Kerrick Jackson - Baseball Coach (2024)

A veteran coach with experience at all levels of baseball, Kerrick Jackson was tabbed as Missouri's 15th head coach in June 2023.

Since then, Jackson has undertaken the challenge of revitalizing the Tigers' tradition-rich program. These efforts have included hiring a diverse staff, recruiting a new-look roster and providing his pupils an entirely new way of approaching the game—and the way they go about working to achieve their common goal of returning Mizzou to national prominence.

While the work is well underway, Jackson will officially become the first Black Southeastern Conference head baseball coach to lead his team into action when the Tigers open their 2024 campaign in February. Furthermore, he will be just the fourth Black collegiate coach to guide a Power Five baseball program and the first to do so since the 2021 season.

In recognition of these efforts, Baseball America named Jackson its 2023 Trailblazer of the Year in December, capping an already historic year for the new Mizzou coach.

In addition to his success on the diamond as a collegiate coach, including leading Southern University to the 2019 Southwestern Athletic Conference crown and an NCAA Regional berth and guiding the University of Memphis to its first winning season in six years last spring, Jackson continues to serve as a relentless advocate for minorities in college baseball, especially in the coaching ranks. He helped form the American Baseball Coaches Association's Diversity in Baseball Committee and has served as its chairman since its creation in 2018. That body works to improve diversity in the coaching ranks through a professional development program and an increased focus on youth baseball.

After leading Memphis to 29 victories and its first winning season since 2017, Jackson returned to Columbia after having served as a Mizzou assistant from 2011-15. Known as a developer of players, a tireless recruiter, and a strong talent evaluator, Jackson is a well-respected leader in baseball circles, serving on the American Baseball Coaches Association Board of Directors and as chair of their Diversity in Baseball committee.

At Memphis, Dalton Fowler was named American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year and was a unanimous First-Team All-AAC selection. Three other student-athletes earned all-conference recognition, with one selected to the AAC All-Freshman team.

Prior to his season at Memphis, Jackson was the President of the MLB Draft League from 2020-22, a six-team summer baseball league sponsored by Major League Baseball and featuring a split-season amateur-professional format.

Jackson served as the head coach at Southern University from 2018-20, where he took a nine-win team in 2018 to 32 wins, a conference championship, and the NCAA Tournament the following season, earning SWAC and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Coach of the Year accolades. His 2018 Jaguar team boasted the athletic department's highest men's team GPA and received national recognition for its community service efforts.
Jackson worked for the Boras Corporation as a certified player agent for two years from 2016-17, where he identified prep and college players with the best chance to develop into Major League talent.

He served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Mizzou from 2011-15, working with the Tigers' hitters, outfielders, and infielders. Mizzou made back-to-back trips to the Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship in 2011-12, culminating with the program's first Big 12 title in 2012. The Tigers had multiple nationally-ranked recruiting classes, including 24th in 2012, 12th in 2014 and a consensus Top-30 class in 2015.

Before heading to Missouri, Jackson served as the Midwest Area Scouting Supervisor for the Washington Nationals from 2008-10, overseeing Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and the Dakotas.

His other collegiate coaching stops include assistant stints at St. Louis Community College-Meramec (2008), Nicholls State (2006-07), Jefferson (Mo.) College (2004-05), Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College (2003), Emporia State (2002) and Fairfield (2001). Jackson also has extensive experience in the summer collegiate leagues, as he has coached in the Cape Cod League and New England Collegiate Baseball League.

Jackson spent two years at St. Louis Community College-Meramec as a student-athlete, where the team finished third at the JUCO World Series in 1995. Following that, he played at Bethune-Cookman University in 1996, leading the squad to its first-ever conference championship and regional appearance. Jackson concluded his playing career at Nebraska in 1997, graduating in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in sociology.

Jackson and his wife, Talia, have two sons, Zion and Lazarus.