About a month into the 2023 season, the Bucknell’s men’s soccer team had just one win to its name. The team needed a kick, and the culture and style that second-year head coach Dave Brandt was instilling in his new squad was not yet translating to results on the pitch.
The kick that the team needed started with a meeting called by a player. Jackson Sullivan, a sophomore at the time, boldly summoned his teammates to air their grievances with an open conversation. Everyone in the squad embraced the discussion, and from there on out, a culture and sense of leadership among the players was taken to the next level.
“Thankfully, I was on the field enough at that time and the guys respected me,” said Jackson. “Usually if a sophomore called a meeting, people might not listen to them. I wanted to sit down and talk about it instead of getting on to the field and whining and yelling at each other. It coats on and can be more and more difficult to scrape off, so I wanted to see if we could stop it in its tracks.”
Soon after the meeting, Jackson was named the team captain. It is rare for a sophomore to assume a leadership role of team captain in their early years with a team, but Jackson took the responsibility to be a leader regardless of his status as captain.
“That was really the moment where I think people started to look at me for guidance,” said Jackson. “In that role, I took the initiative to meet with guys and discuss issues. I took those to the coaches to see if we could change anything because I didn’t want the season to be a throw-away.”
Jackson was a member of Brandt’s first recruiting class at Bucknell, joining the squad as a freshman in 2022. In their first two seasons, Bucknell won just five matches. The Bison ultimately finished the 2023 season with a 2-10-4 record, but the tides began to turn. Seven of the team’s losses were one-goal matches, and the Bison felt as if they were as good as their opponents. The results just had not come quite yet.
A Chicago native, Jackson was originally on the fence about moving such a long way for the next four years of his life.
“For anybody that’s ever talked to coach Brandt, you know he’s a very thorough guy,” said Jackson. “My dad told me, ‘I rarely find any coaches that talk like this.’ Everything was so deliberate and done with such deep care. Talking to other schools, the treatment here was night and day with how coach Brandt talked to me and my family versus other coaches. He was very detail-oriented with where he wanted to take the team and how he wanted to do it, and it really stuck out to my dad who I look up to the most.”
Well aware that the program was going through a rebuild with a new coach and a new philosophy, he was ready to take the challenge head-on to be a part of the change. Sullivan was one of 12 new players joining the team, including 10 freshmen in the class.
“It was a little intimidating at first,” said Jackson. “My first year there were two defenders that were captains and I just wanted to get on the field. There were 10 freshmen in the class and I felt awkward coming into a team with a new coach who seemed like he was trying to establish a new team with new players.”
Jackson, the oldest of four brothers, grew up in a competitive household and learned from an early age how to be a mentor.
“Growing up when I was younger, just four boys being around each other all the time was always competitive,” said Jackson. “My junior year of high school is probably when I started to move into the ‘older brother’ relationship where I was trying to be more of a mentor; picking up and coaching up my younger brothers. To have that experience was important. Maybe I wasn’t ready to be a captain based on my age, but having competitive brothers and understanding how to navigate situations and relationships played a big part.”
Collin, the second oldest of the four, is currently a sophomore on the team. Collin joined the squad in 2024 as a freshman heading into Jackson’s junior year. Jackson and Collin played together briefly at Lyons Township High School in La Grange Park, Illinois. Separated by two years, the pair did not see much time on the pitch together.
“It’s so awesome and I’m so thankful,” said Jackson. “Being the two oldest of four brothers, I’m closest with Collin and he’s one my best friends. We have similar mindsets; he’s always watching me and I’m always watching him, so it pushes each other a little harder. I’m thankful we get to play college soccer together and it’s special.”
Despite their close relationship, Jackson believes that Collin did not originally want to come to Bucknell due to his older brother being on the squad. That competitive nature among the Sullivan boys led Collin to want to be his own person on and off the field.
“He told me he didn’t want to come to Bucknell because I was here,” said Jackson. “Obviously, he loves me and respects me. With four boys, we’re super competitive and he didn’t want to feel like he was here just because I was here. He wanted to make his own mark and he did that last year when he stepped in and made more of an impact than I could have imagined making when I was a freshman.”
During Collin’s freshman season last year, the Bison were off to a strong start with a 4-4-2 record, nearly matching its win total of the previous two seasons midway through the season. During a match with Binghamton, Jackson went down with a broken collarbone and missed the majority of the rest of 2024.
Collin, who is also a center back, stepped in to replace his injured brother. Collin started eight of the nine remaining games, playing at least 90 minutes in all but three of those matches. Collin played a big role in helping the Bison become a top defensive side in the nation. The Bison surrendered just 21 goals in 20 matches, and only allowed five goals in nine Patriot League matches.
“I was completely distraught when I went down,” said Jackson. “We went to the side and prayed together for a quick recovery and for him to take the opportunity in stride. He’s always been a leader, but seeing him be pushed into a position where he had to perform boosted his confidence and it was awesome to see him embrace that.”
