Live Like Jackson: Life, death of best friend fuels Clemson QB commit Cade Klubnik

Live Like Jackson.

In black permanent marker, that phrase is tattooed in capital letters on Cade Klubnik’s bedroom mirror. They have been etched into the glass ever since that day.

March 10, 2021

Ever since that day, Klubnik – a borderline five-star quarterback and the future leader of the Clemson program as a 2022 Tigers commit – has wanted that phrase to be one of the first things he sees when he wakes up and lives his day. They are the three words he wants to embody.

To understand why those words mean everything, first go back to that spring day four months ago. Through the power of the way Jackson Coker lived his life and the impact he made, it’s a day that months later brings with it some hope and provides a blueprint for Klubnik.

That day

A 17-year-old out of Austin, Texas, Klubnik was sitting in his bed, looking through his phone when he got the call.

Maybe you’ve experienced that call or one similar before.

It’s hell.

Jackson was driving in his Jeep to a workout around 6 a.m. that Wednesday. It wasn’t out of the ordinary. Heading into his second season as a receiver at Columbia University in New York, he had been working out that early for weeks in the offseason.

That’s when Jackson was involved in a single-vehicle rollover crash on Bee Cave Road right outside of Austin. On the same road that Klubnik travels from his house to his church, Jackson died in the car accident.

That morning, Klubnik heard that Jackson may have been the one involved in the crash and immediately called his friend Ryan – one of Jackson’s best friends.

Klubnik could hear the trembling on the other line. Both wanted it to be a rumor. They hoped it was anything else, hoped there was something different the other could tell him. But in each of their hearts, they knew it was Jackson.

Just six weeks shy of his 19th birthday, Jackson Coker was gone.

To understand why that moment will always remain for Klubnik, why Jackson’s death hurts so bad, why it crushed an entire football program and community and to understand why that loss somehow brought with it a rainbow after the thunderstorm, start with Jackson’s impact in West Lake Hills.

It’s important to grasp how critical Jackson was in helping Klubnik become the man and quarterback he’s become. But getting to know Klubnik starts with Jackson. It’s impossible to know one without knowing the other.

Who does that?

Before Klubnik’s stock could soar as one of the nation’s best football players this month, he had to get through the summer of 2019.

Klubnik (pronounced club-nick) was walking onto the Austin Westlake field, shaky and a bit nervous. He was a short, skinny 15-year-old at a soaking-wet 155 pounds. Standing at 6-foot-2, he wasn’t short in stature, but he was certainly short on self-confidence when it came to being a varsity member.

Klubnik was one of just three sophomores on the roster, and he knew he was going to battle two seniors ahead of him for the starting quarterback spot. In the cutthroat world of big-time Texas high school football, he was coming off a spring season in which he was the young kid who got torn up for a month heading into the summer.

“In our program, before they become the dude, quarterbacks don’t wear a red jersey in spring ball,” Westlake head coach Todd Dodge said. “They get the hell knocked out of them. I mean, it is on. That’s where Cade gained his toughness. He was getting the holy you-know-what knocked out of him. He was going through some rough times because he was just getting blasted. That’s when Jackson stepped in and really took him under his wing.”

It was a turning point in Klubnik’s life.

It’s one that so many people in the Westlake community can nod their head to, smile, point to the sky or reminisce with a friend and say: Yeah, Jackson had the same type of impact on me.

Klubnik, not yet comfortable with his teammates and voiceless as a leader, was walking onto the field to run gassers on their first day of summer strength-and-conditioning when the senior captain pulled him aside.

Jackson: “Hey, bro. I just want you to know, I really believe in you. I want you to be a star this year. I just really want to build a friendship with you because I see a lot of good in you.”

It was a bombshell.

Sometimes the right people have the perfect thing to say at the perfect time.

“I think it was just kind of on his heart,” Klubnik said. “I honestly have no idea why he said it. Straight up, that’s just who he was. He was just such a genuine, authentic person that just cared for people better than ever. And just looking at that, I was just like …”

Klubnik trails off while looking at the ground, gathering himself.

“ … Wow. You know? Who does that? I think that’s the biggest phrase that everybody that’s known him has used is: Who does that? With everything in life.”

Who does that?

Jackson.

I love you man. Miss you so much Jackson. Can’t wait to see you again in Heaven. All part of the Lord’s plan. 💙 pic.twitter.com/y4IAJtZhUa

— Cade Klubnik (@CadeKlubnikQB) March 10, 2021

But why did Jackson do that? His father, Jon Coker, remembers why.

Jackson, whom his family refers to as “Jack,” was the youngest of the three Coker children behind Jake, 24, and Jared, 21. The older Coker kids were also Westlake players, and Jackson took notes from them.

