Ty Jackson didn’t need a long runway to turn heads. One blocked punt against South Carolina was enough to catch Jon Sumrall’s eye, and one bigger opportunity against Texas was enough to show what the Florida Gators may have hiding on the edge of their defense.
After a stunning home loss to unranked South Carolina, Sumrall spent the start of the week showing his team only one clip from the game. It wasn’t one of the bad ones. It was Jackson, the true sophomore linebacker, flying in late to block a punt.
“I said, guys, here's the score. It's 38 to whatever.
Not good…And I said, here's Ty Jackson, who probably doesn't like maybe the amount of snaps he's getting on defense. And he's playing his tail off, and he goes and makes a play because he's still playing hard.
He's still fighting,” Sumrall said.
That play mattered because Jackson had been stuck behind a loaded linebacker room in Gainesville, with most of his work coming on special teams. A former blue-chip prospect once described as one of the best high school players former Florida head coach Billy Napier had ever watched, Jackson had been waiting for a real opening. Sumrall saw enough in that effort to give him one.
“This week as a defensive staff, we went in there, and I'm like, guys, we need a little juice, we need a little spark. And Ty, sometimes your fear as a coach is like, is the guy ready?
The only way to find out if he's ready is by putting him out there,” Sumrall said. “ … And that they may not be ready for everything, but you have to figure out what are they ready for, and how can we make them useful and lean in their strengths and offset their weaknesses.”
Sumrall didn’t just give Jackson a few snaps, either. He named him a captain for the Texas game, a bold move in a difficult road setting against a top opponent. Jackson responded with his best stretch in a Florida uniform and helped fuel the defense’s best showing so far in an upset win.
In 14 snaps, Jackson finished with three tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and half a sack. PFF gave him Florida’s top grade on the day. He also delivered a key fourth-down stop that helped keep the Gators in the fight after an early hole.
Former Elite 4⭐️ Ty Jackson played his first meaningful snaps in his time with the #Gators vs No.7 Texas and immediately made an impact: 🐊3 Tackles | 1.5 TFLs | .5 Sack 🐊84.5 PFF grade(team high) True SO will certainly get more looks moving forward. pic.twitter.com/a1qKB1zoZx
“I'm so proud of his growth. He's a tremendously talented player. He reminds me of a couple guys I've had that were really high draft picks that maybe early were trying to figure out their, you know, how to see it, how to communicate it, how to execute it,” Sumrall said after the win.
“... But he's got the physical ability to be a big-time player, and I think he showed strides at the end of last week's game, but as it fell into this week as well.”
Jackson has only 47 career snaps as a true sophomore, but that number is starting to feel a little small for what Florida just saw. His speed and activity gave the Gators a jolt, and that’s exactly what Sumrall was hunting for after the South Carolina loss.
With Myles Graham, Aiden Chiles and Jaden Robinson still holding down the position group, Jackson still has to fight for more work. But he made a strong case that he belongs in the mix. Graham put it plainly after the win:
“He's just a dog," Graham said. "...
That's somebody who can change the game too. And I'm really proud of him too because I’ve seen his development from last year.
All he did was put his head down and work, and you'll see a lot more of him just flying around and making plays to do what he can do.”
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