Cloverdale's Jackson commits to DePauw

During his days as a football player at Cloverdale, Tayt Jackson gave Putnam County residents and Cloverdale fans plenty to talk about.

The talk will continue as Jackson committed Wednesday to DePauw University. 

The decision to commit to DePauw marked the end of a recruiting season that saw the senior land 15 offers.

"It feels great to finally have a home. DePauw has been there since the beginning of the recruiting process, and no other program was there for me or showed as much interest as Coach Dietz and his staff," Jackson told The Putnam County Post. 

As for playing close to home, Jackson welcomes it.

"It feels great to be close to my hometown and for my community to have the ability to come and see me play at the next level. I plan on coming back to Cloverdale when I can and help coach the wide receivers at the high school. They're an amazing program with tons of great people at all levels," Jackson said.

DePauw recruited Jackson as a slot receiver.

"I think they have a great scheme that I fit perfectly in," said Jackson, who also had Valpo, Indiana Wesleyan and Marian among his top schools. 

During his high school career, Jackson was instrumental in changing the culture at Cloverdale, and helping the Clovers enjoy quite a bit of success last fall on the gridiron. However, he deflects any credit, giving it instead to head coach Tyler Lotz.

"I didn't help change the culture. I bought into Coach Lotz's vision of what Cloverdale football could become with hard work, dedication, perseverance, grit and the ability to trust not only in Coach Lotz, but my teammates as well. Everyone involved with Cloverdale football had just as much of an impact on the change of this program as I did. We are one brotherhood. None of the success that I had would've been possible without my teammates, coaches, or community's help. Cloverdale is making a new path for itself, and I will forever be grateful to have been a part of the start of a new era," Jackson said.