Two-sport star Coker defends and scores points for USD

Jackson Coker is a two-sport athlete who performs a valuable role both as a tackle for a Coyote defense that is earning high grades and as a shot put and discus thrower for the men's track and field team.
 
This 6-2, 285-pound senior honor student with a business degree is playing his last season of football with the Coyotes. For now, it's looking like a strong finish for him and his teammates, who are 5-2 and coming off a huge Missouri Valley Football Conference win over Northern Iowa on the road.

In short, this Cedar Rapids native has already done a lot of heavy lifting. He's earned the momentum. Winning in Cedar Falls last week, with all sorts of geographic and family connections, made for some special moments.
 
It was the best kind of homecoming for Coker, who grew up watching UNI games.
 
"It was a great experience – it was the first time we've gotten a win over that team since I've been here, especially when you feel like you should have gotten a few from them over the years," Coker said. "It's great beating them back in the 3-1-9."
 
That's the area code down in those parts, of course. It was a day when the Coyotes definitely dialed things up a notch.
 
"I feel great about the steps we've been taking as a defense over the last 16 months with the new defensive coaches coming in," Coker said. "Since the 2017 season when we had the playoff run, we've had a pretty young team. We've made young-team mistakes. We've had some depth and injury issues like every team does, but this year we've been able to stay relatively healthy. We trust each other and we trust the process."
 
It's a bit of trivia that won't get a lot of airplay but Coker's grandparents were both chemistry professors at USD. Coming to Vermillion for holidays was part of his family's routine so he was very familiar with the community when he became a Coyote. His grandmother still watches the games on television. He's hoping to put on another good show against Illinois State at the DakotaDome this Saturday. It represents a huge game within the context of the season that is trending upward.
 
"Like Coach Nielson said after we won over UNI: 'It's a big win but all it really does is make the next game bigger,'" Coker said. "In this conference you're basically playing a ranked team every week." 

When defensive line coach Corey Brown, a former Iowa standout who played professionally for five years in the AFL2, joined the Coyote staff last year he was going to be at least somewhat dependent on veteran players to help with the adjustment.
 
Coker was there for that. He was a good player who had gained the respect of his teammates.
 
"It's great to have a guy like Jackson who has been around and knows what it takes," Brown said. "They're great because they become extensions of the coach when they're on the field. He can direct things if needed up front if he's working with a younger guy who may not know the details of the position as well as he does."
 
Brown was quick to respect Coker's accomplishments as a two-sport student athlete who has delivered on that for half a decade. Making tackles is ultimately how he's going to be measured but there is more to it.
 
"It's a testament to how hard he works," Brown said. "Plus, he's put himself in a position to finish strong academically. He has a lot of things on his plate and he juggles them well. It doesn't take away from what he does for us."
 
There was a day when two-sport athletes at USD were more plentiful than they are now but it's never been common. Now they're even more rare. The bump to Division I sports upped both the level of competition and the training demands and because of that, a great percentage of those student-athletes who might be capable of pulling it off end up thinking better of the idea. Best to concentrate on one sport and academics.

In Coker's case, he makes no claims to struggling about which one is more important than the other. Football is always going to be No. 1. Within those parameters there would be dozens of reasons to give up the shot and discus. And yet, he hasn't done it.
 
There must be a reason for that.
 
"Ultimately it was going to be up to Coach Nielsen and my schedule as to whether I could do it or not," Coker said. "Luckily, Coach Nielson was all about it. I was going to be able to score points for the Coyotes and I was going to be able to stay competing the whole year. That's what I liked most about it. It's fun to travel and do those kinds of things but ultimately, I like myself better when I'm competing. The shot and the discus are two things I've competed at a high level at for a long time. I couldn't do it without (shot and discus coach) A.G. Kruger working around my schedule. I'm very grateful it's worked out the way it has."
 
Cooperation between the football and track programs to help make this happen is admirable, but it wouldn't mean much if Coker didn't really like it. He's put some thought into that over the years, especially since the time management alone has made it a challenge.
 
"The shot and the discus are very primal things," he said. "You pick them up and you think: how far can you throw them? It's like lifting weights in that way. It's just you and the ring and you throw your best."
 
It's a basic assessment of what goes on at a track meet for the big guys. There are projects to focus on and take care of. The same goes for the football team, which continues to build things up as the season advances. Some of those things aren't quite as measurable, but just as important. 
 
"We've become a close-knit group," Coker said. "The trust and the bond we've established really means something. It's very important to a team trying to win a championship."