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The words flow effortlessly from Jackson Woodard’s lips — and they’re delivered with the intensity of, well, a linebacker. 

Any lingering doubt about Woodard’s sincerity evaporates each time he brings up his fierce desire to win. Which he does a lot, in a variety of contexts, during a post-practice conversation prior to the start of the 2024 season, the last of Woodard’s collegiate career.

Which is why you fight the urge to roll your eyes and snicker. Because you know that in 28 seasons prior to Woodard’s arrival, the UNLV football program did very little winning. In fact, from 1995-2022, the program had three times the number of head coaches (six) as it did winning records (two).

Here’s what else you know: Woodard left his hometown university, which competes in the nation’s premier college football conference, to become a Rebel — left voluntarily.

Winning is all I care about? WHAT?

Then you remember Barry Odom’s comments about Woodard only an hour earlier.

The two first connected in 2020 at the University of Arkansas, where Odom was the football team’s defensive coordinator and Woodard was a non-scholarship freshman walk-on. 

Some 2½ years later, Odom departed Arkansas to become UNLV’s seventh head coach since 1995. A few weeks after arriving on campus, Odom saw Woodard’s name hit college football’s transfer portal. Within minutes, the coach picked up his phone and went into recruiter mode.

“He’s a great player with a tremendous football IQ,” Odom says when asked why he quickly reached out to Woodard and offered him a UNLV scholarship. “First and foremost, though, I knew that from the day he walked into the building, he could move this program forward culturally.”

That’s precisely what happened. 

Not only did Woodard immediately wrap his arms around a leadership position like it was an opposing quarterback, but the 6-foot-3, 230-point team captain led by example. And his passion for winning spread through the UNLV locker room like a virus.

How else do you explain the Rebels’ 2023 regular season, which ended with the program’s best record (9-3) in four decades? Or the 3-0 start to the 2024 season, which includes a pair of upset victories at Houston and Kansas — victories that pushed UNLV into the top 25 rankings for the first time in school history?

Make no mistake: Woodard isn’t solely responsible for the Rebels’ remarkable turnaround. However, his influence cannot be understated — certainly not when he says things like this: “Winning is everything in my life. I can't get enough of it, and it never ends — it never sleeps.”

Jackson Woodard doesn’t know the precise moment when football became a part of his life. The best the Arkansas native can offer: “As far back as I can remember.” But he vividly recalls when the spark was ignited.

“My brother is two years older than me and I wanted to do everything he did,” Woodard says. “So as soon as he started playing football when I was 5 years old, I wanted to play. Obviously, I was too young to be on his team. But I would sit on the sidelines with my gear on.”

A few years later, when it finally came time to put on that gear for real, Woodard was all-in from the word go. 

“Down South, you eat, sleep, and breathe football,” he says. “That’s just how it is. And I loved it. I love the physicality of the game. To this day, I can’t get enough of that.”

That love would prove crucial when Woodard hit an athletic crossroads in high school. Turns out, he was more skilled at baseball than football — a reality confirmed by the attention Woodard received from college recruiters for each sport.

Woodard, however, envisioned a different reality and became determined to prove himself right.

“During my senior year, I told myself, ‘You need to quit acting like you want to play baseball in college and just focus on football.’”

So he buckled his chinstrap, had a stellar senior season at Little Rock Christian High School, then shipped a highlight reel to dozens of schools in hopes of landing a football scholarship.

“Down South, you eat, sleep, and breathe football. That’s just how it is. And I loved it. I love the physicality of the game. To this day, I can’t get enough of that.” — UNLV football player Jackson Woodard

Several coaches liked what they saw and extended offers. Unfortunately, none were from big-name college football programs. That includes the University of Arkansas, where Woodard’s parents went to school, where his brother attended, and where he desperately wanted to play.

Rather than take a partial scholarship from a small school, Woodard rolled the dice on himself, contacted Arkansas' coaches, and was granted a preferred walk-on spot. 

However, upon arriving at the Razorbacks’ football facility in summer 2020, he exuded the confidence not of an unknown walk-on but a five-star recruit.

“I knew I could play at that level,” he says. “I didn’t care who or what was in my way. All I had to do was put my head down and outwork everyone. Because my dad always told me, ‘Hard work pays off.’ I believed that.”

When did Odom, who at the time was the Razorbacks’ associate head coach and defensive coordinator, sense that Woodard’s talent matched his bravado?

“Really, the first day he stepped on campus,” he says. “I knew he had ability. I saw it every day in the way that he worked and the mission he was on. With the dedication he had, there was no way he wouldn’t be successful if given the opportunity.”

