Three hours before the Nov. 16 matchup between the Alcovy Tigers and the Eastside Eagles, head coach Taylor Jackson stands atop the bleachers.

Standing alongside his family and talking with some of the Alcovy fans, Jackson watches intently at the junior varsity game, scouting who may be the future cornerstones of the rising Alcovy basketball program. At one point he gets involved in the action, taking to the bench and motivating the JV squad. 

Later that afternoon, Jackson’s Alcovy squad finds themselves trailing to Eastside going into the fourth quarter. The now second year head coach of the Tigers pulls his players aside with the same intensity he had earlier in the day, delivering a lasting message.

“Stay the course,” Jackson kept repeating.

The motivation behind these three words allowed Jackson’s squad to go on a 10-3 run. With rising players like Nick Durham and Jaqari Smith leading the team, Alcovy came back to secure an all-important victory against a county rival.

The victory was special for Jackson’s personal record book, as it marked his 100th win as a head coach.

Jackson was asked following the game if he ever thought he would reach win No. 100. With his glasses still soaked from the Gatorade bath during the locker room celebration, he quipped about a “yearly” conversation with his wife.

“If you ask my wife she would be like, ‘No, because you act like you're gonna quit every year,’” Jackson said. “But she believes in me so she’s like ‘No you’re not, be quiet.’”

But Jackson quickly stressed that the win is just a part of the everyday work, including the many ebbs and flows.

“When it gets hard. When it gets tough sometimes you start getting in your feelings,” Jackson said. “But it’s not necessarily about the number, it’s about the process. It sounds cliche but it’s the right way. There’s not really a second way to do it. 

“We do what we’re supposed to do and the rewards of wins or trophies or certificates, it comes naturally. That’s what we’re committed to. We’re not committed to a number of wins. We want a process to really be what we’re about.”

The process for Jackson goes back more than two decades ago during his playing days at Piedmont Academy. As a high schooler, Jackson played on several winning teams, becoming a standout guard with over 1,000 points scored.

After graduating as Piedmont Academy’s “Male Academic Athlete” in 2008, Jackson continued his basketball career at Covenant College while pursuing his bachelor's degree in Mathematics. He only played one game for the Scots, ironically, leading the team in points-per-minute with five points in three minutes.

Jackson knew that being 5’7” “on a good day,” he would likely not get past the college level. After speaking with his father, Ken Jackson, he decided that coaching would be the route for him.

After spending one season as a head coach for a 6th-7th grade middle school team in Chattanooga, Jackson returned to the middle Georgia area, taking a spot on Rick Rasmussen’s Newton squad. He was an assistant on many high-caliber teams that included current professional basketball players Ashton Hagans, JD Notae and Isaiah Miller.

Jackson felt the pairing between himself and Rasmuseen was nothing short of divine.

“I told him the other day I’m so glad the Lord put us together. A lot of coaches' success is about ‘Who do you hitch your wagon to?’ And God just put me right next to Rick and he taught me so much in three years.”

After spending three years as an assistant for Newton, Jackson felt it was time to take a “bigger step.” He joined the Social Circle Redskins team under Brian Anderson in the summer of 2017.

Coming off of a two-win season the year prior, Anderson was expected to turn things around, with Jackson becoming a vital part of that effort. In 2017-18 the team won only six games. The next year, the team tripled their total win count, scoring 18 victories. 

After Anderson left to join Heritage as the head coach in 2019-20, Jackson was promoted to head coach, his first time as a head coach at the high school level.

“I was young. I had never been in the first chair. Our basketball program had a lot of momentum and I was really grateful they [Social Circle AD Craig Hargrove and principal Tim Armstrong] gave me the opportunity to take a swing at it.”

Jackson’s first year at the helm meant continued success for the Redskins, winning 20 games in his first season. The next year, the team won its first state playoff game in several seasons, a far cry from a few years prior.

In 2021-22 the Redskins reached unprecedented heights, winning 30 consecutive games, a region title and earning a trip to the Final Four before losing to Drew Charter, albeit in controversial fashion.

Jackson then spent one more season as the Skins’ head coach, winning another region title in the process. But once again, Jackson decided it was time to pursue a new challenge. On June 21, 2023, it was announced that he would become head coach of the Alcovy Tigers.

Now donning the yellow and black – much like his favorite college team the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets – Jackson led Alcovy to its first winning season since 2011-12 with a 14-13 record. While they just missed the playoffs, the Tigers are on the right track to best their previous season. Sitting at 3-1 so far, wins over Decatur and Eastside highlight what could be a historic season for the Tigers.

But while that is the future, the previous 100 wins are a testament to many different factors in Jackson’s life. It all starts with his support system.

“The first thing is my family man,” Jackson said. “ My wife, she is just the rock. She just keeps it going… If it wasn’t for her there’s no way. It would be impossible.”

Another key part of his support system sits just two seats away on the bench, the very person who inspired him to get into coaching all those years ago, his father Ken.

“Getting to coach with my Dad has been super special,” Jackson said. “It’s something I’ve always dreamed of.”

Jackson's family off of the court has helped build him into the coach and man he is on the court. That has directly translated to what he considers the most fulfilling part of coaching – The trust in leading young men to the best of their potential.

“If I didn’t have the belief of the trust of these teenage boys that we push to become better young men, it’s in vain. It would be impossible,” Jackson said. “And these kids they just trust and believe and they look at each other and they let me coach them and that is super special.”