NLP FAMILY

Eric Jerome Jackson: Born and raised by two of the greatest parents, Arthur Jackson and Louise B. Carswell of Dublin, GA. Mr. Jackson played varsity football as a DE & LB for the Dublin High School Fighting Irish where he lettered and graduated from Dublin High School in 1997. After graduation Mr. Jackson served in the US Army for three and a half years. Mr. Jackson is currently employed at the Best Buy Distribution Center located in Dublin, Georgia where he has been on the team for 22 years. Mr. Jackson is married to Shamika Jackson for the past 19 years, and has enjoyed raising their two wonderful, well-mannered children. The oldest child is D'Ery D. Jackson, who has always had a heart and love for different sports, but he chose football as his primary sport where he lettered on the varsity team for the West Laurens High School Raiders and graduated in 2020. He was blessed to enroll early at the University of Kentucky with a full scholarship for football where he is majoring in Communication and can be found on the field donning the #54 jersey for the University of Kentucky Wildcats. His daughter De’Zhune Jackson is a senior at West Laurens High School where she will be graduating in 2023 and has already started her career path in Healthcare at the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center. Mr. Jackson has had the pleasure of coaching football for Lauren's County Recreation for 4 years and had the pleasure of mentoring kids in the community with co-founders Steve Carter and Christopher Oliver. They started working with their sons by training and helping them stay in shape during the off-season. Mr. Jackson recognized the gap after their sons graduated and knew that they needed to start this back up to help other kids in the local community and surrounding counties that wanted to participate, work hard, and take it to the next level.

 Steven Roshoun Carter is from Barnesville, Ga. and a proud 1993 graduate of Lamar County Comprehensive High School. As a student, he excelled in the classroom while being a three-sport athlete and received "Most Athletic" in his senior class. Steven was blessed to receive a Baseball Scholarships at Gordon State College located in his hometown of Barnesville; GA. Steven is the husband of the beautiful Yolonder Shanesta Coney-Carter who is an educator in the Dublin City School System employed as a teacher. They are the proud parents of a son Jalen Jahad Carter, a graduate of Dublin High School and a starter on the 2019 Class AA Football High School State Champion Football team. Jalen is currently enrolled at the University of Georgia in Athens. Steven is also the owner of Infinity Reliable Transport LLC and is employed in the Movie Industry as a driver and is also a member of Teamster 728. Along with Eric Jackson and Chris Oliver they started working with their sons by training and helping them stay in shape during the off-season. After the graduation of their sons and taking some time off they soon realized the need to return to the field with any young athletes that had the desire to come out and work and get better at their chosen sport. Hence the beginning of what is known today as Next Level Prospects. With his passion for the young athletes and his desire to see them excel in not only sports but more importantly in life, the vision and purpose of Next Level Prospects has been realized. With a goal to reach the student athlete where they and enhance them through leadership and their unique experiences in sports and athletics is the driving force in taking the young athletes that participate to the “Next Level”         

Chris Oliver affectionately known as “Big Chris” 51 is married to Tammy Oliver for the past 23 years. He is the father of six children and grandfather to eight 8. Chris is an Alumni of East Laurens High School located in East Dublin, Ga. graduating in 1990. He played varsity football and lettered all four years of high school. He attended Fort Valley State University where he was a member of the football team. He is currently an active member of Living Faith Baptist Church located in Dublin, GA. His home church is Buckeye Baptist Church we’re he spent most of his youth and laid the foundation for his spiritual journey. His goal is to steer young men in the right direction away from gangs, drugs, and mischief through sports and academics. After suffering a stroke in July of 2020, Chris continues to do all that he can to help the youth in the community and can still be seen on the sidelines and in the stands at sporting events! With Eric Jackson and Steven Carter they started a journey working with their sons and just a few more young athletes training during the football off-season. With their return the NLP program in it’s short time has seen an average of 50 student athletes at each session come to work out and get better at their sport. The desire to see every player return to their school program better is his vision and goal and ultimately this is the vision and  goal of the program. His favorite quote is “Through hard work and determination, all things are possible.

A group of fathers, their son's, and a few friends comes together in 2017 during the offseason to workout and condition. From this group, six players would become Football State Champions and seven would continue their football careers signing scholarships to Power 5 conferences, DII, and DIII football programs. Others would continue their academic studies at institutions of higher learning, some would enter the workforce as productive young citizens, and tragedy would come to one. From 12 friends to 50 participants each session. The sky's the limit and everyone can "LEVEL UP"