Woodard got that opportunity just four games into Arkansas’ COVID-shortened 2020 season when he played against Ole Miss. Unfortunately for Woodard, the Razorbacks’ talent and depth at linebacker was immense. It remained that way for the ensuing two seasons, which is why Woodard appeared in just 28 games — and accumulated a total of 16 tackles — through his junior season.

With several of Arkansas' linebackers moving on after the 2022 season, Woodard was a lock to move up the depth chart and finally see significant action as a senior. Then Odom bolted for UNLV and he brought along Arkansas linebackers coach Mike Scherer to be the Rebels’ defensive coordinator.

So when Woodard returned home to Little Rock following the fall 2022 semester, he had two choices: Stick with his hometown university and see if he meshed with the new defensive staff, or head west and join two coaches with whom had developed close relationships.

The decision wasn’t difficult.

“As soon as coach Odom left, I knew I was gone,” Woodard says. “And when I entered the transfer portal, I was hoping he would contact me. He did — really quickly — and saying yes was a no-brainer, because he and I connected the first day we met. We share a very similar mentality. Coach's motto is ‘Hard, smart and tough.’ That’s how I go about life.

“I also knew he was a winner.”

One thing Woodard insists he did not know: how much the Rebels football team struggled to win over the years.

But then, why care about the past when you’re absolutely certain the future is going to be just fine?

“I knew how good [Odom] was as a coach; that he would make me a better person and a better player; that he would do things in my best interest; and that he believed in me,” Woodard says. “To have a coach who believes in you means a lot as a player. So as long as I was playing for him, I was confident everything would work out.”

Spoiler alert: Everything has worked out.

The Jackson Woodard File

Age: 22
Hometown: Little Rock, Arkansas
Height/weight: 6-foot-3, 230 pounds
Position: Linebacker
Class: Senior
Academic accomplishments: ’24 BS kinesiology (pre-dental tract); currently pursuing graduate certificate; three-time member of UNLV Dean’s Honor List; 2023 First Team Academic All-America (first in UNLV football history)
Playing experience: 45 games (28 at Arkansas; 17 at UNLV)
UNLV stats: 140 total tackles; 5.5 sacks; 2 interceptions
Notable awards: 2024: Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week (Week 1); Walter Camp Football Foundation Defensive Player of the Week; Bronko Nagurski National Player of the Week (Week 1); Mountain West preseason co-Defensive Player of the Year; on official watch lists for three national honors (Nagurski Trophy, Butkus Award, and Chuck Bednarik Award). 2023: First-team All-Mountain West selection; Mountain West Conference Scholar-Athlete
Community recognitions: Rebels’ 2024 nominee for the American Football Coaches Association’s Good Works Team and Danny Wuerffel Trophy for community service work
Fun fact: In 2016, Woodard and his brother adopted a pet pig. Now 8 years old, Calvin roams the family’s property in Little Rock.

The nine victories that UNLV recorded in 2023 were two more than the previous three seasons combined (when the Rebels went 7-23). They also were the most victories since a quarterback named Randall Cunningham led the 1984 squad to an 11-2 mark.

Additionally, Odom guided UNLV to its first Mountain West Conference championship game appearance in school history and just its fifth bowl game. 

Along the way, Woodard started all 14 games, amassed 117 tackles (second most in the Mountain West), three sacks and an interception, and was named first-team all-conference.

This season has brought more of the same — both for Woodard and the Rebels.

After opening with a 27-7 upset victory at Houston on Aug. 31, UNLV returned home and demolished overmatched Utah Tech 72-14. Then on Sept. 13, the Rebels went to Kansas as a decisive underdog and rallied for a 23-20 victory in a nationally televised game.

In the process, UNLV avenged a 49-36 loss to the Jayhawks in the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl. Additionally, the team earned the respect of the nation’s college football coaches, who voted the Rebels No. 25 in the coaches’ poll that was released by USA Today on Sept. 15.

Woodard’s contributions so far this season? Just as plentiful as last season.

At Kansas, the fifth-year senior had a game-high 11 tackles and corralled a key interception. He also racked up a game-best 11 tackles at Houston, including three sacks — more than he had all of last season. 

Following the latter performance, Woodard was recognized as the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week; Walter Camp Football Foundation Defensive Player of the Week; and the Bronko Nagurski National Player of the Week.

This after being lavished with multiple preseason honors. The Mountain West Conference media voted Woodard preseason co-Defensive Player of the Year, and he also was named to the watch lists for three prestigious national awards: the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Football Writers Association of America’s Defensive Player of the Year); Chuck Bednarik Award (Maxwell Football Club’s Defensive Player of the Year); and Butkus Award (best linebacker in college football).

