While Jackie Jr. was referring to the actual route — along W. Stewart Street, Cincinnati Street, Bolander Avenue and maybe Kirkham Street or Smith Street — he could have just as well meant the path in life he’s helped set for his son.
And not just in sports, though Jackie Jr. once was quite an athlete.
A massive all-state lineman at his beloved Patterson Co-op — he was nearly 280 pounds compared to his 218 today — he graduated in 1997 and went to Urbana University, where he was an offensive starter by his second season.
But senior year he admits he “lost his way.” He gave up his scholarship and quit college.
“It was a bad mistake,” he now said quietly. “My parents, the coaches, everyone told me it was a mistake, but I was tired. I just wasn’t thinking clearly.”
Back in Dayton, after floundering for a while, he got a physical as he tried to land a factory job and found out he had diabetes.
“My blood sugar was almost 500 (nearly five times normal) and my body was all out of whack,” he said. “I’m not using that as an excuse, but it might have been a part of it.”
As he began to work on his health, his parents — Jackie Sr. and Rachell — urged him to find a job. When none materialized, Jackie Sr. said he talked to Jim Place, then the Chaminade Julienne coach.
Place conferred with one of his young assistant coaches — Chris English, who had been Jackie Jr.’s roommate in college — and then brought Jackie Jr. in for an interview.
“Sometimes you don’t have to be around a guy too long to know he’s special,” Place said. “I could tell Jackie was special and he just needed a little boost to do special things.”
Place helped him get a job as a custodian at Miami Valley Hospital and then took him onto his staff.
That launched a coaching career that’s now beginning its third decade. It’s taken Jackie Jr. to various schools in the Miami Valley — CJ, Thurgood Marshall, Vandalia, West Carrollton and now back to Thurgood on Julian Goodwine’s staff — and gained him a reputation as one of the area’s better defensive coaches.
But that’s not the most impressive part of his story.
Over the past two decades, Jackie Jr., who’s now 44, worked diligently taking night classes to get his undergrad degree at Wright State and now is close to getting his master’s at WSU, as well.
“It took him 20 years — one course a semester — to get his degree,” Place said. “Soon he’ll have his master’s, too. And the number one reason he’s done that was to be a role model to his son.”
Jalen is being raised by his mother, Shalynne Wilbert, who grew up in Trotwood, graduated from Troy High School and then got an associate’s degree at Sinclair, her bachelor’s at Indiana Wesleyan and a master’s at Urbana.
Now a nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, she and Jalen live in Antioch, Tenn., a neighborhood southeast of downtown Nashville.
Just as he wanted to set an example for his son — with whom he’s in regular contact — Jackie Jr. also wanted to right a wrong with his parents.
“I didn’t do what was right at the time,” he said. “When I quit school, I let them down and to this day I hate disappointing my mom and dad.”
Today is Father’s Day and this is a story of three generations of Fails who have not failed.
In some ways, Jackie Jr., also is a father figure to some of the kids on the Thurgood Marshall football team.
You saw that this past week on the practice field behind the school where a dozen and a half Cougars were going through summer drills. Several talked easily with Jackie Jr. and afterwards he gave a couple who had no transportation a ride to their homes.
Last season was tough for Thurgood, which went 0-10 and was outscored 441-128.
Now the players can look at Jackie Jr., who just joined the Cougars staff last season, and see a blueprint for themselves.
“When things go wrong,” Jackie Jr. said, “you’ve just got to keep fighting until they finally go right.”
‘He’s my hero’
Jackie Sr. grew up in the Arlington Courts housing project and was a standout football player at Roosevelt High.
He ended up marrying Rachell — his high school sweetheart who’s now his wife of nearly 4 ½ decades — and he worked 49 years at Dayton Power & Light before retiring in 2019.
“Early on I wasn’t going to let (Jackie Jr.) play football. I didn’t want him always compared to me,” he said. “And my wife said ‘No,’ too.
“But we finally decided to let him make his own decision and once I took him to watch Trotwood Pee Wee football, I couldn’t get him off of football after that.
“That’s when I volunteered to coach and I’ve been at it ever since.”
Jackie Sr. coached at Patterson when his son was there and stayed until the school closed in 2009.
He went on to Dunbar, then Belmont —where he served as the head coach two seasons — and then moved to Meadowdale, E.J. Brown Middle School, West Carrolton and, this season, the 70-year-old assistant will join the staff at Ponitz, where he coached track last season.
When his son first followed him into the sport and was carrying the same name, Jackie Sr. said he tried to be protective of him:
“I always tried to shelter him. I kept my arms around him.”
