Kenji Jackson will once again oversee the development of the Missouri State safeties in his fourth season with the Bears.
Jackson has helped shape a youthful MSU secondary into one of the program's most productive and improved units over the last three years. Last fall, the Bears defensive backfield ranked sixth in the Valley in passing defense during conference play.
In 2016, four different safeties ranked among the Bears' top nine tacklers, led by the trio of Jared Beshore, Cameron Price and Kam Carter, who each made at least five starts. As a unit the MSU defense posted a significant improvement in pass defense efficiency, rising from 10th in the MVFC to seventh with a season rating of 139.3.
In his first fall with the Bears, Jackson was charged with mentoring a young safety corps that featured just two returning letterwinners. Beshore emerged as a standout, claiming MVFC All-Newcomer team honors after averaging 6.4 tackles per game to rank among the top 20 defenders in the conference.
Jackson joined head coach Dave Steckel’s initial MSU staff for the 2015 season after completing one year as a defensive graduate assistant at Northwestern.
Prior to his arrival at MSU, Jackson helped mentor four NU defenders who earned All-Big Ten honors for the Wildcats last season. Over the previous two years, Jackson worked as a recruiting and quality control graduate assistant with Steckel at Mizzou following the completion of his playing career in 2011. He assisted the MU coaching staff with its recruiting operations, video preparation and scouting analysis, helping MU post a program-record 12 wins and claim both the SEC East title and a Cotton Bowl victory en route to a No. 5 final AP ranking in 2013.
As a standout defensive back for the Tigers, Jackson was a two-year starter at safety and team captain as a senior, capping his career with an honorable mention All-Big 12 citation. A contributor on bowl teams in each of his four seasons, the Mansfield, Texas native earned Academic All-Big 12 recognition in 2009, as well as the team’s Inspirational Player of the Year honor in 2011.
Jackson completed his undergraduate degree in interpersonal communications in just three and a half years before earning a graduate degree from MU in educational and counseling psychology.
