What’s Next for Alabama Baseball Interim Coach Jason Jackson?

Jackson’s run as the Crimson Tide’s interim coach for the 2023 season came to an end on Sunday. What does his future hold, whether it’s in Tuscaloosa or elsewhere?

Will Miller | Jun 11, 2023

Alabama Athletics

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.— On May 4, Alabama baseball interim head coach Jason Jackson had a lot on his plate.

The longtime pitching coach, hired in that role at Alabama in the summer of 2017, had just been elevated to the head coaching position in the wake of Brad Bohannon’s dismissal. The Crimson Tide had an SEC game to play that very night, against a top-five team, no less.

The program was very much at a crossroads. It was certainly not a situation any player, coach or fan expects to find their team facing down. Amidst the uncertainty, Alabama won the aforementioned game (and the series) over Vanderbilt and didn’t look back.

The Crimson Tide won every SEC series with Jackson at the helm, also taking two games at the SEC Tournament in Hoover and locking up the program’s first 40-win campaign and super regional appearance since 2010. Jackson’s overall record as the interim coach this season was 13-6, an incredible mark considering the circumstances under which he took over.

He had his team within two wins of the program’s first College World Series appearance of the century. That was as far as the Crimson Tide got, but along the way, there were incredible moments the likes of which the program had not experienced for a number of years.

40 wins. Hosting a regional as a national seed for the first time in 17 years. A winning record in league play for the first time in nine years. Plenty of things were in the realm of the unexpected on the day Bohannon was fired. Those accomplishments might also have planted their flag in that realm at that moment, but Jackson’s tenure brought all of it squarely into the real world.

Jackson said all along that he didn’t look at his new mantle as an opportunity to audition for the full-time coaching position. Instead, he was focused on helping his players handle business as usual and remain committed to bringing their goals to fruition despite the situation. He’s been around this group for a long time, especially the veteran leaders in an experienced clubhouse. Jackson remained focused on his players in the immediate aftermath of his team’s elimination from the postseason.

“I’ve done this a long time,” Jackson said. “I’ve never been more proud of a group of individuals than I am of this group. I think that they are everything that is good about college athletics, and I think they are everything that is good about the world today. What they’ve shown, the character, the resilience they’ve shown in these past couple of months serve as a great example to our fans, the kids that watch us play. My son is eight years old, and I’m so glad he got to see these guys and how they handled every reason to feel sorry for themselves, and they didn’t. Every time something happened, they jumped right back up and kept pushing forward. They kept pushing forward. It’s a really good baseball team, and it’s also a really good story of character and resilience… I just thank them for letting me come on this run with them. They’ve made me a better coach, just getting to be a part of it. I’m so proud of all of them. I love coaching this team. It’s been a fun ride.”

An emotional Drew Williamson, who played his final game in a Crimson Tide uniform on Sunday, called the job Jackson did perfect and endorsed him as the next permanent head coach for the program.

“He couldn’t have done more perfect of a job, and I can say that honestly,” Williamson said. “I would go to war for this guy. I’ve loved the time that I got to spend playing for him. I hope that somebody will give him a shot, because they will not regret it… I don’t get to make any hiring decisions, but if I did, I promise you this would be my guy.”

Shortstop Jim Jarvis shared similar sentiments, highlighting the difficult situation surrounding Jackson’s promotion.

“We were in, as you can imagine, quite a big pickle,” Jarvis said. “From the first day, he stepped up. He’s just a perfect, perfect leader. He kept everyone on the right line, made sure everyone was aware of the goal, never let anyone get too far away from that. I’ve tried to be as steady as possible, but sometimes, during games or whatever, if I get too emotional, he’s the first guy that’s able to bring me back. I can’t say enough about him. I’m a little upset I didn’t get to spend more time around him, but I know for a fact I’ll stay in touch with him. Maybe a little too much. We don’t get here without him.”

Jackson is likely at the very least a candidate for the full-time job in Tuscaloosa. There has been much discourse among the Crimson Tide fan community surrounding how far he could take the team before the job became his. Other head coaches were very complimentary of his efforts, including Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin and Boston College head coach Mike Gambino.

“Jason and his staff should be really proud,” Gambino said after Alabama beat his Eagles in the Tuscaloosa regional final. “I know it’s been a bit of a hectic couple of weeks to months around here, and for Jason and his staff to lead those boys, and what those boys are doing, it’s hard not to root for that group of boys.”

Wake Forest coach Tom Walter said Alabama gave his team all it could handle in the Winston-Salem Super Regional and he thinks Jackson has earned the permanent job.

“I hope it goes his way,” Walter said.

There is also a case to be made that Jackson could be a candidate for other head coaching jobs. A number of positions have opened up around the country. Notably, a very good mid-major job in Hattiesburg will soon become vacant upon the forthcoming retirement of Southern Miss head coach Scott Berry. Richmond, which Alabama swept in the opening series of the regular season, recently announced that it would not renew head coach Tracy Woodson’s contract.

Jackson, for his part, said he’d love to stay on as the Alabama coach.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of time for reflecting,” he said. “The last six weeks or so, there’s a lot of memorable moments that will come up as we go through. It’s not the end we wanted. Our goal was to be in Omaha, and we came up a couple of wins short. But to get to see these guys, the way they responded in the face of adversity, I couldn’t be more proud… I would love to come back. I love this university. I love these players. I love coaching this team. I love all of them.”

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