Northwestern is expected to hire Villanova’s Mark Jackson as its next athletic director, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Wednesday evening. Jackson served as Villanova’s athletic director since 2015 and will replace Derrick Gragg, who will shift into the newly-minted role of vice president of athletic strategy.
The move would put Jackson atop an athletic department that made two national championship appearances — in field hockey and lacrosse — and experienced widespread success in the last year.
A Boston native, Jackson played defensive back at Division III Colby College from 1991-94. He later attended Trinity College, where he served as a graduate assistant football coach and received a master’s degree in Public Policy in 1997.
During his tenure at Villanova, the Wildcats won two national titles in men’s basketball and their varsity programs won more than 30 conference championships.
Prior to his administrative career, Jackson served on Pete Carroll’s New England Patriots staff as a special teams coaching assistant. He later coached under Bill Belichick as a special teams and running back assistant through the 2000 season.
Jackson reunited with Carroll at University of Southern California, where he was the director of football operations and an assistant athletic director from 2001-2005. He then held several managerial positions at Syracuse and with the Oakland Raiders organization.
Making the jump from the Big East to the Big Ten would make Jackson the University’s 24th athletic director.
A spokesperson for the University did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports.
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