Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
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cavalier profile JAMES JACKSON Fourth-Year • Football As a fourth-year linebacker for the Virginia football team, James Jackson has a multitude of responsibilities to his fellow teammates on the gridiron. In addition to fulfilling his own as- signments, like winning his matchup and mak- ing tackles, Jackson must also lead the UVA defense and assist with lining them up in the proper formation, calling plays and sometimes audibling if something across the line of scrim- mage prompts an adjustment. Jackson's ability to multi-task is perhaps why he is one of the few student-athletes at UVA who can compete at the highest level in the realm of competition and successfully bal- ance academics within the University's presti- gious McIntire School of Commerce. "It was an area that I was always interested in when I came [to UVA]," Jackson said. "The more time I spent learning about it, the more I was intrigued by it. I also had great people in front of me who I watched go through it, like [former UVA linebacker] Nick Jackson and some other guys on the team." Jackson's concentrations within McIntire are management and information technology, which upon graduation will provide him with many potential opportunities in the workforce. "There are a lot of opportunities there. I would say the main thing that's interested me the most is data management, working with systems and different software for data man- agement. They have a track record in business analytics. And I also have a friend, Josh Ahern, who [played football at UVA] last year and is working in that field, so I'm hearing a lot about it from him also." Jackson, who enrolled at UVA in 2021, is on track to graduate with his degree this spring. And while he'll have plenty of time to figure out his postgraduate plans, Jackson and his team- mates are already in the thick of the 2024 season. After winning their first two games over Richmond and ACC foe Wake Forest, this year's Cavalier squad is seemingly improved, but there's still much more football to be played. But for Jackson, if the Hoos can simply focus on the task at hand, he believes the results will take care of themselves. "We have a lot of big goals as a team, but I would say the main thing is go 1-0 every week. It's what we talk about a lot, and it's hard to not look ahead, but that's our main focus." — Patrick Boling • Photo courtesy UVA FALL 2024 33