By now it’s obvious that Woodard was right to follow his passion when he reached that baseball/football crossroads in high school. He’s proven any and all doubters wrong.

And this is the point in the story when he proves wrong anyone and everyone who buys into the "dumb jock who only cares about football" stereotype.

Remember those “winning is everything in my life” and “winning is all I care about” declarations? Woodard wasn’t just talking about football.

This past spring, hundreds of Rebels experienced the thrill of a lifetime when they donned a cap and gown and were handed their college degree.

Jackson Woodard was one of those graduates, having completed his kinesiology degree in four years. Another thing he earned last spring: a spot on the UNLV Dean’s Honor List for the third time in as many semesters.

In fact, Woodard was just as dominant in the classroom in 2023 as he was on the football field. How dominant? He earned first-team Academic All-America honors, the first UNLV football player to receive the distinction.

Suffice to say, Woodard is as intense about academics as he is athletics.

“I treat school the same way as football,” Woodard says. “If I’m in a class, and the instructor is going to put the name of the person with the best test score on the board, it better be mine. It would really bother me if it wasn’t. Because I have to be perfect. I have to be the best.”

Is this rabid obsession with winning, with being perfect, perhaps unhealthy? Woodard doesn’t dismiss that notion out of hand; in fact, he admits winning is on his mind so much that “sometimes it’s difficult to sleep.” 

But in the very next breath, he leans into an analogy coined by an NBA legend. In doing so, Woodard proves he fully accepts two realities: It’s not possible to always win, and he’s not a failure when he doesn’t.

“Kobe Bryant once said: ‘If I win, I gotta wake up and win tomorrow. If I lose, I gotta wake up and win tomorrow,’” Woodard says. “So I understand you have to learn from both winning and losing. But either way, I have to wake up tomorrow and do the exact same thing. So when I lose, I can’t waste time thinking I’m a failure. Because tomorrow, I have to get up and win.”

And so the quest for victories continues — on the football field, in the classroom, and, yes, in the community.

Whether it’s hosting youth football camps back home in Arkansas (and giving requested donations to a charity) or building beds for kids in need in Las Vegas or volunteering for UNLV’s food pantry or playing football with youngsters at a Super Bowl charity event, Woodard happily shows up.

He credits his desire to give back to his Christian faith, his family, and his belief in the “do unto others” Golden Rule. Of course, his competitive spirit is alive in this arena, too, as he asks himself, “How much can I give back?” and “How much can I help?”

Answers: Apparently enough to be UNLV’s 2024 nominee for two community service-based national honors, the American Football Coaches Association’s Good Works Team and the Danny Wuerffel Trophy.

“To me, it’s more rewarding to be selfless than selfish,” Woodard says of his community work. “It makes my day when I can make someone else’s day.”

At 22 years old, Woodard has a whole lot of life ahead of him. And he’s keenly aware he won’t be wearing shoulder pads and flattening quarterbacks for the vast majority of that life.

For a long time, he thought his post-football days would be spent hovering over patients as an oral surgeon. (His family is in the dentistry field, and his kinesiology degree included a pre-dental tract.)

Now? Woodard thinks he wants to pick up a whistle after hanging up his cleats.

“In recent years, I’ve realized what I really want to do is be a college football coach — and eventually a head coach. I just love the game so much. It’s why I’m in this building 24/7,” he says referring to the Fertitta Football Complex on campus.

“I’ve had a lot of great ones in my career, and Jackson is in that conversation. He’s going to be playing ball for a long time.” - UNLV football coach Barry Odom

Whether Woodard ends up following in the career footsteps of his family or Odom — or, who knows, both — he probably won’t have to make a decision anytime soon. Because unlike in high school when he mostly went unnoticed in major college football circles, Woodard isn’t flying under the radar of NFL scouts.

Barring injury, the star linebacker — a self-proclaimed “Rebel for life” who quite possibly might go down as the most decorated player in UNLV football history — almost certainly will become the latest Rebel to be an NFL Draft pick. 

It should come as no surprise that Woodard’s current head coach has some sage advice for his NFL brethren come draft day: Pick up the phone and call Woodard. Quickly.

“Any team that’s lucky enough to draft him, their organization will be better the day he steps in the door,” Odom says. “I’ve had a lot of great ones in my career, and Jackson is in that conversation. He’s going to be playing ball for a long time.”

And, no doubt, winning.