The Bowie State football program announced the promotion of Kyle Jackson to interim head coach from defensive coordinator last month after Damon Wilson accepted a head coaching position at Morgan State University.
Jackson is not a stranger to the Bulldogs as he was a former starting linebacker for the program from 2007-2010. He later joined the coaching staff in 2017 and worked his way up to defensive coordinator.
“Bowie State has been home to me since 2007! I’ve had the opportunity to play for and coach alongside Coach Wilson during his tenure here at Bowie State University,” said Jackson. “Winning is important but so is building character and developing young men, which is something Coach Wilson always emphasized. I look forward to leading this program and continuing the tradition of winning on and off of the football field.”
Jackson has big shoes to fill within the Bulldog program as Wilson set the bar high during his tenure. The Bulldogs advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Football Championship in 2021, appeared in two Black College National Championships and three CIAA Championships under his tenure. Coach Wilson was named CIAA Coach of the Year three times.
Jackson is elated for the opportunity to continue the success that Wilson helped generate.
“It’s a blessing. It’s a blessing, man. I tell people all the time. It’s kind of surreal,” Jackson told HBCU Gameday.
“15 years ago, walking onto the campus as a freshman, I never would have thought I would have been in this seat before.”
Interim Head Coach Kyle Jackson has put an emphasis on the fact that the Bowie State Bulldogs are not in a rebuild despite of the changes on the field and within the staff.
“Everybody thinks Bowie is in a rebuild but like I said…we never rebuild and we are reloading.”
“One thing that we preach in our program, it’s next man up,” Jackson explained. “So that’s from player standpoint, waterboy standpoint, and from a coaching standpoint. The next person you got to prepare to understand that they’re next in line.”