“Jack really understood how important it was for an upperclassman to give some encouragement and confidence, especially to the younger guys coming up – especially someone in a position of quarterback like Cade and the pressures it brings with it,” Jon Coker said. “Jack’s classmates were just drawn to him. I remember having conversations with him saying, ‘Whether you like it or not, you have a responsibility. You’ve got people that want to be around you, they want to do what you’re doing. And whether you like this or not, it’s your responsibility to do the right things and to set good examples.’”

Klubnik happens to be one of the beneficiaries. Klubnik had actually been an eighth-grade ball boy for a then-sophomore Jackson, but their inseparable bond was born in 2019. From then on, Jackson had his own little brother.

Whether through big or little gestures, like offering Klubnik rides or buying him lunch, he made the underclassman vying for a spot as the team leader feel like he deserved it.

“He just picked me up and carried me through the whole year,” Klubnik says. “He was just giving me so much confidence through the ups and downs of that year. I found my happiness in that year of life, just with football.”

Chick-Fil-A and a conversation

It was mid-August 2020 when Klubnik got COVID prior to his junior season. He was locked in his room with nobody to accompany him but his TV. He was laying in his bed around noon when he heard a knock on his window.

“I opened my blinds and it’s Jackson Coker with a lawn chair, a big ol’ box of Chick-Fil-A and a grocery bag full of snacks in his hands,” Klubnik said with the same awestruck look on his face he had nearly a year ago.

Jackson sat outside in a lawn chair, talking to Cade for two hours. A big lunch, a week’s worth of snacks and a conversation. Just hanging out, just being there – even if it was 20 feet away.

“Who does that?” Klubnik said. 

Jackson.

“A lot of that stuff I didn’t even know about Jack,” Jackson’s mom Laura said. “I knew he had gone to see Cade when he had COVID, but I didn’t know all the particulars.

“You just don’t realize the impact of the smallest little gestures. We all just have to be mindful of that. You just never know.”

Just another seemingly small anecdote that tells the story of Clemson’s future quarterback and the shadow behind him.

“Maybe this sounds weird to say, but I don’t have a lot of people on my best friends’ call list, and he was on there,” Klubnik said. “I would just call him out of the blue, and we would just constantly want to catch up.

“He was the type of person, just out of the blue, would just constantly send amazing text messages, just really heartfelt ones that just mean a lot. He just made you feel really loved. He had such an impact on the culture of Westlake with everybody. When he passed, it wasn’t like the few guys that knew him were crying. We walked into that meeting the next day and every single coach and every single player that was on the team with him was just devastated.

“It’s like, of all people, why him? Right?”

Why him?

Frankly, if Jackson had been one to whimper and whine, he would not have made it on a Texas football field. He was the innocent-looking kid known as one of the nicest people in town, but he was also a bloody-nosed, tough-as-nails kid who played through multiple injuries in his career.

As a hybrid running back/slot receiver, Jackson was the Chaparrals’ third-leading receiver in 2018 but missed nearly all of 2019 with a torn hamstring. A senior captain in for his last ride, he didn’t go down quietly. That brings up what Dodge calls his “favorite Jackson Coker story.”

Jackson had rehabbed to get back on the field, but Dodge had him on a limited snap count to keep him fresh for the playoffs. Jackson wanted no part of that, so he knocked on Dodge’s door in the Westlake facility to confront him personally.

Jackson: “You know and I know that I’m one of your four best receivers. Please put me to work. Coach, I didn’t do all this rehabbing for nothing. I don’t have time to wait. I’m ready, just put me to work.”

“That story will be impactful in our program forever,” Dodge said. “And, of course, as we went down the stretch of the playoffs, he was fantastic.”

Jackson’s work helped the Chaparrals win the state championship in 2019. He was the first one to hoist the trophy. One year later, when Klubnik led Westlake to a second straight state championship, Klubnik was the first to hold up the trophy.

Seems fitting.

“One and the same”

Klubnik tossed multiple touchdowns to Jackson, but it was the receiver who passed along a major piece of himself to his quarterback.

Just as Jackson powered through multiple injuries and excelled, Klubnik did the same later in his career. The most notorious was a Grade-1 AC joint separation in his throwing shoulder during the second possession of the 2020 state semifinal game.

Klubnik championed through it, got through the next week of practice and eventually dismantled fellow powerhouse Southlake Carroll with an MVP-level performance. Jackson showed how proud he was with a long, heartfelt text to Klubnik after the win.

If he was still around today, he would have done the same if he saw Klubnik’s rise earlier this month as the Elite 11 MVP. At the country’s most-reputable high school quarterback showcase, the lionhearted Westlake kid proved that he is heading toward something special. The future Tiger is likely to become a five-star prospect. Watching him throughout his star-turning week, Jackson seemed to guide him everywhere he went.

Klubnik was hopping around from player to player all week, hyping teammates up and encouraging whoever was in sight.

Who does that?

Cade Klubnik does that. Jackson would have, too.

“He and Cade were one and the same,” Dodge said. “Jackson is the one that’s fueling his fire.”

Jake Coker agrees.