Despite the injury, Jackson could still kick the ball around. Before every game they would pass the ball around and partner up in situations where Jackson was able to participate.
“At halftime and after the game, we would talk about the game,” said Jackson. “He’s always coming to talk to me about the game and get my point of view. When we’re on the field together now, we talk through things together.”
The injury was a huge change for Jackson. Leading on the pitch and in training was second-nature for the captain, he was forced to be more vocal and look past his situation for the betterment of the team.
“It was brutal for me to be honest,” said Jackson. “Trying to change my leadership style was big for me because I’ve been used to being on the field and leading by example whether it’s picking guys up or being the hardest worker in the game. I was still at all the practices and team events. The guys looked to me as a leader and they want to see their leader there. It taught me a lot of humility and selflessness, especially in a situation where I wanted to feel sorry for myself.”
Bucknell went on to win the Patriot League championship for the first time since 2014, taking down American in a penalty shootout before a dominating 3-0 performance against Colgate in the title match. It was an incredible last-to-first finish for the Bison. Although Jackson was not on the pitch playing, his presence and leadership was an important factor to helping the Bison bring back winning soccer to the program.
Coach Brandt and the team pride themselves in Ubuntu, an African philosophy that directly translates to “I am because we are.” For Jackson and Collin, it was their first championship while playing together.
“My freshman and sophomore years were brutal, but all of the fitness we had to do, the hard-work and the losses were worth it,” said Jackson. “When my dad hugged me after the game, he said ‘you guys started this and look where it is now.’ It was all worth it and that was the first time I really realized it. Everyone down to the last guy on the bench, no matter your minutes or your role, you are part of an exclusive mix of people. No matter what your role is, you are part of it.”
Jackson, who is now a senior, now has a different approach to how he leads the team. As an underclassman, there was pressure to be that guy that others can rely on. Jackson was still trying to prove himself on the field and solidify that he was right for that leadership role.
As the culture and leadership amongst the team continued to strengthen, Jackson is now one of five co-captains for the 2025 season. The group includes senior goalkeeper Freddie Lapworth, junior defender Kiko Hidalgo, senior midfielder Jimmy Pombor, and senior wing back Cade McGrath. On the field, Jackson remains the captain, sporting the captain’s armband during matches.
“I’ve been here for a while and I think I’m pretty well established,” said Jackson. “One of the biggest things I’ve worked on is trying to establish close relationships with all of the guys. You want to have your captain be someone you can confide in and trust, and I want to be someone they can come talk to and look for help.”
The Bison are off to a great 2-1-1 start in its title-defense campaign against strong opposition. The Bison went unbeaten in their first three matches and are receiving votes in the national rankings. The Orange and Blue took down No. 23 Hofstra in the season-opener and tied a tough Maryland side.
Bucknell is coming off of a loss on a last-minute goal to No. 22 George Mason, but the team has entertained the fans with late goals in their first three matches that ultimately decided the result. The Bison have also come back after trailing in each of their first four matches.
“We hope we can stop getting some goals scored on us so we don’t have to make comebacks and make it a little bit easier on ourselves,” said Jackson. “That's another testament to what the coaches have built here. One of our core values is to finish strong, and be able to score the final goal. We’ve suffered a lot together, so when we get in opportunities where we can do something special, guys are selfless and do whatever we can. On any of the celebrations on our goals, everyone is smiling ear-to-ear and it’s genuine excitement for the guy that scored.”
In the match against Maryland, Jackson scored his first career goal on a penalty kick. The goal was important in helping the Bison overcome a two-goal deficit. Fellow senior center back Ben Sheffield joined the fun, tying the match on an 86th-minute goal.
“When the penalty happened, I was standing around looking at the guys on the field and thought, ‘wow, I’m probably up to take this penalty,’” said Jackson. “Cade [McGrath] yelled from the sideline for me to go take the penalty. I got videos of my mom from back home and she was so nervous and then just screaming after the goal. It was awesome.”
It was a small moment of redemption after he returned from his injury against American in the Patriot League semifinals in the penalty shoot-out, where he missed his penalty. It is not too often that a center back is one of the team’s top penalty takers, but Jackson had plenty of practice.
“When we were starting to prepare postseason, penalties became a normal routine in practice,” said Jackson. “I was hurt and couldn’t do a ton of stuff, but I could take penalties. Guys would have 20-30 minutes of penalties at practice, but I had two hours of penalties.”
Jackson’s leadership extends away from soccer too. A biology major with real estate and economics minors, he is involved in the Bucknell’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and donates his time to Toys for Tots in Lewisburg.
“I never thought too much about post-graduation and what’s next,” said Jackson. “If we keep having a great season and an opportunity arose to keep playing, I’d be foolish not to take it.”
Coach Brandt, Jackson and the rest of the team have come together to build a strong culture and restore championship soccer to the men’s program. Jackson’s leadership has carried into a team full of leaders that are willing to sacrifice a lot for each other.
“This is a group of guys and we just want to keep it rolling and do something special.”