Ja'Kobi Jackson has found a home with Gators after long-winding path to get here. (Photo: UAA Communications)
Ja'Kobi's Journey: Gators Running Back Won't Back Down
Saturday, November 29, 2025 | Football, Scott Carter
Share:
By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." — Oscar Wilde: Lady Windermere's Fan
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It's not been easy being Ja'Kobi Jackson lately. He allowed himself to dream big over the summer. Everything seemed possible: Florida in the College Football Playoff, Jackson scoring a touchdown, and he and his teammates returning home to a massive celebration at The Swamp.
Dreams, even those pie-in-the-sky kind, sometimes come true.
A redshirt senior running back for the Gators, Jackson is reminded of that each time he looks in the mirror. Before transferring to Florida in 2023, Jackson spent parts of three seasons at Coahoma Community College in Clarksdale, Miss.
His mom and a cousin dropped him off at the middle-of-nowhere campus, a seven-hour drive from where he grew up. Jackson didn't have a car. To have pocket money, Jackson got a job at Lowe's after graduating from Pensacola Catholic High in 2020, waiting to see if any coaches called amid the COVID pandemic spreading across the globe.
Jackson had offers from South Alabama, Charlotte and Western Kentucky earlier in the year, but everything was put on hold when the pandemic hit, leaving Jackson wondering what was next. The scholarship offers dried up.
Jackson had envisioned playing in the Southeastern Conference one day, like another cousin, former Alabama offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood, and Jackson's uncle on his father's side, Alfonza Jackson, who signed with Georgia in 1989 and played a few games in the NFL.
But he was at Coahoma, working out in a garage and playing for a school with fewer resources than his high school.
"I would be in the JuCo dorm and always thinking about it, always reading about it, see myself doing it,'' Jackson said. "It gave me a lot of time to find myself and stay focused. You had to be self-motivated. What really drove me, I would say, was having it hard growing up. Not having much and wanting more. I wanted to be the one who changed everything for my family."
Ja'Kobi Jackson had 10 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown in last season's win over Florida State. (Photo: Lorenzo Vasquez/UAA Communications)
Jackson made the most of the lifeline he was tossed from Clarksdale, known as the capital of the blues and home to some of the genre's most famous practitioners. Jackson doesn't mind a dark tune on occasion, but he is not one to wallow in the gutter.
He's a guy who wakes up each morning eager for what the day might bring, or a new friend he has yet to meet. Following his time at Coahoma, Jackson's prospects of ever playing in the SEC remained bleak.
He had an offer from Charleston Southern and was headed there after graduating from junior college. But the day before the graduation ceremony, he got a voicemail from Billy Napier. The former UF coach, on the recommendation of his recruiting staff, called to offer Jackson a spot with the Gators.
Jackson wasn't sure it was real at first. He did some Googling, checking to learn more about Napier and Jacob LaFrance, the program's general manager of player personnel. Once he tackled his doubts, Jackson was overjoyed.
"I didn't think half of it was real,'' he said. "I never got attention from big, big schools. Florida was really that first opportunity."
Napier told reporters in preseason camp that Ja'Kobi Jackson is a player they should write about, that he had a great story. Several did. Ask running backs coach Jabbar Juluke about Jackson, and he beams.
Jackson planned to spend Thanksgiving at Juluke's home with the rest of the running backs. They are a close-knit group, and Jackson is a pleasure to have around.
"A great kid,'' Juluke said. "He brightens up any room he walks into."
Jackson proved he was more than a "program guy" after sitting out his first year at UF. He broke into the rotation last season and split carries with Montrell Johnson Jr. and Jadan Baugh. He made his first career start against Georgia. Jackson rushed for 509 yards, averaged 5.4 yards per carry and scored seven touchdowns.
He entered this season projected to play backup to Baugh as a shifty, powerful runner who flashed an ability to find room to run when there didn't seem to be any and catch the ball out of the backfield.
This is the part of Jackson's story where his background has helped him cope with his current predicament.
Jackson grew up in a broken home where his mother raised him and up to seven or eight siblings at a time. Jackson is the oldest of his father's children, but has sisters older than him on his mom's side of the family.
They didn't have much, and his mother, Cynthia Epps, kept the family fed by working a variety of jobs.
"She was making it happen for everyone the best she could,'' Jackson said.
Meanwhile, his father's parents offered support and guidance as role models. Cynthia could not be reached for this story, but Jackson said she plans to be at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day festivities before the game against Florida State.
Over the past three months, Jackson's summer visions have gone awry.
He suffered an upper-body injury in the loss at Miami on Sept. 20 and has not played since. He doesn't expect to play Saturday against the Seminoles, forced to watch from the sideline for the eighth consecutive game and possibly his last.
Jackson is exploring ways to gain another season of eligibility, perhaps by applying for a medical hardship, and remains hopeful that he has not played his final game for the Gators.
What hasn't changed is Jackson's outlook.
Ja'Kobi Jackson is an upbeat presence in the locker room, quick to offer a smile to his teammates. (Photo: Jordan Herald/UAA Communications)
The same guy who was overwhelmed by the Jordan gear in his locker when he first arrived, who was thrilled to have an opportunity to travel to Los Angeles and Italy with the GatorMade program, who continues to show up at the Heavener Football Training Center with a bounce in his step and encouragement for his teammates during a gloomy season, is far from defeated.
Ja'Kobi Jackson is way too tough to be knocked down and not get back up.
"I learned a lot,'' he said. "It's a great place, it's great people. I love the University of Florida. It's a place that I can call home forever. That's what it's all about."
So, as the Gators close a disappointing season with speculation about their future coach continuing to swirl, with a game against the Seminoles far removed from the epic matchups fans remember when Jackson was a child, and with Jackson injured and uncertain of his future, he plans to wake up with a smile and see how far it gets him.
Jackson earned his undergraduate degree last fall and is enrolled in a certificate program that could lead to a graduate degree if he remains enrolled.
When doors appear locked, Jackson turns knobs to see if he can find an opening. He has done it all his life, from Pensacola to Coahoma to UF.
He had a different vision not long ago than his reality today, but Jackson will not be deterred.
"Everyone's path is different,'' he said. "First one of my mom's kids to graduate college. I'm just trying to set the standard for the ones after me. There's more out here than Pensacola. That's what I want to show them."
Gator Insider & Up Next 11-28-25Gator Insider & Up Next 11-28-25
Friday, November 28
Inside Gators Football & Up Next presented by UF HealthInside Gators Football & Up Next presented by UF Health
Tuesday, November 25
Inside Gators Football & Up Next presented by UF Health (November 25, 2025)Inside Gators Football & Up Next presented by UF Health (November 25, 2025)
Tuesday, November 25
Florida Football | Interim Head Coach Billy Gonzales Press Conference | Florida StateFlorida Football | Interim Head Coach Billy Gonzales Press Conference | Florida State
