A sign along a highway in Wyoming indicates the mileage before reaching two upcoming cities:
Thayne 10.
Jackson 65.
The immediacy of social media allowed ArizonaVarsity.com managing editor Ralph Amsden – a frequent Wyoming visitor – to share a picture of the sign with then Gilbert High School football player Thayne Jackson, a 6-foot-6, 300 pound-plus offensive lineman.
Following Thayne Jackson’s graduation in 2016, he would get the opportunity to visit the same sign in person.
“When I was moving up to Montana my dad and I took a different route and went into Utah and through Wyoming just so we could find that sign,” he explained.
Jackson was moving because he accepted an offer from the University of Montana, the first school to offer the 2015 Division II Section V All-Section First Team selection. He committed to the Grizzlies in November 2015. He had other offers, including several that came just before signing day.
“I gave Montana my word and I wanted to honor that,” he said about his decision.
Loyalty was just one of a number of reasons the Jackson chose the school in Missoula among the others. The state was like a second home for him with a lot of family throughout, and he was a self-proclaimed “mountain body.”
“I grew up going there every single year, I knew the place, and my heart was already there. It felt like the right fit.”
Jackson redshirted his freshman year at Montana but traveled with the team, just one of two freshmen who did – former Highland High School running back Josh Egbo was the other. In his second season, Jackson played in every game.
After two years as a Grizzly, before his redshirt sophomore season, Jackson decided to leave school and stop playing football. He admitted the decision was both difficult and sudden.
“I was not in a very good mental place,” Jackson told ArizonaVarsity.com during a recent phone interview. “I wasn’t in a good place physically or mentally. It was a thousand things compiled into one. I thought it was best for me to take an alternate route, and that meant stepping away from football, which I had known my whole life.”
After departing school, Jackson remained in Montana, needing to do something different because in his mind, football was no longer conducive to bettering himself. Jackson elected to address some of his mental health issues internally, on his own. The geographical location mattered.
“I did a lot of my own treatment,” he said. “That was in the form of just clearing my head. I did a lot of meditation, spent a lot of time out in the woods on my own accord by myself.”
Family and close friends also assisted Jackson in working through some of his concerns. His openness with those around him in Montana made his treatment plan a group effort, though one without any professional help.
It worked for him.
“Everyone is going to handle [their own] situations differently,” he said. “To anyone who is going through anything, I would say the first step is realizing something is wrong.”
Jackson believes that once the first step is made, an individual can develop a plan, whether that is on their own or with the help of a professional.
“Do what you have to do, and what you know would be good for you.”
Almost immediately after he left the university, Jackson obtained employment at a rural store in Montana, doing ranch work as he continued to tackle tasks that didn't involve being on a football field. He needed to redirect his focus and find a new passion.
“Cooking had always been a really big thing for me,” he said. “I decided that was a route I was going to pursue, and it was something I really enjoyed doing.”
Jackson’s parents were divorced while he was young. His interest in culinary started then, when he and his biological father would cook together on a limited budget.
“Cooking was a cheap thing that we could do (together),” he said. “It was cool to try to figure out what we could make with what was on sale at Fry’s.”
The first step in Jackson’s more recent pursuit of cooking was using his employee discount at the ranch store to purchase his first smoker – a Traeger Ranger. He started “tampering” with smoking meats, enjoying great access to high-quality ingredients in Montana, including meats and produce. He frequently visited farmers’ markets to get the best product directly from the source, which any reputable chef will agree is the best way to provide a great meal.
Like many other home cooks, Jackson watched the cooking shows on Food Network and other popular networks, however he found those mainstream shows, the ones his mother favored, boring. Instead, Jackson preferred watching Munchies on Vice and its YouTube channel, which includes chefs such as Matty Matheson and others who don't fit into the box of the "typical" cooking show host.
“I saw some stat that (Matheson’s) show had the most cuss words out of any TV show ever,” Jackson said. “He’s a psychopath, and he’s out there cooking, screaming, and having a good time.
“There are other personalities on (the YouTube channel) too. These guys were so unique themselves. It was so crazy to see cooking in that light.”
He was inspired by these chefs being themselves and “it was cool as hell.”
It was then Jackson started taking cooking seriously and attempted to make something out of it. He experimented with his recipes, his girlfriend the beneficiary – err guinea pig – as his passion to develop his culinary skills increased. He now even has his own YouTube channel – Saucin’ – where he’s the host, sharing different techniques and recipes.
After reading a book by a pit master in Austin, Texas – Aaron Franklin – Jackson knew the path he wanted to follow in his culinary life.
