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Top 10 Frisco and Little Elm Sports Stories of 2012: 1. Irreplaceable presence: Lobos lose key member of team, community
BY Chris O’Dell, codell@starlocalnews.com
Little Elm head football coach Donald Stowers had just come from a game in which he and assistant coach Eric Jackson attended.
Upon return home, Stowers received a phone call from Jackson’s wife, Latasha Diann, that was impossible to foresee.
“[Diann] called and told me that Eric had suffered a seizure and was rushed to the hospital,” Stowers said.
“[Diann] called back on my way there and told me that Eric had passed away,” Stowers said. “It was obviously some pretty devastating news.”
At the hospital, Jackson was pronounced dead after suffering a massive heart attack during his drive home from his son’s football game. The 34-year-old offensive line and girls powerlifting coach had built a strong relationship with Stowers and his family, making the news even tougher to bear.
“Eric wasn’t just someone I worked with,” Stowers said. “He was a good friend of mine off the field and we spent a lot of time together with our families.”
The two coaches worked together at Beaumont Central, where Stowers began his head coaching career in 2005. In Beaumont, Jackson worked as the offensive line coach for four years before Stowers made the move to Little Elm and Jackson transitioned to Austin for a year.
“We were both strong in our faith and that was one of the things that impressed me most about [Jackson],” Stowers said.
Jackson rejoined Stowers in Little Elm during the 2010 season and maintained the same responsibilities he did in Beaumont with several additions. Aside from his usual offensive line duties, Jackson became the strength and conditioning coach while also serving as the girls powerlifting coach and molding young minds in the classroom.
“We built a strong bond that started at Beaumont and just grew from there,” Stowers said.
The biggest impression Jackson left behind for many of his peers was a positive nature that affected those around him.
“He was just a fun-loving and very talented guy,” Stowers said. “He always put a smile on peoples’ face.”
Little Elm athletic director Sandra Howell echoed that sentiment.
“[Jackson] was a fine Christian man and a family man,” she said. “He always had a smile on his face.”
The Lobos have not hired a replacement for Jackson’s position, but Stowers said it will be impossible to replace the man.
“[Jackson] is a guy that will never be able to be replaced,” he said. “He gave so much to this town and this community.”
With family being such a priority in Jackson’s life, it was only fitting that the final game the Lobos coach attended was that of his son.
In the game, Eric Lloyd II (one of Jackson’s four children) scored two touchdowns for his team.
“We had no idea something like this would happen,” Stowers said.
Services for Jackson were held last Friday from the Christian House of Prayer in Killeen. A trust fund has been set up at the First Convenience Bank/First National Bank of Texas for Jackson’s wife and children.
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