When UVa announced its team captains on Friday night, it was no surprise to see the names listed: Senior linebacker Charles Snowden, sixth-year senior DL Richard Burney, junior WR Terrell Jana, and redshirt sophomore quarterback Brennan Armstrong.

Coming off his second training camp, sophomore linebacker Nick Jackson may have some time ahead of him before he’s in the company of guys like that but given how much time he's already been on the field, it doesn’t seem like it’ll take long.

A highly sought-after recruit who committed to his father’s alma mater in the fall of 2018, Jackson had a stellar rookie campaign for the Wahoos last season. The now 6-foot-1, 235 pounder played in all 14 games with a pair of starts. He played his best ball of the year as it began to draw to a close, including a nine-tackle game against Clemson in the ACCCG and then a four-tackle game in the Orange Bowl.

“I think that was crucial,” he said last week of getting that experience, “to me learning where I'm at. I think that experience, just thrown into the fire. I mean, Bryce Hall once told us, ‘Can't be fireproof until you've been fired tested.’ And I think just throwing me in the fire, I learned a lot last year and had to come back and get a lot stronger and get ready for this season.”

UVa, which returns both Zane Zandier and Rob Snyder inside, was forced to use Jackson more after senior captain Jordan Mack began to deal with injuries. Throwing him into the deep end wasn’t something ILBs coach Shane Hunter ever worried about, though.

“For Nick, I think it was a great year for him,” Hunter said. “I mean, obviously coming in we had some guys that have played quite a bit already. In terms of you know, Jordan and Zane and Rob. And having those three guys coming back, it was a great opportunity for him to learn from them, to see how things have been done in the past, and then be able to really just kind of grow a little bit.

“Having him play in every game, special teams then towards later in the year [when] we've had some injuries getting him in and obviously starting the Orange Bowl, I think that experience right there and playing in the ACC Championship game a lot, those experiences right there, those are what prepared him for the offseason,” Hunter added. “Then all of a sudden, his mindset is completely different because now he's really seen it. Now he's really been a part of it. He sees what it's like to play in those big time games. And so he knows where he's more deficient and the areas he needs to work on. And so that's what's really impressed me, is just how hard he's attacked those areas and how he's come back.”

“Jordan Mack’s an unbelievable, smart player, a physical player, and just watching him in practice and trying just to be like him in my reps and seeing how came off of his sophomore year with over 100 tackles and his junior year, just an unbelievable player,” Jackson explained. “A Campbell finalist, there's just so many things you can talk about with him, on the field but off the field, it’s how he handled himself on Grounds that was just unbelievable. So I just watched him and just tried to be like him and still am trying to be like him.”

With Snyder still banged up, it appears the Cavaliers could go into their opener in Blacksburg in a few weeks with Jackson in a starting role alongside Zandier, someone else he models his game after.

“I mean, Zane’s an unbelievable teammate,” Jackson said. “Just to have him every day, just like playing right beside him and just learning exactly his physicality, his leadership, and everything that he brings to the table, just like trying to emulate what he does. It’s just unbelievable to have him as a teammate. He’s been a brother to me.”

“Oh yeah, I love playing next to Nick,” Zandier said. “He's going to have a really big year. He’s a really smart kid, knows the defense well for his age. His maturity and, you know, making checks and understanding the defense and seeing it unfold in front of him and seeing things happen slowly, I think he does a really nice job. He's stepped into that role. I think he's been doing really well in playing the Buck position.”

Of course, opening the season at Virginia Tech isn’t something guys expected when the Hoos beat them to take the Commonwealth Cup and Coastal crown last November. It’ll be another strange reality among many in 2020.

“It’s a big game for the two schools,” Jackson said, “but I mean, we're taking it day by day just preparing for them and trying to get ready and go to Blacksburg with no fans and see how it goes. Just have to play ‘em.”

The fact that UVa will play in front of varying levels of sparse crowds is another of those oddities.

“We're just excited to play,” he said. “I think the environment is going to be what it is. We can't really control that. But we're just excited every day when we get to practice. And we're excited every day that we get to look forward to the games that we have on our schedule.”

Unfortunately for the Atlanta native, opening the season in the ATL against nationally-ranked Georgia didn’t end up happening. He’s hopeful it still will some day.

“Coming from Atlanta, it was a little bit of a bummer not getting to play them but I'm sure we’ll eventually play them down the line,” Jackson said. “I’m excited that we just get to play. Gotta stay where your feet are. And day by day, we're just excited that we get to play football every day.”

His excitement to play is a theme and it’s impacted by those around him in the linebacking corps.

“I think it gives us a lot of confidence,” he said of the group. “We're really confident in pretty much everyone in the room. Everyone in the room could step on the field and I feel like we'd all feel really comfortable with that. I think that everyone is just working on assignments right now. I think we have a whole bunch of confidence going on this season as a linebacking group.”

“I’m just really excited to see his transformation from last year to this year after kind of being thrown to the wolves when Jordan went down,” Zandier said of Jackson. “He did well last year and I think we're going to see him do a whole lot better this year. So, I'm really excited to watch him.”

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