A lasting bond formed between the two.
“My dad was a tough man at times, but he’s my hero,” Jackie Jr. said. “He’s ‘The Man’ in my life.”
Place agreed: “Jackie is a clone of his dad.”
One trait shared by father and son is their love of their hometown and especially the football teams of the Dayton Public Schools.
“Jackie (Jr.) loves the city of Dayton,” Place said. “He’s a Dayton guy through and through.
“One time Princeton High down in Cincinnati called me. They said, ‘We need a D-line coach and we heard your guy (Jackie Jr.) is the best in southwest Ohio.’
“I said, ‘You’re right. He is.’ “So I called Jackie and said, ‘Listen, Princeton High is asking for you,. That’s D-I. That’s the big leagues down there!’
And he said, ‘Coach, I’m a Dayton guy.’ He said he’d never coach anywhere but in Greater Dayton.
“He said, ‘I want to stay in my city and make a difference with the kids here.’
“He loves the kids here and they love him.”
After a moment’s reflection, Place started to laugh and said: “Let me tell you a story.
“Jackie’s always driven an old (boat-like) car and when he coached for us at CJ, he’d get off work at the hospital at 3 p.m. and by 3:07 he’d come rumbling right down onto the edge of Kettering Field and he’d jump out of the car before it coasted to a stop and the kids would let out a massive cheer.
“Practice had already started and instantly he’d be yelling and screaming and coaching and the kids loved it.
“He’s a spirit guy and he used to have this thing in pregame, where they gather ‘round him and he’d scream ‘Skull ‘em up!’ It meant, ‘Let’s play hard!’ And the kids would scream it, too, and they’d all be ready to go.
“And we used to have this thing called ‘Rookie Night,’ where the kids could make fun of the coaches.
“We had this kid, Chris Wiley. They called him ‘Comedy Club’ Wiley and he was hilarious.
“On Rookie Night he made a car out of boxes. It was really elaborate and he rolled it into the cafeteria and he jumped out like Jackie and was screaming and yelling and the boxes all rolled to the wall.
“The kids went crazy.”
Setting a standard for their son
Jackie Jr. and Shalynne never married each other and Jalen remains the only child for each.
He’s now 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds and about to be a freshman at Cane Ridge High in Nashville.
“His mom is a good mom, she’s done a fine job,” Jackie Jr. said. “We have a good parenting situation and I love seeing him and just being able to hug him and love on him. He’s just a good kid.”
Shalynne said in her household “(Jalen) has to be a student first and he takes that to heart.”
But just as he’s made an academic mark — he has a 3.7 grade point average — he’s shown himself to be a multi-talented athlete. He was the top scorer on his middle school basketball team last year, plays football and qualified for the state meet in the shot put.
And he’s shown a sense of sartorial style with his last Homecoming outfit: A blue-toned jacket with a flower pattern and a dark blue pocket square, blue pants and a powder blue shirt.
“He picked it all out himself,” Shalynne said. “That’s what I like about Jalen. He’s got a good head on his shoulders and he’s not going to allow anyone to steer him in a direction he doesn’t want to go.”
Jalen said he’s a product of both his parents’ guidance:
“My mom teaches me how to stay under control. How to get through things that are tough, have good grades and help people.
“And my dad stresses that I stay out of trouble and tells me how to survive. He tells me what I need to work on in sports and he’s taught me not to have a big head. Even if I do good, I know there’s something I need to work on.”
Shalynne said Jackie Jr.’s persistence in getting his degree has been a good example for Jalen:
“Not many kids have both parents who have college degrees. It sets a standard for Jalen and if he chooses to go to college, he knows it’s possible to do.”
She noted the decades-long resolve Jackie showed in getting his degree also has shown up in their son:
“Jalen definitely does have a ‘don’t give up’ attitude. This year he worked extremely hard and got his first-ever A in English.” Today is Father’s Day and Jalen said he’ll give his dad a call.
And Jackie Jr. will reach out to his dad, as well.
“Heck yeah, he’ll call and come over and maybe we’ll ride around or something,” Jackie Sr. said. “He’ll want to give me something, but I tell him I don’t want anything now.” After all, his son already has given him quite a bit.
There’s his grandson and there’s the way Jackie Jr. carved out his own coaching career and, of course, there’s that indelible image of his boy, in a green cap and gown, getting that college degree that was decades in the making.
“I’m pretty proud of him,” Jackie Sr. said.
And that’s the best gift a son can give his dad.
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