Delaware State head coach DeSean Jackson is not one to burn the midnight oil. Or even the late afternoon oil.
In an appearance on Da Get Got Pod with fellow ex-NFL players Mike Robinson and Marshawn Lynch (one of our greatest Americans), Jackson said his working day leading the Hornets is 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
"I tell my coaches, just because you're there all day doesn't mean nothing," Jackson said. "You can still get out-schemed, you can still get out-worked. I'm not one of those coaches who says, 'We've got to be there at eight in the morning or six in the morning to 10 at night. Get in, get your work done, and when you're done, get up out of there, man. I don't really believe in all that, bro. You can get your work done and get home to your family, because I'm not going to be there all day."
DeSean Jackson rejects football’s the live in the office coaching culture
— Josh Chambers (@JoshChambers) September 17, 2026
“I spent 15 years playing in the league. The last thing I want to do is go have a long schedule, 8 in the morning till 10 at night, because we know the coaches we played for, they was in there all day.”… pic.twitter.com/pZ0lt1qfvr
The obvious question: Delaware State must suck, right?
Wrong.
In his first season at the school (and first as a college coach, period), Jackson led the Hornets to the best turnaround in all of Division I football. Delaware State went 8-4 in 2025, the program's first winning season since 2012 and its best overall campaign since 2007. More relevant to this discussion, the Hornets were a combined 2-21 in 2023-24. Jackson's team secured non-conference wins over Albany and St. Francis and came one win shy of the MEAC championship. The 2026 outfit is off to a 2-1 start, with a non-conference win over Stony Brook. All at a program that seemed deader than dead just two seasons ago.
Jackson, obviously, is best known for as a 2-time All-American at Cal and a 3-time Pro Bowler across a 15-year NFL career that lasted until 2022.
Perhaps it's that background that allows him to work this, ahem, unconventional schedule as a head coach. Everyone in football recognizes the diminishing returns of a 6-hour practice. Jackson sees the same in a 14-hour day as a head coach.