Tayven Jackson has landed the starting quarterback job at North Texas, giving the former Tennessee signal caller a fresh opportunity in his fifth and final season of college football.
The move was reported Wednesday by Pete Thamel as North Texas settled on its QB1 ahead of the 2026 season. Jackson arrives after transferring in this offseason and will now run the offense for Neal Brown, who is in his first year with the program after Eric Morris left for Oklahoma State.
Jackson’s college path has taken him from Tennessee to Indiana, then UCF, and now North Texas. He spent his freshman season with the Vols in 2022, appearing in three games off the bench. In that stint, he completed 3 of 4 passes for 37 yards, added four carries for 10 yards, and scored once on the ground.
A four-star recruit out of high school, Jackson was ranked by the 247 Composite as the No. 198 player in the country and the No. 13 quarterback in the 2022 class. That made him the first blue-chip quarterback commit of the Josh Heupel Era.
After leaving Tennessee, Jackson entered the transfer portal and headed back to his home state to play for Indiana. He saw action in six games in 2023 and started five, finishing with 914 passing yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions, plus one rushing score.
His role changed again in 2024, when he appeared in seven games and made one start for the Hoosiers. That season brought 349 passing yards, four touchdowns and one interception, along with three rushing touchdowns.
At UCF in 2025, Jackson became a full-time starter. He opened 10 of 11 games, posted a 4-6 record as the starter, and threw for 2,151 yards with 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions while adding three rushing scores.
Jackson is also the brother of NBA player Trayce Jackson-Davis, who starred for Indiana in college and now plays for the Toronto Raptors.
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