CLINTON, S.C. – Presbyterian College head football coach Steve Englehart has announced the addition of a pair of coaches to his staff.
Jo Jackson comes to Presbyterian to work with the cornerbacks, while Will Kirkendall joins the Blue Hose and will be working with the safeties next season.
Safeties Will Kirkendall
Kirkendall comes to PC after spending the last two seasons at Morehead State as the cornerbacks' coach and special team's coordinator. He spent the year prior at Gardner-Webb as a defensive graduate assistant working with the Linebackers. Prior to his time with Gardner-Webb, Kirkendall spent the prior two seasons at Eastern Kentucky working with the DB's and as the special team's quality control coach. He began his coaching career in 2018 at Florida Tech and spent two years in Florida working with the defensive backs and as the teams' special team quality control coach.
During his time at Morehead State, he was named a finalist for the AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year in 2021. He was in charge of the daily install and game planning with the corners and special teams units. During the fall of 2021, Kirkendall touted the 24 best kickoff unit, 59th in kick returns, 82 in punt, and ninth in net punting. In the spring season, Morehead State had punt return and kickoff units in the top three in the league.
In the spring season, Morehead State touted 14 interceptions to lead all of FCS which was led by Brandon Barbee who was first-team All-PFL and second-team All-American. He coached a pair of All-PFL honorees who included first-team honoree long snapper Brady McKnight who was also an All-American honoree along with second-team punter Andrew Foster that broke two single season conference punting records.
Before his time at Morehead State, Kirkendall spent a year with Gardner-Webb as a defensive graduate assistant. He worked primarily with the linebackers and was the coach in charge of the rush in three-down packages. He was also in charge of defensive film breakdown and worked in various roles on the special teams unit.
In his season at EKU, Kirkendall was part of a staff that helped the defense finish second in the OVC in points allowed, second in total defense, second in rushing defense and third in passing defense. Eastern Kentucky was fifth in the nation in third down defense, seventh in fourth down defense, 11th in red-zone defense, 15th in rushing defense, 16th in total defense and 22nd in scoring defense in 2019.
He got his coaching career started at Florida Tech where he worked with the defensive backs and was quality control for the special teams. He was a part of the No. 1 scoring defense in all of DII and helped Florida Tech make the 2018 playoffs.
In his playing career, he was a two-year starter at Olivet College on a team that won two MIAA Championships. He got to start in the school's first playoff game since 1978 during his playing career.
Cornerbacks Jo Jackson
Jackson joins the Blue Hose family after spending last season as the running backs coach at Gannon University. He got his coaching career started in 2018-19 at Park View High School as the defensive backs coach and was the school's co-defensive coordinator.
During his season at Gannon he coached a first-team All-Conference running back who was one of backs for Gannon to average 5.0+ yards per carry. He was also the returners coach. He was responsible for individual periods and scout teams on the defense and special teams. He assisted the head coach and offensive coordinator in-game coverage recognition and opponents defensive backs breakdown. He was the field equipment manager for Gannon as well.
He got his start in coaching at Park View High School as the defensive backs and co-defensive coordinator. He helped coach a 4-3 defense while leading his players in formation recognition, two-man routes and personal recognition. He was responsible for opponent film breakdown and helped show top passing concepts in practice.
In his playing career, he got started at Orange Coast Junior College as a two-year starter and defensive captain. He was in charge of calling all coverages and defensive checks. He played corner, safety, nickel in match-quarters based defenses. He then moved over to Florida Tech for two-years and was a defensive captain for current Blue Hose head coach Steve Englehart. He helped lead them to their first playoff appearance in just the program's fourth year. Jackson was named to the preseason all-conference.
