It has been no secret on The Hill that Prairie View is enjoying the success of football coach Tremaine Jackson.
Prairie View has put its money where its appreciation is.
Tremaine Jackson confirmed to the Defender that he has received a 35% pay increase, his staff is getting a similar uptick in the assistant coaches’ pool, and Jackson will have at least $200,000 in NIL money to lure recruits.
“I believe schools show how much they value you by what they do contractually. Everybody says, `We are so glad Coach Jack is here,’” Jackson said to the Defender. “In my profession, there is only one way to show me you are glad to see me. Pats on the back don’t spend at HEB. Now I believe them when they say, `We’re glad to see you.’”
But more than the increase Jackson received for himself, the reigning SWAC Coach of the Year after just one season at Prairie View, is most proud that his coaches have been taken care of to the level that their pay is now competitive with most FCS programs.
Jackson and his staff came from Division II Valdosta State pretty much under the same contracts that former coach Bubba McDowell and his staff had. Jackson said negotiations between his agent, athletic director Anton Goff, and the administration began in January and were finalized recently.
“The deal is, it wasn’t something that wasn’t unearned. We earned it. We jumped in, and we did what we were supposed to do. We exceeded expectations for Year 1. So we earned it. I believe that you get as
Tremaine Jackson, Prairie View A&M University coach
your work deserves.”
“I feel really good about the fact that we were able to come to an agreement to get our assistants paid,” Jackson said. “For me, any dollar you pay Tremaine Jackson once I left Valdosta State was more money than I’ve made coaching football.
“It really didn’t matter to me. I don’t need no money. I’ve been good for a while now, thankfully. I wanted to make sure that we were competitive from an assistant coach standpoint and assistant coaches pool and that I wouldn’t be losing coaches because somebody got five more thousand dollars for them. Thankfully, our administration got that done to where we can come with an agreement.”
Jackson said he and athletic director Anton Goff discussed the possibility of renegotiating his original contract if he exceeded expectations in his first season. And that Jackson and the Panthers did, winning the SWAC West Division title, the SWAC Championship, and advancing to the Black College national championship game this past season.
Goff declined to discuss the reworked contract.
Jackson said the commitment from Goff and the administration ensures that he and his staff can continue to build the Panthers into a consistent winner. The goal this season is to duplicate the SWAC season and then bring home the Celebration Bowl trophy.
“These last couple of years and then us getting here and having some success, they didn’t do what most schools would do in our league,” he said. “Most schools would say, `You won it without it. So might as well just keep winning. You don’t need it. Looks good to me.’ But they decided to step up so that we can have a consistent winner, not just a one-hit wonder.”
Jackson also pushed for more NIL money and revenue sharing, which should make him more competitive in recruiting. The increase in NIL and revenue share, however, will benefit players entering the 2027 recruiting class rather than the current student-athletes on campus.
Jackson said he knows he will have at least $200,000 to work with, but says the pool for the players could be higher. Last year, Jackson said he didn’t have any money to give his players.
“Now, I have something to fight with in recruiting,” he said. “We have access to the money now, but we’ve brought a lot of players here. And there is not enough of a window where there is going to be this mass exodus of players.
“It’s good, and it helps, but it’s really for 2027. We are still going to have to get it how we know how to get it going into 2026.”
Jackson said securing Prairie View’s commitment to NIL and revenue sharing was key to remaining competitive with other top SWAC programs that compensate their players.
“I don’t want to be a one-hit wonder. We won’t be a one-hit wonder,” Jackson said. “But in order to ensure that we are not, we have to be able to jump into this game of the NIL and rev sharing and really participate. That’s something the school had to really get ready for because it wasn’t like that three or four years ago. So now, it’s like that.”
Jackson credits Goff for being a man of his word and getting a deal done.
“AD Goff has done everything he told me he was going to do,” Jackson said. “We tease each other that we play cards face up. He has been face up with me.”
