Jackson returned to ice hockey in 1989 as the head coach for the
Knoxville Cherokees of the
East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). His success with the Cherokees during the 1990–91 earned him recognition as Coach of the Year. In 1991, Jackson was hired by
Pierre Page as an assistant coach for the
Quebec Nordiques, where he served for 3 seasons. He moved on to serve as head coach for the
Cincinnati Cyclones of the
IHL for the 1994–95 season, the
Wichita Thunder of the
Central Hockey League for the 1995–96 season and the
Kansas City Blades of the IHL for the 1996–97 season. In 1997, Jackson was hired by Kevin Constantine as assistant coach for the
Pittsburgh Penguins, serving 3 seasons. Jackson was employed as assistant coach by the
Chicago Blackhawks for 3 months of the 2000–01 season, and was named assistant coach of the
Ottawa Senators the following year. Jackson stayed with the Senators until his contract ended without being renewed in 2004. The 2004–05 NHL lockout pushed Jackson to find a coaching role in Europe. Late into the 2004–05 season of the
Deutsche Eishockey Liga (German Hockey League), Jackson was asked by general manager Peter Lee and head coach Pierre Page to join the
Eisbären Berlin coaching staff as an assistant. Berlin won their first championship that season. Berlin's success helped Jackson earn his first head coaching position in the
Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) with Lance Nethery and
DEG Metro Stars of Düsseldorf, who ended the 2004–05 season in 10th place. In Jackson's first season, 2005–06, in Düsseldorf, he coached the team to a third-place regular season finish and into the playoff finals, where they lost against the Eisbären Berlin in 2006 DEL playoff finals. Jackson carried that success into a second season in Düsseldorf, finishing second in regular season play and losing in the playoff semi-finals. After the 2006–07 season Jackson moved into the head coach position for the Eisbären Berlin of the
Deutsche Eishockey Liga, who had finished in 9th place. Jackson repeated the success he demonstrated in Düsseldorf by coaching Eisbären Berlin to a second-place regular season finish and a playoff finals DEL championship in his first season there. For that achievement, Jackson was awarded the
Order of Merit of Berlin. In his six seasons as head coach with
Eisbären Berlin (2007–13), Jackson coached the team to 3 first-place regular season finishes, 5 DEL championships, and a 2010 victory for the
European Trophy (currently,
Champions Hockey League). In 2013, Jackson joined Red Bull Hockey to coach their team
EC Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Hockey League for the 2013–14 season, which had finished their previous season in 8th place. Jackson again repeated his success by coaching the team to a first-place regular season finish, losing a game 7 overtime in the League Playoff finals. After the season, Red Bull Hockey moved Jackson to their team,
EHC Red Bull München, for the 2014–15 season where the team finished second overall but exited the playoffs early. The second-place finish earned Red Bull München a position in the 2015–16
Champions Hockey League, where they won in the group stage to advance to the playoff, then lost in the round of 32. Jackson's leadership of EHC Red Bull München for the 2015–16 season again improved on the team's success by finishing in first place in regular season play, and culminating in a 4-game sweep of the Wolfsburg Grizzlys for the 2016 DEL Playoff Championship. This was the 6th DEL Playoff Championship for Jackson in his 10 years as a head coach in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. In both the 2016–17 and 2017-18 campaigns, Jackson led Munich to a successful defense of its title, capturing his seventh and eighth German championships as a head coach. == Head coaching record ==