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For generations, the Southeastern Conference has led the way in athletics excellence while showcasing an over-the-top steadfastness to defy competitors.

For generations, the Southeastern Conference has trailed in racial progress while showcasing an over-the-top steadfastness to defy change.

Consider that until this season, the SEC never had a Black head baseball coach.

“It’s the good and the bad of it, right?� asked Kerrick Jackson, a historic hire as head baseball coach for Mizzou, set to play Illinois on Tuesday at Grizzlies Ballpark in Sauget. “It’s the good that we’re breaking glass ceilings in that there are more opportunities for minority coaches at higher levels. It’s the bad that it’s 2024 and we’re talking about firsts.

“For me, what I do understand is it’s my responsibility to have success so that more opportunities come for other coaches that are minority coaches down the road.�

Of course, Mizzou hired Jackson because he’s an elite coach. The 1992 Kirkwood High graduate has grown a resplendent resume over the decades. But because he’s also Black, the hiring is a statement to the SEC: The status quo is not acceptable, regardless of how much money these baseball programs rake in as their sluggers rake home runs.

Mizzou alumni and fans should be proud that their school is the one that made the history.

And the hiring should have positive reverberations across the South.

In fact, it literally could change the game.

“I think there are now going to be more minority players playing in the league,� said Jackson, 50. “From a recruiting standpoint, teams in our league will recognize the idea of me being a minority coach — and that being something that more minority players may be attracted to — so now I think you’ll see more growth in some of our teams across the board because they don’t want me to have the advantage. ‘Don’t go there just because he’s a minority coach. We have minority players, too.’ So I think that’s a positive. I think you’re going to see more minority kids playing in our league at a high level, not just here but other places.

“And then, just to create more opportunities. Our staff is very diverse. ... We’re not getting them just because they’re minorities but because they’re the right folks for the position and happen to be minorities. So for me to see that growth across the league? I think we will see that take place.�

The SEC can be a cruel ecosystem, even from a fans standpoint. There was the infamous time in 1987, at the SEC tournament, when a Mississippi State fan viciously taunted Black LSU star Albert Belle from a small hill behind the outfield fence. Belle lost his cool and actually went after the fan.

When Jackson got the gig with Mizzou, he told his wife to “stay off social media.� He knew there would be negativity spewed there by people who didn’t even know him — but did know his ethnicity.

“And I think about my sons,� the coach said. “They’re 12 and 11. I think about the impact (social media) could have on them — and in this society, where we are now, people can make comments in anonymity and not have to own their comments. They just say hateful things and try and degrade people.�

I asked Jackson on Monday if he hoped to change the narrative in the SEC by coaching baseball with dignity and winning a bunch of ballgames. His candid answer stuck with me all day.

“The idea of creating a new narrative is there, (but) people that are racist and have negative views, you’re not going to change that,� Jackson said. “They are who they are; they believe what they believe. What I do recognize and have recognized in the past is: Regardless of how successful you are, if someone has something against you there, it’s going to be held against you. And so, for me, it’s more the idea of going out and having success and doing things at a high level of representing from a professional standpoint — (and doing so) for those who aspire to be in this position.

“Like, if I can be inspiring to any young minority kids that want to coach or young minority kids that are wanting to play this game — (it’s important) that they see there’s a passage, there’s a way that you can go about it, there’s a way that you handle yourself in those situations. My motivation is more for them than it is for the naysayers.�

It’s way too early to know if Jackson will be a winner at Mizzou. So far in his first year, the club is 10-14. But Jackson yearned for the job, always wanted the Mizzou job specifically. This was his desired destination (he had been a Mizzou assistant from 2010 to 2015). Being the first Black coach in the SEC is special to him, but he wanted to be at Mizzou, regardless of Mizzou’s conference.

“This is a special place,� he said. “That’s why it’s always been my dream job to represent the state at the flagship institution — and do it at a very high level.�

There are hurdles. Former coach Steve Bieser once told the Post-Dispatch that the 2022 operations budget ($700,600) was 46% of the SEC average. And there are just some juggernauts across the South.

But Jackson seems like the right man to change things at Mizzou. And in doing so, also in the SEC.