PULLMAN – Brennan Jackson, an accomplished edge rusher and veteran leader for Washington State’s football team, will return to the program next year for his sixth and final collegiate season.
“I think one more year here is what I want to do,” Jackson told reporters Friday. “I want to finish out as a Coug, finish what I started. I’m really looking forward to it and I think it’s going to be a great last one.”
Jackson emerged in 2021 as one of the headliners of WSU’s defensive turnaround. He was a handful for blockers this year, boosting his production in the backfield during his best season yet.
A team captain, Jackson led the Cougars with five sacks – seventh in the Pac-12 – and finished second on the team with 11 tackles for loss, tying for third in the conference.
The 6-foot-4, 263-pounder from Temecula, Calif., captured a starting role in 2020 and has improved steadily since. He earned an All-Pac-12 honorable mention nod last year and seems poised to land on the all-conference team when selections are announced next week. Jackson accepted an extra year of eligibility – granted by the NCAA in response to the COVID-19 pandemic – and will be perhaps the most important returner for WSU’s defense, which was one of the Pac-12’s top units this season but will lose a handful of starters to graduation.
Jackson’s decision is cause for “celebration,” said coach Jake Dickert, “popping corks and celebrating a guy like that, a staple of your program and a guy that’s just such a leader and has done so much here.
“Meeting with him, meeting with his family, they’re so invested,” Dickert added. “He’s doing it for the right reasons.”
Dickert praised Jackson for his dedication to WSU – staying committed to the program throughout his career sets a positive example.
“Young people are under immense pressure – the (transfer) portal, the (NIL) money, the ‘grass is greener somewhere else,’ ” Dickert said. “There’s so much pressure on these kids and this is the system we’ve created. To have someone put a stake in the ground and say, ‘I want to be here … I value it here,’ it’s really important.
“There will be roster turnover. We know that. We’ve planned for that. … To have a guy like (Jackson) to say, ‘This is my team. Let’s reestablish and let’s go do this thing again,’ is just so powerful for a team.”
Jackson has appeared in 31 games since 2019, totaling 105 tackles, 21 TFLs and 10½ sacks throughout his career.
Farewell to Renard Bell
After seven years at Washington State and 50 appearances in a Cougar uniform, Renard Bell’s collegiate career has come to an end.
One of the longest-tenured players in WSU program history, Bell “will not be back” for the Cougs’ bowl game later this month, coach Jake Dickert informed media members Friday.
Bell missed five games this year with an injury, including WSU’s regular-season finale last weekend – a 51-33 loss to Washington on senior night at Gesa Field in Pullman. He won’t be able to recover in time for the Cougars’ postseason game, which will be announced Sunday during a bowl-selection show.
“We just can’t get him to that point (of full health),” Dickert said, “and I don’t think he wants to have a chance to risk an injury for his future.”
Injuries derailed Bell’s final two years on the Palouse. He spent the 2021 campaign sidelined after suffering a season-ending ACL injury in the summer, but received a medical redshirt and returned to WSU for a seventh and final season. The explosive slotback from Los Angeles was back in form for the Cougars’ first five games this year, then sustained an arm injury Oct. 8 at USC, which kept him out of action for the next four games.
He rejoined the lineup Nov. 19 at Arizona but reaggravated the injury in the second half and was held out of the Apple Cup. Bell still finished the year as WSU’s fourth-most productive receiver, recording 315 yards and two touchdowns on 27 catches.
Travion Brown enters transfer portal
Travion Brown, a veteran Washington State defender who shared first-team snaps at middle linebacker this year, has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal, according to multiple reports Friday.
The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder played in 11 games this season, starting two. He and redshirt freshman Francisco Mauigoa rotated frequently at the middle linebacker position. Brown finished the regular season sixth on the team with 49 tackles, adding five tackles for loss, 1½ sacks and a fumble recovery.
Brown came to WSU in 2019 out of Linfield Christian School (Temecula, Calif.) as a three-star recruit and a top-20 outside linebacker in the country, per 247Sports.com. He chose the Cougars over offers from Washington, Oregon, Utah and Minnesota, among others, and claimed a playing role at WSU immediately. Brown made five starts at nickel during his true freshman season and earned All-Pac-12 second team recognition for his special-teams exploits.
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