Martin Jackson was a gifted football and basketball player, and he helped bring out the same athletic talent in the student-athletes he coached and mentored. Jackson served as the head football coach at Wauwatosa High School from 1929 to 1949 and as the head basketball coach from 1929 to 1944. His football team boasted a win-loss record of 100-50-8 and his basketball team a record of 151-92. Jackson coached the football team to three conference titles and 11 runner-up finishes. His basketball team won their conference championship twice and qualified for the state tournament twice, including one second place finish.
In 1938, Jackson was honored with an invitation to speak at the State Coaches’ Clinic at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After retiring in 1949, Jackson did not stop teaching or coaching. He became a teacher at Wisconsin Tech and assisted the football coach. Even into his 80s, Jackson continued to teach part-time as a substitute teacher in the Milwaukee school system. He was a legend of Wauwatosa High School for his accomplishments with the football and basketball programs and was inducted into the WFCA Hall of Fame in 1984.
