Derrick Jackson - Assistant Coach (Defensive Backs) - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Derrick Jackson

Title:
Assistant Coach (Defensive Backs)
Email:
Phone:
419-372-7083

Coach Jackson
Hometown	Cincinnati, Ohio
College	Duke (1993, BA)
Family	Wife, Renae, twins, daughter Alana and son Dakota
Coaching History
1999-00	West Georgia, Tight Ends
2001-02	Army, Defensive Ends
2003-04	Eastern Illinois, Defensive Line
2005	NIU, Defensive Line
2006	Michigan State, Defensive Line
2007	Syracuse, Defensive Line
2008	Syracuse, Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line
2009	Syracuse, Defensive Line
2010	Akron, Defensive Line
2011	Rice, Defensive Line
2012	Wake Forest, Linebackers
2013	Wake Forest, Defensive Backs
2014-16	Wake Forest, Cornerbacks
2017-18	Purdue, Cornerbacks
2019-22	NIU, Associate Head Coach/DC/Safeties
2023-24	Bowling Green, Secondary/Def. Pass Game Coord.
2025-pres.	Bowling Green, Defensive Backs

Derrick Jackson joined Scot Loeffler's staff in February 2023 as the secondary coach and defensive pass game coordinator. Jackson came to BGSU after spending four seasons at Northern Illinois as the associate head coach, co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach.

Jackson, a 25-year collegiate coaching veteran whose résumé includes stints at Purdue, Wake Forest, Michigan State, Syracuse and NIU.

Jackson's first season at BGSU in 2023 saw a secondary that finished the year No. 4 in the nation with 17 interceptions as the Falcons led the nation in takeaways (28). BGSU's starting cornerbacks Jordan Oladokun and Jalen Huskey both finished the year tied for No. 19 in the nation with four interceptions. Huskey was a first-team All-MAC performer and Oladokun earned second-team honors, while Davon Ferguson earned third-team All-MAC accolades. The BGSU defense in 2023 finished No. 25 in the nation in total defense (326.1) and No. 12 in the nation in passing yards allowed (179.8).

He joined the Northern Illinois football coaching staff as associate head coach, defensive coordinator and safeties coach in 2019.

Under his defensive leadership at NIU, three Huskies earned All-MAC honors in NIU’s 2021 MAC Championship season. Freshman safety C.J. Brown earned first-team accolades after leading NIU with 109 tackles. Linebacker Lance Deveaux and cornerback Jordan Gandy were placed on the third team.

Jackson, who previously worked at NIU as the Huskies’ defensive tackles coach in 2005, returned to DeKalb after spending two seasons as cornerbacks coach and defensive recruiting coordinator at Purdue (2017-18), helping the Boilermakers to a pair of bowl appearances, including a 38-35 victory over Arizona in the 2017 Foster Farms Bowl.

At Purdue in 2017, the Boilermakers’ defense ranked in the top 30 in the country in scoring defense (24th) and rushing defense (29th), a marked improvement from the previous year when Purdue ranked 117th and 115th, respectively, in those categories. During his tenure in West Lafayette, four different cornerbacks earned All-Big Ten honors.

At Wake Forest from 2012-16, as outside linebackers (2012), defensive backs (2013) and cornerbacks (2014-16) coach, the defense showed similar improvements. The Demon Deacons ranked in the Top 40 in the nation in total defense in 2013, ’14 and ’15, and Wake Forest won the 2016 Military Bowl behind a scoring defense that ranked 23rd nationally. During his time coaching the WFU defensive backs, six of his players earned All-ACC honors, three played in post-season all-star games and cornerback Kevin Johnson was a first-round draft pick by the Houston Texans in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Jackson, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, coached the defensive line at Rice in 2011 and at Akron in 2010. From 2007-09, he was defensive line coach at Syracuse, and served as co-defensive coordinator in 2008. His pupils at Syracuse included defensive tackle Arthur Jones, a three-time All-Big East selection and 2009 third-team All-American, and Freshman All-American defensive end Chandler Jones. Both Arthur Jones (5th round, Baltimore Ravens, 2010) and Chandler Jones (1st round, New England Patriots, 2012) went on to be selected in the NFL Draft.

Before working at Syracuse, Jackson spent the 2006 campaign as defensive line coach at Michigan State. The Spartans limited the opposition to eight rushing touchdowns that season. Jackson’s first stint at NIU came in 2005 under head coach Joe Novak, when he served as defensive line coach on the staff that led the Huskies to a 7-5 record and its first MAC Championship game. That season, Jackson coached first-team All-MAC selection Quince Holman.

Prior to NIU, Jackson spent the 2003 and 2004 seasons at Eastern Illinois as defensive line coach and was the defensive ends coach at Army in 2001 and 2002. He began his coaching career at West Georgia as tight ends coach in 1999 and 2000.

As a young coach, he spent two summers as part of the NFL Coaching Fellowship program with the Miami Dolphins (2001) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002).

A four-year letterwinner at Duke as a defensive back, Jackson started 40 consecutive games and finished his career as the eighth-leading tackler in school history. He was named the team’s most outstanding defensive back twice and was a member of the Blue Devils’ 1989 Atlantic Coast Conference co-championship and All-American Bowl team.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Duke in 1993. Jackson and his wife, Renae, are the parents of twins, daughter Alana and son Dakota. Renae, also a Duke graduate, was a standout long jumper.