Purdue CBs coach Derrick Jackson leaving to be DC at Northern Illinois
GoldandBlack.com has learned that Purdue cornerbacks coach Derrick Jackson is leaving to become defensive coordinator at Northern Illinois. An announcement is expected this week.
Jackson will work with new Huskies coach Thomas Hammock, a former Northern Illinois running back and a rising star in the profession who spent the last five years coaching running backs for the Baltimore Ravens. Jackson coached at NIU in 2005 with Hammock and is a close friend of Hammock, who also has coached at Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Jackson was an original member of Jeff Brohm’s staff, coming to West Lafayette after spending five seasons (2012-16) at Wake Forest in a variety of positions. A former Duke defensive back, Jackson would be the second member of Brohm’s original staff to leave, as special teams/tight ends coach Tony Levine departed for private business after the 2017 season.
A native of Cincinnati, Jackson was one of the top recruiters on the Purdue staff in addition to being a good coach. He did a nice job while at Purdue working with cornerbacks like Da’Wan Hunte, Josh Okonye, Antonio Blackmon, Tim Cason and Kenneth Major. Hunte and Okonye were honorable mention All-Big Ten by the media in 2017. Blackmon was consensus honorable mention All-Big Ten last year, while Major was honorable mention by the media.
At NIU, Jackson is expected to continue to recruit Detroit, Cincinnati and Dayton and the entire state of Michigan for a Northern Illinois program that traditionally is one of the best in the MAC and often a top Group of Five program in the nation.
Last season, Purdue finished No. 11 in the Big Ten in scoring defense (30.0 ppg), 13th in total defense (452.6 ypg) and 14th in pass defense (284.7 ypg) as the Boilermakers capped a 6-7 season with a loss in the Music City Bowl.
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