Albert Anderson "Jumbo" Jacks (February 26, 1935 – February 16, 2023) was an American professor and

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. He played as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

from 1956 to 1958. Jacks spent 19 years as the head football coach at Clarion State College from 1963 to 1981. He very briefly held the same position at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

. Jacks is the winningest Clarion football coach by

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

. He was also an associate professor of health and physical education at Clarion from 1963 to 1996.

Early life

Jacks attended Peabody High School in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. He went to college at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, where he played on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

as a

from 1956 to 1958 under head coach

Rip Engle Charles A. "Rip" Engle (March 26, 1906 – March 7, 1983) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football coach at Brown University from 1944 to 1949 and at Pennsylvania State University from ...

. He received

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

and

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degrees in health and education from Penn State.

Coaching career

Clarion State College (now Clarion University of Pennsylvania) hired Jacks as its head coach for the 1964 season. He led the team to a 10–0 record in 1966 and won the Pennsylvania state championship. Jacks later credited that season with increasing the program's credibility in recruiting circles. While coaching at Clarion, Jacks took courses at Penn State, the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, and

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock University, formally Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (The Rock or SRU), is a public university in the Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania area of the United States. SRU is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Edu ...

. In January 1971, Jacks accepted the head coaching job at

, but held the position for only five days. He later said, "There was a whole different atmosphere, they didn't approach football the way we did t Clarionnbsp;... There have been other jobs I looked into, but none were better than I had here." Jack returned to Clarion for the following season. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' stated Jacks "face his biggest rebuilding task in 18 years as coach" in 1980, but that season, he led the team to the Pennsylvania Conference championship. For the performance, the

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from ...

(ECAC) named it the Team of the Year. In 1981, Jacks stepped down as head coach, but remained on the staff as an assistant coach to Charley Ruslavage, his own former assistant, and an associate professor at the school.Jacks Removes A Weight By Giving Up Clarion Job
''The Pittsburgh Press'', December 27, 1981. He cited time spent away from his family and the demands of the job. At the time of his resignation at the age of 46, he had 18 consecutive winning seasons. During his tenure, Clarion amassed a 128–46–5 record, three Pennsylvania Conference championships, and six Pennsylvania Conference Western Division championships. By

, Jacks is the most successful Clarion football coach in school history at .729. He held the position of chairman of health and physical education department until retiring in 1996.Jacks distinguishes himself with service
Clarion University, retrieved December 3, 2010.

Personal life

Jacks and his wife Karen had three sons.

Clarion University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Western University, Clarion (PennWest Clarion, formerly Clarion University of Pennsylvania) is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University in Clarion, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was founded in 1867 and offers as ...

established the Al & Karen Jacks Football Scholarship in honor of Jacks and his late wife and to provide scholarships to eligible athletes. He was inducted into the Clarion University Sports Hall of Fame in the inaugural 1989 class. He died on February 16, 2023, at the age of 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacks, Al 1935 births 2023 deaths Penn State Nittany Lions football players American football quarterbacks Clarion Golden Eagles football coaches Williams Ephs football coaches Slippery Rock University alumni University of Michigan alumni Players of American football from Pittsburgh Educators from Pennsylvania