Vincent Jackson is a talented athlete out of Tampa (Fla.) Jesuit School. On Saturday, he took part in the IMG 7-on-7 Southeast Championship. Jackson was bothered by a knee injury, but was still supporting his teammates for Team Tampa. In the downtime, we chatted about his recruitment. Jackson is a big linebacker at 6'2 and 235 pounds, and some believe he'll have to move to defensive end in college.
Jackson recently took a trip to see Alabama and Auburn, and had many good things to say about both.
"Alabama was an eye-opening experience," Jackson said. "It was on another level. I hadn't seen anything like that yet. They really stood out to me."
In particular, Jackson was impressed by Alabama's facilities.
"Their facilities were just, so different than any other school to which I had been. They told me that it wasn't always like this, but it's changed since coach [Nick] Saban got there."
Jackson says that Alabama is recruiting him as both an inside and an outside linebacker.
"Their coach said they really don't have anybody at linebacker right now, and they like me at both," Jackson said.
Auburn also made an impression on Jackson.
"Auburn also has nice facilities. They weren't like Alabama, but they were good," Jackson said.
Auburn is recruiting Jackson to play inside linebacker in its new 4-2-5 defense, coached by new defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson.
There is one additional school to which Jackson would like to make a trip: Oregon.
"I talk to Oregon a lot. They like me at outside linebacker," Jackson said.
Miami is still recruiting Jackson, at outside linebacker, and he may visit the Hurricanes over summer.
Jackson does not have a top-five or similar, but says that he likes "the SEC schools and a few other schools not in the SEC."
Jackson would like to commit over summer. As for whether he will take visits after committing, Jackson says that it depends on the school to which he commits and whether the school has a policy preventing such visits.