Ryan Nesbitt excited for opportunity with Jackson football

On Friday, Feb. 10 the Jackson Indians announced the hiring of Ryan Nesbitt as the school’s next football coach.

Nesbitt has 14 years of experience as a football coach where he most recently served as the head football coach at Troy Buchanan High School in Troy, Missouri.

“My wife and I are very invested in the community (of Troy),” Nesbitt said. “It’s a decision we didn’t take lightly but opportunities like Jackson are rare and it’s something we couldn’t pass up.”

When Nesbitt took the job at Troy Buchanan, the Trojans hadn’t had a winning season since 1992. Nesbitt leaves the Trojans as the all-time winningest coach in school history, holds the highest single-season win total and brought the school to their first final-four appearance in 2021.

“It sharpened me for an opportunity like this,” Nesbitt said. “It’s really neat looking back at nine years of being there and at some of the things we were able to accomplish when you start off the way that we did. It was a tremendous experience at Troy and something I’m obviously excited to take on to Jackson.”

When considering the job at Jackson one of Nesbitt’s first thoughts was the history of the program.

"There's very few schools that have the history of excellence in the sport of football like (Jackson) does," Nesbitt said. "The culture is tremendous. For me, coming down for the interview there was something that you could just feel culturally and I just kind of knew.”

Nesbitt will succeed Brent Eckley, who has been the head coach at Jackson since 2012. Eckley’s teams won seven conference championships, six district championships and a state title in 2020.

“Coach Eckley has been a mentor of mine over the years,” Nesbitt said. “I actually first met him playing for him in an all-star game when I was coming out of high school. We’ve communicated closely over the past couple years.”

In terms of his philosophies as a coach, Nesbitt said he is in coaching for one reason: the kids.

“I’m in this because I really care about kids,” Nesbitt said. “I want to help kids grow into being quality young men in the sport of football and we want to help equip them with the skill sets to be successful in life. There’s so many things that you learn in the sport of football, so many lessons that help develop and build those skill sets. In doing that and focusing on developing kids, success in terms of wins and losses serves as a natural byproduct.”

Nesbitt began coaching at Higginsville High School just outside of Warrensburg, Missouri. Following that he went on to coach in Bowling Green, Missouri, then at his alma mater, Hickman High School, before ending up at Troy Buchanan in 2014.

Nesbitt and the Indians begin the 2023 campaign at 7 p.m. on Aug. 25 when they travel to take on the Edwardsville Tigers in Edwardsville, Ill.