Since mid-March Elijah Jackson and his family have done their part follow the stay-at-home order issued by California Governor Gavin Newsom, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the same time, Jackson has continued to workout each day by any means necessary even if he doesn’t leave the front yard. It’s how the soon-to-be cornerback at the University of Washington was raised.

Through innate discipline.

Listed at 6-foot and 182 pounds on the official UW roster, Jackson, one of four defensive backs to sign with the Huskies in their 2020 recruiting class did not start playing football until his freshman year of high school.

Even though Elijah had no prior experience with the sport – one he only found when his older brother began playing when he entered high school – he came bearing an athletic background.

Back Belt Jackson

From an early age Jerome Jackson knew he wanted his two sons to be involved in some type of sport.

Just by happenstance in the fertile recruiting grounds of southern California the Jackson family met Gergely Salim, a three-time Taekwondo European Champion who ran his own gym near their home.

A five-year-old Elijah and his older brother begged their father to let them start training with Salim. He obliged. By the time Elijah turned 10 he earned his black belt and began completing around the world against kids from China, Russia and Spain among other nationalities.

It was toughness that Jerome wanted to instill in his two boys as the son of almost a dozen brothers and sisters, raised on a 300-acre parcel of land in Arkansas.

“Their grandparents were very disciplined,” Jerome said. “They were driving tractors at 11-years-old working the farm and I just wanted to instill that same work ethic into my kids.”

Whether or not Jerome knew how impactful the lessons of Taekwondo would be a little more than a decade later will forever be unknown. However, there is no doubt that Elijah used those skills once he began his football career in high school.

Outside… On Offense, or Defense?

Over the last six years Jimmy Lake has kept a rather simple mold for how he wants his defensive backs packaged. Long, athletic, and versatile.

The latter word might be the perfect way to describe Elijah Jackson. Versatile. He began at Narbonne High School as a wide receiver before he decided to transfer to Lawndale High School to play for head coach Travis Clark.

Clark spoke with both Elijah and Jerome and agreed to evaluate him at receiver before they decided to give him a try on defense. From the first drill it was evident to Clark he had a gem.

“We put him on the other side of the ball and oh my god. We knew instantly he’s a natural defensive back,” Clark said. “His work ethic as good as any athlete that I’ve ever been around in my entire life.

“He’s quite kid. He’s a man of few works but his work ethic and his effort and tenacity speak for itself. It’s very loud. He’s very loud on the football field in terms of his movements and what he brings to the table. He’s a silent assassin. Just a quiet, respectful… killer.”

Jackson was one of two defensive backs that signed with UW out of Lawndale this past recruiting class, along with safety Makell Esteen. Elijah had been heavily courted by several other Pac-12 programs including California and UCLA.

During an unofficial visit in the spring before his senior season Jackson made an astute observation to UW head coach Jimmy Lake from the sideline while watching practice.

“I’m running over to him just to say ‘hey whatcha think?” Lake recalled, “and the first thing he says, he asked a specific question about our bump technique that only somebody that was really, really watching would ask.”

It was in that moment Lake knew he had a future Dawg. However, it was long before then that UW had been keeping its eye on the talented defensive back.

A Mamba-esq Mentality

Jackson is the prototypical Lake cornerback, long and physical. The brutal nature of Elijah’s tackles may well stem from his years of training in mixed martial arts. It gave the talented athlete confidence in himself to handle whatever, or whomever, is in front of him.

Even if that happened to be a mammoth defensive lineman with both greater height and weight on his side in comparison to Jackson.

“We had a couple of defensive linemen that were tough and one of our defensive linemen – one of our leaders of our team – kind of challenged Elijah,” Clark said describing the encounter.

“I looked up and saw them standing off facing each other. They were going to go at it. We’re talking about a 285-pound, 6-2, 6-3 defensive lineman. Elijah is probably 175 dripping wet. You could tell my DL he was barking.

"But I think he realized looking into Elijah’s eye. Elijah did not budge. Did not move. Did not flinch.”

After the confrontation Clark recalled Jackson’s teammates gravitating more towards him, a way of earning respect from his peers by simply being himself.

“Elijah is a different character. It’s all business,” Clark said. “If you’re joking around him you better be prepared to get that look. That deadly stare. It’s either be quiet. It’s either shut up. It’s either get your stuff together. It’s either you better work as hard as me.

“He gives different looks and everybody caught on right away. Elijah is a very focused, high-ceiling type of guy. Very high character.”

It’s that overall quality and respect for the craft that led Jackson out to his front yard on March 19. To stand in the sun and catch footballs from a jugs machine that his father bought for him when he first entered high school as a freshman over three years ago.

The first time Jackson used the jugs machine he had zero schools recruiting him. It wasn’t until the second second semester his sophomore year that one college – Rice University – started to show interest.

“I was definitely a different player on the field,” Jackson said on the impact that using the jugs machine had. “It helped in many ways one thing being ball skills.”

Building For Life

Even though UW began recruiting Jackson in the summer between his sophomore and junior year in high school they were the 12th program to offer a scholarship.

While the Huskies joined the list after other schools in the conference, specifically California, Oregon State and Arizona State, the transparency that Lake and defensive backs coach Will Harris showed coaches showed throughout the process helped Jackson trust UW the most.

“I have a great relationship with coach Harris,” Jackson said back in March. “I felt that Washington didn’t try and sugarcoat the recruiting process as much as other colleges. They told me I needed to hear, not just what I wanted to hear.”

There were two main factors that ultimately led Elijah to UW: becoming a man and education. He intends to major in business or pre law at the university, the latter of which may actually be more up his ally.

“Growing up my teachers would always say ‘you need to be a lawyer when you grow up’ and I guess it just stuck with me,” he said.

With his nature for delivering punishing hits on the field having a solid background education on law might not be the worst choice. Regardless of what major the defensive back chooses, the family atmosphere that Lake, Harris and former head coach Chris Petersen fostered gave the Jackson family all the assurance needed to entrust Elijah with the coaches.

When Elijah and his father were taking official visits last spring, including one to UW, his grandmother was battling Alzheimer’s which forced Jackson’s mother to remain at home to care for her.

“Other schools would ask them how their mom was and not doing to well … they kind of jump right off the subject and go right back to football,” Jerome said. “To where coach Harris and coach Lake were more family. They wanted to know if they could send flowers or a card. It was just that consideration that went a long way.”