Well, a week after Leon Jackson decided to leave the Husker football program, Jackson has decided to stick around after all. Which should be a good deal for the Big Red; Jackson looked good in Spring practice. Some practice observers thought he was the best all-around back this spring; more power than Marlon Lucky but with more game-breaking ability than Cody Glenn. It doesn't sound like the gap between Lucky, Glenn, and Jackson was terribly great.
And let's face it, you never can have enough running backs. Just ask the Carolina Panthers, who had to finish the NFC Championship game with their 4th string back.... A couple of years ago, Marques Simmons was buried at 4th on the Iowa depth chart until injuries decimated the Hawkeyes.
However, comments by Jackson's father in the Lincoln Journal-Star are potentially troubling. According to Leon Jackson, Sr., Bill Callahan would only release Leon Jr. from his scholarship if he transfered to a division 1-AA or lower school, saying that he could do everything he wanted to do at Nebraska, if he wanted to play at a 1-A school.
This raises the question: Is Leon Jackson back because he realized he made a huge mistake, or is Leon Jackson back because he thinks he has no place else to go? If Leon has truly changed his mind and wants to be a Husker, all is well. But if Leon is staying because he feels trapped at Nebraska, that can't be good. If Jackson doesn't have a good attitude, he could become a distraction to the team... and that will hurt the team more than his talent will help.
And I'm not necessarily criticizing Callahan here; Callahan may have been playing tough with Jackson to make sure that Jackson wasn't acting impulsively. In life, you can't always run away when things don't go your way. Putting those restrictions on Jackson could be a way of making him think about the implications of his decision. Callahan might very well have changed his mind after a few weeks and Jackson was able to convince Callahan of that choice. We don't know...and don't need to know either.
Bottom line...it comes down to what Leon Jackson's attitude is in coming back. Let's hope he wants to be the #1 I-back at Nebraska this fall.
I think that Callahan might realize how good Leon could be, which would be why he wouldn't want him to be at another school that competes with Nebraska. Why else would he care?
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