Drake Jackson will help Zach Yenser maintain Big Blue Wall culture

Over the last five seasons, Kentucky has had one of the best offensive lines in college football. The Big Blue Wall was a nickname given to the unit by star tailback Benny Snell Jr. during the 2017 season. Things didn’t get rolling for the group until redshirt freshman Drake Jackson took over at center.

After Bunchy Stallings had some snaping issues, offensive line coach John Schlarman tabbed Jackson as the starting center and the former top-200 recruit out of Versailles (Ky.) Woodford County started 44 consecutive games at center for Kentucky. During that time, the two-time All-SEC selection helped pace two top-five SEC rushing attacks as the Wildcats mainly ran the ball at will against most opponents.

However, Jackson’s pro career did not last very long. Despite participating in the Senior Bowl, the star center went undrafted due to size and positional versatility concerns. Jackson bounced around to three different teams during the 2021 NFL season before deciding to seemingly call it quits.

Now he’ll be returning to the Kentucky football program to work for an organization he is very familiar with.

“Really happy to have Drake join our staff,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops told the media on Tuesday. “He’s a guy that I’ve known since he was in — I believe it was eighth going on ninth grade. Every year he came back to camp, and he was one of those guys along with his father that they went to a lot of camps. Just absorbed all the coaching from a young age. You could just tell he would be a great coach one day because he was eaten up with it. And that’s why he was such a great player.

That journey is starting sooner than many expected as Jackson is set to be the first graduate assistant to work under new offensive line coach Zach Yenser.

Big Blue Wall legacy

After Eric Wolford left for Alabama, naming Zach Yenser the next offensive line coach at Kentucky just made too much sense. The Troy alum started his career working as a graduate assistant under John Schlarman at Troy and then would spend three years working for Kyle Shanahan in the NFL. The 38-year-old coach has schematic ties to go along with a personal relationship with a man that built the Big Blue Wall.

Now Yenser will partner with a former player who was very important in establishing the current offensive line culture that exists within the program.

“He has decided to come back and be a GA here,” said Yenser. “I was fired up because the guys respect the heck out of him.”

Drake Jackson will now help coach some of his former teammates and will act as a bridge to the Schlarman era as the former star center was a huge part of the creation of the Big Blue Wall. Kentucky is committed to maintaining stellar offensive line play, and it all starts with maintaining the culture. Jackson will help assure that it remains at Kentucky.

“That culture was built long before I got here,” said Yenser. “These guys have carried it on.”