“I (thought) BBQ was the route I wanted to try,” he said. “If I was going to get into the culinary world, I was going to do it through BBQ.”
The Notorious P.I.G., located in Missoula, Montana, is ranked by some media outlets as the third-best BBQ restaurant in the United States. On a whim, Jackson reached out to the restaurant through social media, explaining that he wanted to enter the BBQ culinary world, but had no true kitchen experience other than the experiments he shared with his girlfriend.
He expressed that he wanted to learn, and promised to be a sponge that would be its hardest worker if given the chance.
He didn’t expect to hear anything back, but the next day…
“I got a message back,” he recalled. “It was very vague, asking me to return a call at this number. It was the owner; we setup an interview and everything worked out.”
He worked there for 5-6 months before returning to Arizona in May 2019, where he landed a job as a pit master at Little Miss BBQ in Phoenix.
Jackson was asked to declare his favorite BBQ meat. Was it pulled pork, smoked brisket, burnt ends, ribs?
“I’m 330, I can’t really pick a favorite,” he answered with a laugh. “I like them all, but it’s hard to go wrong with a smoked barbecue chicken. That’s something I could eat any night and be totally happy.”
Jackson added that he prefers lean brisket over the juicier, fatty brisket and spareribs over baby backs. Dry rub is preferred versus sauced ribs but if he does use sauce, Carolina Gold – a mustard-based sauce – is his first choice. The Spicy BBQ Sauce – made with a hint of jalapeno – at Little Miss is a very close second choice of the up and coming pit master.
Little Miss, like other restaurants, closed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, Jackson wasn’t sure if or when the restaurant would re-open, but he knew he needed to work, plus time was short because he had plans scheduled to begin this summer. He obtained employment as a chef at a memory care facility, where he currently works. The different culinary experience is welcome as it broadens his skills in the kitchen.
“It’s a lot different because I’m not cooking the same exact thing every day,” he said. “I have some discretion about what goes out and what I’m doing for (a specific) meal.
“It’s awesome because I get to try a whole bunch of stuff that I wouldn’t normally be able to try.”
When Jackson returned to Arizona in May last year, his employment at Little Miss began two days later but it wasn’t the only job he took. He returned to Gilbert High School, where he accepted a very familiar position.
“I was the freshman/JV offensive line coach,” the Tigers’ alumnus said. “(As a result) of circumstances I ended up being the varsity offensive line coach for the whole season.”
Jackson said his passion for football was still prevalent, and as early as the fall of 2019 some college coaches started showing interest and schools reaching out, asking him to play for them. He initially rejected the overtures, acknowledging that coaching was serving as the outlet for his passion of football.
“I had kind of accepted that I wasn’t going to play again,” he said. “I didn’t 100 percent shut it out but (returning) wasn’t necessarily on my mind.”
But then it was on his mind. Enough so that he considered a tryout the Arizona Rattlers before accepting an offer to play for Colorado State University at Pueblo, beginning this fall.
“If I wanted to play again this [opportunity] was probably my last shot,” Jackson said he thought to himself. “So, I took it and I’m hoping there is football in the fall.”
At CSU – Pueblo, Jackson enters as a redshirt sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining. His journey that started then ended at Montana, led him to pursue the culinary arts, and return to football as a coach, has now come full circle as he gets ready to take the field as a player again. All of it has him looking at things through a different lens now.
“I understand now why coaches are so grumpy,” he said as he chuckled.
Talk with Jackson and it’s clearly evident that film study is the single greatest area of improvement between his time as a player at Montana and as he prepares to enter CSU – Pueblo. He credits Gilbert head coach Derek Zellner for teaching him how to approach watching film of opponents.
“As a coach, you have to be a student of the game,” Jackson acknowledged.
“Throughout my career I would watch film, but I didn’t perfectly understand how to break it down,” he admitted. “I have a whole new appreciation for watching it. It’s not something I did very well during any part of my career but now I understand how vital it is.”
What is Jackson most looking forward to in his return to the field as a Thunderwolve?
“I’m looking forward to being the best teammate I can be,” he responded. “Going into to Montana I had the wrong mindset. I had the mindset that it was more about me. Now, and I can’t emphasize how truly I mean this, I want to be the best teammate I can be. If I don’t start, I want to be the best damn scout-team offensive tackle in history. I want to help out as much as I can. If they need a water boy, I’ll be the water boy. I just want the team to have success.”
Jackson understands his story is unique, and he is enjoying it while he’s still in the moment, which is not easy for most young men to even recognize.
“I have so much more appreciation this time around because I know what life is like outside of football,” he said.
Of course, he does.
Jackson has been Thayne and back.
