Hall of Fame
Thomas “Shot” Jackson was a multi-sport standout for the Vulcans from 1973 through 1977, excelling in football, wrestling and track & field.
In football, Jackson began as the backup tight end to all-conference player Mike DeMichela ’76 but was moved to defense during his freshman year by longtime coach and faculty member John Katusa.
He played mostly at nose tackle before being moved to defensive end his senior season. Jackson, who also played on special teams, concluded his football career by making a remarkable 139 tackles and being selected as the 1976 squad’s most valuable player.
A co-captain in 1976, he received the Andrew Kuzemka Memorial Award for commendable athletic and academic success.
“I had a ball playing football,” Jackson said. “We had a bunch of really good guys on the team and had great camaraderie. I remember after I scored that touchdown they had me kick the extra point but I missed.”
Although he never wrestled in high school, Jackson was noticed helping one of his football teammates train in the wrestling room and was asked by Coach Frank Vulcano to join the team practice the next day.
“I kept pinning my friend and the other wrestlers were making fun of him but then all of a sudden it got real quiet,” Jackson recalled. “Coach Vulcano had been watching us and asked me if I ever wrestled before. I said no and he just said to come back so he could see me work. That was that.”
The favorable impression resulted in Jackson becoming a four-year starter at 177-pounds. He compiled a 52-15 career record with seven of those losses coming his freshman season.
Jackson was a four-time NAIA National Championship Tournament qualifier. He placed second at the 1977 PSAC championships after achieving third and fourth-place showings the previous two years.
Jackson’s wrestling achievements earned him trips to the states of Washington and Iowa.
“Cal State gave me my first plane ride and just making it to Nationals was something special,” he said. “I almost won the state title but got taken down on a fireman’s carry at the end of the match. Wrestling was a great experience.”
In track & field Jackson was a four-year letter-winner in the pole vault. All told, he earned 11 varsity letters and playing multiple sports was just a way of life for Jackson.
“They did not give scholarships back then and it was not like it is today where most every athlete is focused on just one sport,” Jackson said. “So no one could tell me I could not wrestle after football season or run track after wrestling. Playing the three sports during the school year and baseball in the summer was just the natural progression for me.”
Jackson joins all three of his collegiate head coaches — Elmo Natali ’53, Vulcano and Marty Uher — as Cal U Hall of Fame inductees.
“I still see Marty every so often and he always jokes that he could not believe I was a pole vaulter,” Jackson laughed. “If you gave Mr. Natali respect and 100 percent effort he loves you. If you were slacking he could tell and would let you know.”
Uher is very pleased to see Jackson become part of the Hall of Fame.
“Even back then he (Jackson) was a rarity because you just do not see many people competing in different sports,” Uher said. “Tom was not the best in any particular sport but he was very good in all of them which says something. “
Off the field, Jackson was member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and the Young and Gifted Gospel Choir.
He earned both his bachelor’s degree in education and his master’s degree in education with certification in guidance counseling from Cal U.
Jackson was a graduate assistant coach for the football team while earning his master’s degree and coached the outside linebackers.
Jackson credited his parents, who both passed away this year, for raising him and teaching him to prioritize his time.
“My dad always taught me if you’re going to do something do it to the best of your ability, don’t half step anything and enjoy life,” he said. “If I didn’t get my grades I couldn’t play sports or enjoy college life. So my priority was to get good grades because I was having a good time and wanted to continue going to college.”
Originally from Houston, Pa., and a graduate of Chartiers-Houston High School, Jackson competed in football, basketball (where he earned his nickname) and track & field.
He was a starting defensive end and center on Chartiers-Houston’s 1971 Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League championship football team.
Jackson went on to a distinguished career with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. He began as a counselor and moved from juvenile corrections to adult corrections in 1984. Jackson also was a unit and program manager before becoming deputy. In 2007 he retired as the deputy superintendent at the state prison in Waynesburg, Pa.
The multi-sport star believes his Cal U education helped pave his career path.
“I look back very positively on my education and it got me to where I was at,” he said. “You can’t argue the advantage of having two degrees and I was always grateful for the graduate assistantship which was sort of the school’s way of rewarding me for playing sports.”
During retirement, he counseled troubled children who had been suspended from school, and he still drives a bus in the Avella Area School District.
Jackson is also a deacon with the Mount Olive Baptist Church in Canonsburg, Pa.
He and his wife, Lorraine, reside in Washington, Pa. The couple has two grown daughters — Brianna ’10 and Kaitlyn. Jackson coached both daughters in youth basketball and softball. He is understandably looking forward to his Hall of Fame induction.
“I am elated,” said Jackson. “People over the years asked me if I ever made the Hall of Fame and I would just say not yet but if I get in I get in. It’s the Lord’s will because everything is the Lord’s will. I’m excited.”
updated 10/10/12
