when things break down, which could one valuable behind a Cal offensive line that isn’t the strength of the team.

In high school, Jackson was given a lot of freedom to make calls and checks at the line of scrimmage, and Stine said Jackson was adept at the mental side of the game.

“But again, one of his strengths is when the defense thinks they have a good play going and the play breaks down offensively, Sam can extend that and get out of the pocket. He can hurt you out of the pocket by running, but if you come up and try and tackle him he can throw the ball 70 yards. He can throw it on a dime and he’s very good at finding open receivers.

“He has a little Patrick Mahomes in him,” Stine said. “He’s that kind of guy — he extends plays with his feet . . . and if a receiver’s open down field he’ll get him the ball. That’s what puts pressure on the defense.”

Both coaches are confident Jackson will be a good fit with a new team and new teammates.

“He is very charming young man, loves to compete, high energy kid. A lot of fun to be around, good personality,” Ulreich said. “Really loves competing, especially at a high level.”

Stine said Jackson will adapt nicely to California.

“Sam is a people person, has a great personality, great leadership skills. He will be dynamic in the locker room — he’s a great teammate. I think the players will be attracted to him,” Stine said. “He’s got a very bubbly, outgoing personality.

Citing his time as a teammate to Thorne and then Duggan, Stine said, “Sam has been around some great quarterbacks and he’s a great one himself. As soon as he does get that opportunity on the field, he’ll be special.”

Cover photo of Sam Jackson handing the ball off for TCU by Brett Rojo, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo