Jimmy Jackson just finished his fourth year at Fordham University as the Pitching Coach and Recruiting Coordinator.
In 2015, Jackson put together a pitching staff that broke the team record for strikeouts in a season with 392, surpassing the 1999 mark of 387. The season also saw the Rams make their second straight appearance in the Atlantic 10 Championship, while five players earned conference honors, which included First Team All-Atlantic 10 catcher Charles Galiano and All-Rookie Team selection Ben Greenberg. Jackson also saw two of his original recruiting class be drafted, as pitcher Brett Kennedy was selected in the 11th round by the San Diego Padres and Galiano was picked in the 40th round by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Jackson helped coach the Rams to its first Atlantic 10 Championship appearance in four seasons in 2014, where the Rams picked up their first tournament win since 2007. Fordham also saw a number of award winners throughout the 2014 campaign, as four players earned All-League honors, marking the first time since 1997 that Fordham had four players honored by the Atlantic 10. The award winners included two All-Atlantic 10 selections (Tim Swatek - First Team; Joseph Runco - Second Team), two All-Rookie Team picks (Mark Donadio and Kirk Haynes, Jr.), and three Rookie of the Week awards (Donadio, Haynes, and Greg Weissert).
Jackson guided the pitching staff to its best strikeout-to-walk ratio since joining the Atlantic 10 in 2014, while having two starting pitchers have had better than a 3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Individually, five pitchers finished in the top ten in five individual conference categories, while two pitchers were in the top five in two individual conference categories.
Jackson has also brought in another large recruiting class during the 2013-14 school year, which features nine players, led by two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Maine, Ben Greenberg. This follows two other significant recruiting classes, which now accounts for the vast majority of the Rams' roster.
Jackson brought in his first recruiting class for the 2013 season, which included one of them, Galiano, being drafted out of high school by the Philadelphia Phillies. By the end of the 2013 campaign, four position players from this recruiting class played in at least 50 games with one, Joey Runco, being named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team, while three pitchers, Joseph Serrapica, Jimmy Murphy, and Cody Johnson, saw time as starting pitchers with Kennedy as a primary reliever and one-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week selection. Jackson also saw his pitching staff make strides as a group, lowering its opponent batting average, while posting the best team strikeout-to-walk ratio in over a decade.
During Jackson's first season at Fordham, the Rams finished with a .500 record or better for the fourth straight season in conference play, while ranking in the top half of the league in ERA in league play at 3.41, helped in part by the continued development of starter Joseph Charest (2.73 ERA, 66 IP) and relievers Jeremy Adel (11 APP, 0.44 ERA, 20.2 IP) and Rich Anastasi (11 APP, 1.25 ERA, 21.2 IP).
Prior to Fordham, Jackson spent three years at Siena College, the last two as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. In his years at Siena, the Saints brought in the two largest recruiting classes in the history of the program. When promoted to pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, the team increased their win total by 12 games. The pitching staff also led the conference in ERA in his first season as pitching coach and finished second in the conference in year two.
Jackson's staff lowered its ERA by two full runs each season, and in 2011 posted the best ERA in over 10 years. The Saints made it to the championship game of the MAAC tournament last year. Siena's pitchers also broke three individual season records and two season staff records. Jackson also had pitchers break two freshmen season records.
Before taking over as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, Jackson was the volunteer assistant at Siena for one year. He worked primarily with catchers and outfielders and assisted with the hitters.
In three years at Siena, the Saints had multiple All-Conference and All-Region players, as well as one Freshmen All-American and one All-American.
Prior to Siena, Jackson spent three years as the varsity pitching coach at Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Maryland. In that time, they had 17 players who advanced to play in college, ten of which were pitchers. Additionally, Jackson delivered private lessons to over 20 players that moved onto the collegiate ranks, including eight who played at the Division I level.
Throughout his coaching tenure, Jackson has now signed and/or coached nine players that have signed MLB contracts.
Originally from Glen Burnie, Maryland, Jackson played two years of independent professional baseball in the Frontier and Atlantic League after a standout collegiate career at Division II Shepherd University in West Virginia. He was an infielder and pitcher at Shepherd, where he became a two-time First Team All-Conference, All-Region and Preseason All-American selection as a pitcher. He also still holds multiple school records at Shepherd.
Jackson currently resides in Garrison, N.Y. with his wife, Brittany.