“Throughout the school, throughout the community, throughout society, I think they were similar,” Jake said. “Just seeing the way Jack responded after winning the state championship, and then the very next year to see how Cade responded after winning the state championship, it was just a very similar reaction.

“And Cade was a leader of his team, much in a way that Jack was a leader of his team. In Texas, high school football is king and winning the state championship is the apex of that. For both those guys to experience that, it was pretty special to watch.”

Family on three

Jackson died on March 10, but he’s not the only one whom the Westlake program lost this spring. Former Westlake and Texas Longhorns linebacker Jake Ehlinger died in May.

As a member of the Westlake football program, Klubnik was in attendance for Ehlinger’s funeral, and he took away something crucial.

The first year, and especially the first six months, are the hardest when losing a best friend. So Klubnik had been battling with the reality that he would never speak to or see Jackson ever again.

Then he saw Sam Ehlinger, the former Longhorns starting quarterback and also a Westlake alum, speak at his little brother’s funeral. Ehlinger’s tribute “was one of the best things I’ve ever heard,” Klubnik said.

Ehlinger: “Jake was always a glass half-full guy, not a glass half-empty type of guy. If Jake was here right now he would say: ‘Don’t be looking around and be sad that you didn’t get to spend the next 20 years with me. Be happy that you did get to spend those 20 years with me.’”

That included a moment the two shared on what Klubnik calls “literally the best day of my life.” That was March 2 when Klubnik announced his commitment to Clemson.

But the next week came the worst day of his life. Soon enough came the funeral, one that brought some frustration at first.

There were nearly 1,000 people packing Riverbend Church for Jackson’s funeral. When Klubnik saw how many were in attendance, his first thought was: Why are there all these people here who didn’t know him?

“Then, like 10 minutes later, I realized all these people didn’t know him,” Klubnik said. “But he treated them like he knew them.

“I hate the term ‘a nobody.’ Because everybody’s somebody, you know? You just might not be somebody to that person. But to Jackson, he was friends with everybody. He made such an impact on so many people. … He was just doing it individually to everybody he saw. He was best friends with the custodian and would sit with the kids who were sitting by themselves at lunch. And it wasn’t like he was trying to do that. It’s just what he did. That’s why so many people showed up.”

Following the funeral service, everyone shifted over to Westlake’s Chaparral Stadium. While there, the lights were kept on for 16 minutes to represent Jackson’s jersey number. More than 1,200 people squeezed onto the turf when a video tribute – 16 Minutes of Light – was broadcast on the jumbotron for the family, friends and more than 200 current and former Westlake players in attendance.

At the video’s conclusion, Dodge gathered all 200 players into a huddle.

“Everybody up!” Dodge said to his players as they raised their hands. “One more time for Jackson.”

Family on three … One, two, three, Family!

No one said a word after that huddle broke. Just walked out of the stadium in silence.

Live Like Jackson

“It’s just really hard for us to believe that he’s gone,” Jon Coker said. “But you just wake up every day and live in your new reality.”

If you have to go through this, to know that your child was happy and to know that he was doing every single thing that he wanted to do, that he had accomplished all of his goals and that he was living his dream (is a positive),” Jon said. “He was prepping himself to absolutely be the best version of Jackson Coker that he could be. He was just a good young man.”

There’s no denying how much Jackson’s death hurts and how many people it crushed. There’s also no denying how much Jackson’s life meant and how many people he facilitated change in. 

Maybe that impact can be as simple as listening to “Mr. Blue Sky,” the song that instantly makes Klubnik think of Jackson. Or listening to “Fly Me to the Moon,” a pregame ritual that calmed Jackson when he listened to Frank Sinatra’s voice.

For Klubnik, the impact comes in his faith. His Christian beliefs define him as a man, and it defined who Jackson was, too. Instead of questioning Jackson’s death, Klubnik’s faith only grew stronger.

“It was so weird when he passed – I was just so sad for so long, but I never questioned God about it,” Klubnik says. “This is gonna sound crazy, but I was at peace about it. I really was, because I knew so much good was going to come from it. Three of my best friends I’ve known my whole life have come to know God because of it, and it’s just been so cool to see God using that in ways that I never would have thought.”

Klubnik hopes to use Jackson’s story in helping spread his faith throughout the Clemson community when he arrives on campus next year. He’ll have some help through his best friend’s lasting impact.

“Jackson is Cade’s guardian angel,” Dodge said.

Clemson will love Cade Klubnik. The Tigers and the community are going to love the tough Texas kid because he can pick apart ACC defenses with pinpoint accuracy, on-the-run passing chops, expert decision-making, a remarkable way of improvising when plays break down and his ability to command a locker room. They’re going to love him for his personality and the way he carries himself.

When Clemson falls in love with Klubnik, they should thank Jackson Coker.

The two will forever share a heart, and Klubnik will be bringing Jackson with him to Clemson soon enough. When he does, you can guarantee what he’s going to do every day.

He’s going to Live Like Jackson.