The RoundHouse | 2/20/2019 2:06:00 PM

Where are they now:
 
Danny Jackson – baseball (2003-07) 
 
Danny Jackson considered his baseball career finished and looked at a job in pharmaceutical sales as the next step. Then Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson told him the El Dorado Broncos needed a hitting coach.
 
"Gene said that he thought I'd be a good coach and I should pursue it," Jackson said. "I took it. It was the difference between making $75,000 a year and $1,000. But it was a chance to be around baseball."
 
Jackson, who played first base and pitched at Wichita State, took that chance to start his career in college coaching. 
 
He is entering his third season as head coach at NCAA Division II McKendree University, a school with an enrollment of 2,499 located in Lebanon, Ill., 25 miles east of St. Louis. He spent six seasons at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville as assistant coach and interim head coach. SIUE moved from NCAA Division to NCAA Division I during his time. He also coached at Saint Louis University for three seasons. 
 
"I tried to learn as much as I could in the different roles I had," he said. "As a volunteer assistant, you're working on travel like a director of operations would. I got experience in every part of the game. Getting my degree in sports psychology (at SIUE) really helped as far as being able to connect with each player, especially guys with different personalities."
 
Jackson, from Edwardsville, Ill., hit .273 for his career at Wichita State and made 29 appearances as a reliever to compile a 2.29 earned run average. He started 38 games for the 2007 NCAA super-regional Shockers, hitting .283 with four home runs and six doubles. 
 
In 2005, he earned MVP honors in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament after going 9 for 17 with four runs batted in and pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings. In 2007, he earned honorable mention All-MVC honors as a designated hitter.
 
Status update – Jackson is building the program at McKendree and is optimistic his work will pay off this season. 
 
"I've always believed that the underlying factor anywhere is the culture," he said. "Our goal coming in was to change the culture here and make it one of accountability, one of ownership and one of love for each other, to where guys are constantly pushing each other to raise their bar."
 
The Bearcats went 13-34 and 11-37 in his first two seasons. 
 
"We wanted to make sure we were very, very open and adamant about the kind of culture we wanted to instill here," he said. "We didn't trade wins for culture in the first two years. We could have very easily had some better players and done different things to win some more games. It was more important for me to get the culture established. Then we knew wins would come."
 
McKendree's roster includes 27 juniors and seniors and Jackson likes the mix of experience and newcomers.
 
"We've got a lot of guys that can drive the baseball out of the park, but we want to run as well," he said. "Be aggressive on the base paths and put pressure on the defense. We've got a pretty veteran group, so I think we can do that."
 
 Family - Jenny, Sawyer (3), Delaney (18 months)
 
Turn to music – Jackson spends most of his time with his family and baseball. He does admit to one diversion.
 
"I'm hoping, soon, that I'll be able to play the drums," he said. "That's something I've wanted to do for a long time. I'm a huge music fan and the sound that listen for or I like the most is the drums. I've always wanted to learn to play."
 
His tax refund, perhaps, is targeted toward his first set of drums.
 
"Honestly, I think it would be a great stress reliever to go pound on the drums for a few minutes," he said.
 
Good times in 2007 – The Shockers suffered regional defeats in 2004, 2005 and 2006 before breaking through in 2007. They defeated Arizona, after losing the opening game to New Orleans, to win the regional at Eck Stadium.
 
"That was pretty unbelievable, especially coming back from the losers bracket." Jackson said. "That whole last month of my career was pretty amazing."
 
The Shockers played Cal Irvine in the super regional at Eck and lost two one-run games.
 
"I think we just had a bunch of guys that didn't want to lose and we had a bunch of guys that liked each other," he said. "That's one of the things I thought was special. If we had a bad weekend, we'd get together and be together."
 
That little voice – Jackson credits Stephenson, assistant coach Jim Thomas and pitching coach Brent Kemnitz with shaping his coaching style.
 
And, yes, he hears their words in his head often when he speaks to his team.
 
"Especially, the things that Brent used to teach us about the mental part," Jackson said. "Those are things I carried with me every step of the way. That's honestly one of the reason why I got into the psychology of sports."
 
Stephenson's high expectations and intensity stick with Jackson. 
 
"The absolute joy that Gene used to have for the game is something I try to get our players to replicate," Jackson said. "Joy is a form of passion, and so is anger. Gene is a passionate guy, competitive guy. If we didn't meet his standards, he would let us hear about it."
 
Stephenson's loyalty and willingness to help former Shockers also made an impression.
 
"He and I went back and forth," Jackson said. "As soon as I was ready to graduate he picked up the phone and called seven people for me. When I got the job at McKendree, he was one of the first people to call me and congratulate me."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.