There is only so much the father can say about his son's football skills as he cautiously maneuvers through an NCAA minefield of bylaw subparagraphs and potential recruiting violations.
"You know, as a recruiter I can't really talk about him," Jim Jeffcoat was saying over the telephone from his assistant coach's office at the University of Houston. "But as a father, I can tell you that I would guess he is exactly what this school is looking for."
A hearty laugh punctuated the words of the man known in college football recruiting circles these days as Jackson Jeffcoat's father. He knows NCAA rules are very specific about what college recruiters can say about high school players. They've been legislated into silence about anything more than the fact they know the kid exists and their school has an interest.
And here is the piece de resistance in the Jim-Jackson, father-son, recruiter-recruit tale: Jackson Jeffcoat just may be the best high school player in the country. ESPN ranks Jackson the nation's No. 1 recruit. To be fair, Rivals.com, another respected ranker of recruits, is not quite as impressed. It rates Jackson, a senior defensive end at Plano West, only at No. 5.
But even the powerful enforcer of college football rules knows it can't legislate the speech of a man who has changed his son's diapers, watched him take his first steps, helped with homework, fussed to make that tie look just right on prom night and taught him a thing or two about technique when exploding toward a quarterback.
And Jim Jeffcoat, who earned two Super Bowl rings with the Cowboys and played 15 stellar seasons as a defensive end in the NFL, delights in talking about his son.
After all, Jackson is a 6-5, 235-pound blue chip off the old block. He is a student of the game, a good student in the classroom, a quiet leader on the field, always painfully polite off it.
"I am so proud of him," said Jim Jeffcoat, whose office is 270 miles south of his family home in North Dallas but who gets back as often as he can, particularly on Friday nights. "It's not because of his accomplishments on the field, but how he treats people and how they react to him. It's most important that he is kind and considerate. His mother has taught him well. There is a whole lot more to life beyond football."
Yes, but recruiting season is wide open on Jackson Jeffcoat. He has yet to take his first official recruiting trip but plans a bunch. He has narrowed his choices to Texas, Oklahoma, USC, Florida, Arizona State and Houston.
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