VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- Robert Jackson is the head coach at Landstown, but rewind a couple decades and he was leading the Bayside program and an All-District linebacker named Jon White.
"He was a little string-bean type of kid, one of those guys who got in the weight room and worked hard and it paid dividends for him," Jackson smiled.
White passed away suddenly this past weekend at the age of 43, leaving a hole in the Hampton Roads football community. A Bayside graduate, he was the head coach at his alma mater since 2013 after playing his college football at Hampton and serving as an assistant for the Marlins prior to taking the head job. Jackson and White would eventually coach against each other and, while the elder would always fight for the victory, seeing his former player on the sideline leading his program was a win in itself.
"Looking across the sideline, I was just proud to see one of my own," he noted. "I call them my puppies. Looking over there and seeing one of my puppies coaching and doing well."
Green Run head coach Brandon Williams coached against White and Bayside. Even though they would compete against each other, Williams remembers fondly White's willingness to lend a helping hand, especially when he first got the job leading the Stallions.
"I met Coach as soon as I got here to the Beach District when he was an assistant at Bayside," the Green Run head coach recalled. "We've been friends for years now and if I needed help or anything he was always a guy who I could reach out to."
Williams and Jackson are among the many who are digesting the news of White's untimely passing. Now they're remembering him as a coach who left a mark on his players, family and community.
"The last thing he actually said to me was walking across the field," Williams said motioning to the Stallions' gridiron. "He said he'll see me in the playoffs and I took that for granted."
"Jon was a guy who put those kids first," added Jackson. "He wanted them to grow up, the same things that I heard my high school coach, Coach Langston, say. He always wanted us to go out and be good fathers and good citizens."
Now the attention turns to helping White's wife and two sons with whatever they need, both now and in the future.
"He was the helping hand for many other families who have been through situations like this in the past," pointed out Williams. "We have to step up as coaches and as leaders in this area, Virginia Beach, that anything his family needs we're here for them."
"You don't have to let us know," Jackson said. "He has two kids he left behind and he left a wife behind and they're going to need our support."
A staple of his community gone far too soon, but White left a legacy that will live on through his family, fellow coaches, student-athletes and friends.
"Just gone way too soon," Williams said. "I wish I had the chance to tell him how much I appreciated him as a mentor, as a guy I looked up to."
"He went out and he was a model," added Jackson. "He modeled what he preached to those kids and we don't always get that and that's going to be missed."
