How Gators LB Ty Jackson is Making a Serious Case for More Playing Time

Addressing his team after a stunning home loss to unranked South Carolina, Florida Gators’ head coach Jon Sumrall chose just one clip to show from the performance during the team meeting to start the week.

A 19-point loss on homecoming, finding a positive was difficult for Sumrall in a game where it felt like most of his team quit. However, the play — a blocked punt by true sophomore linebacker Ty Jackson late in the game — showed the exact attitude the head coach had been looking for from his squad.

“I said, guys, here's the score. It's 38 to whatever. Not good…And I said, here's Ty Jackson, who probably doesn't like maybe the amount of snaps he's getting on defense. And he's playing his tail off, and he goes and makes a play because he's still playing hard. He's still fighting,” Sumrall said.

Jackson, a former blue-chip prospect once touted as one of the best high school players former Florida head coach Billy Napier had ever watched, had been buried beneath a talented trio of linebackers in Gainesville, seeing almost all of his snaps on special teams. Still, the late effort caught Sumrall’s attention, and needing a spark for a defense that had seriously struggled heading into a tough matchup on the road against Texas, the coach decided such an effort deserved more opportunity.

“This week as a defensive staff, we went in there, and I'm like, guys, we need a little juice, we need a little spark. And Ty, sometimes your fear as a coach is like, is the guy ready? The only way to find out if he's ready is by putting him out there,” Sumrall said. “ … And that they may not be ready for everything, but you have to figure out what are they ready for, and how can we make them useful and lean in their strengths and offset their weaknesses.”

Despite the talented opponent and the tough environment, Sumrall gave the young Jackson more than a chance, naming him a captain for the matchup. Jackson looked more than ready for the opportunity, providing the exact spark Sumrall had hoped for in his first meaningful snaps for the Gators and aiding the defensive unit in its best game yet and an upset win.

The second-year linebacker recorded three tackles, including one and a half for a loss, and added half a sack in just 14 snaps, finishing as the Gators' highest-rated player by PFF. His impact came at all the right times, including a huge fourth-down stop to help Florida stay in the game despite an early deficit.

“I'm so proud of his growth. He's a tremendously talented player. He reminds me of a couple guys I've had that were really high draft picks that maybe early were trying to figure out their, you know, how to see it, how to communicate it, how to execute it,” Sumrall said after the win.

“... But he's got the physical ability to be a big-time player, and I think he showed strides at the end of last week's game, but as it fell into this week as well.”

Just a true sophomore with only 47 career snaps played after the performance, Jackson is the type of young talent that Sumrall can be excited about for his future at Florida. However, the performance stands as evidence that the speedy linebacker is ready to make an instant impact as well.

With Myles Graham, Aiden Chiles and Jaden Robinson still anchoring down the position group, Jackson certainly earned some more opportunities to get in amongst the unit and add more depth at an important spot, ready to add an important spark that has proven to be extremely needed for the Gators' defense.

“He's just a dog," Graham said. "... That's somebody who can change the game too. And I'm really proud of him too because I’ve seen his development from last year. All he did was put his head down and work, and you'll see a lot more of him just flying around and making plays to do what he can do.”

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