Football
Jacobs, Mike
Mike Jacobs
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Alma Mater:
- Ohio State, 2001
- Email:
- football@mercer.edu
A 22-year collegiate coaching veteran with footprints of success throughout each stop of his storied career, Mike Jacobs was announced as the 21st head coach in the history of the Mercer football program on Jan. 18, 2024.
Jacobs, who has compiled an 85-20 (.810) record across head coaching stops at Notre Dame (Ohio), Lenoir-Rhyne and Mercer, boasts the nation’s sixth-best winning percentage among active coaches at the NCAA Divisions I and II levels.
In just nine campaigns as a collegiate head coach, Jacobs has mentored 13 student-athletes to all-America nods, and his NCAA Division II squads at both Notre Dame and Lenoir-Rhyne also raked in 17 all-region laurels. His programs have also boasted 100 all-conference awards, including 62 in four seasons at Notre Dame, and seven Academic All-America crowns.
Former Notre Dame running back Jaleel McLaughlin was a two-time finalist for the Harlon Hill Award, including a runner-up finish in 2019, while former L-R wide receiver Dareke Young was selected in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks. MU cornerback TJ Moore culminated his senior season in 2024 by finishing runner-up in voting for the Buck Buchanan Award which honors the national defensive player of the year in Division I FCS college football.
A four-time conference coach of the year recipient, he was also tabbed as the National Coach of the Year in 2018 by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette. He was also a finalist for the 2024 Eddie Robinson Award which is presented annually to the national coach of the year in Division I FCS college football.
Utilizing one of the nation’s top defensive units that helped it bully its way through the league gauntlet and stake claim to the first conference championship in the 51-season history of the program, Mercer paced all 123 FCS teams in five defensive statistical categories in 2024, including school-record marks for forced turnovers (34), passes intercepted (25) and rushing defense (70.8 rushing yards/game allowed). On the other side of the ball, the Bears averaged more than 400 yards and 33 points per game behind a balanced offense that was anchored by senior transfer Dwayne McGee who shattered the school’s single-season rushing record with 1,187 yards on the ground.
The Bears opened the Mike Jacobs Era with a record six-straight wins on the way to an 11-3 record and a run to the quarterfinals round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs. Nineteen student-athletes earned a spot on either the coaches' or Phil Steele All-Southern Conference squads at season's end, while six of those players went on to grab all-America laurels.
Jacobs, who succeeded former MU head coach Drew Cronic as the leader of the program at Lenoir-Rhyne prior to the 2020 campaign, skippered the Bears to a 32-9 record from 2019-23, as well as the 2023 South Atlantic Conference championship and a trio of league divisional titles. L-R capped its most recent campaign, one which included the school’s first NCAA postseason road victory, with a No. 4 national ranking as well.
Tenacious defensive units proved to be the calling card for Lenoir-Rhyne’s success under the leadership of Jacobs as the Bears limited opponents to just 288.5 yards per game across his 41-game tenure in Hickory, including just 105.7 yards per game on the ground. L-R boasted the nation’s 9th-ranked total defense (258.5 yards allowed/game) during its run to the 2023 NCAA Division II Semifinals, as well as NCAA Division II’s 7th-best scoring defense (14.7 points allowed/game).
The Bears were equally as impressive on the offensive side of the ball under Jacobs’s direction, averaging 433.8 yards an outing across his time in western North Carolina, including an impressive 348.8 passing yards per game across that span. Lenoir-Rhyne showcased the nation’s 5th-best total offense (488.7 yards/game) during its run to eight victories and an NCAA postseason berth in 2021. The Bears tacked up 38.5 points per game (13th NCAA) during that campaign as well.
Jacobs led Notre Dame to a dominant run of success from 2016-19 as evidenced by a cumulative 42-8 (.840) record and a pair of Mountain East Conference championships. The Falcons racked up a 13-1 record and advanced all the way through to the semifinal round to cap the program’s first-ever berth into the NCAA postseason in 2018, and returned to the sport’s biggest stage the following season on the way to a 12-2 record and a berth into the NCAA quarterfinals.
Jacobs’s Notre Dame squads exhibited a similar level of dominance in South Euclid, Ohio, but relied more on an unrelenting ground attack. The Falcons registered 431.2 yards and of total offense and 34.4 points per game across a 50-game stretch for Jacobs in northeast Ohio, including nearly 235 yards per outing from its infantry. Notre Dame carried NCAA Division II’s 12th-best rushing offense during both the 2017 (264.6 rushing yards/game) and 2018 (232.5) seasons, and then boasted the nation’s 17th-best ground game (239.4) en route to an appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals in 2019.
Defensively, the Falcons were just as stout, especially when it came to the front line. Opponents mustered just 103.5 rushing yards per game against Notre Dame from 2016-19, and the Falcons toted a pair of top-10 rushing defenses across the latter two campaigns. NDC limited opponents to just 82.9 rushing yards per game (5th NCAA) during its run to the NCAA semifinals in 2018, and then allowed just 90.0 rushing yards an outing on the way to the quarterfinal round of the 2019 NCAA Division II Playoffs.
Jacobs has stints on the coaching staffs at four other collegiate institutions as well, including one as a graduate assistant coach and offensive line assistant at Eastern Michigan for the 2002 and 2003 seasons. He later served as an assistant coach at Wilmington (Ohio), Purdue and California (Pa.), before accepting a position as the defensive line coach at Notre Dame in time for the 2014 season. He was promoted to defensive coordinator for the Falcons prior to the 2015 campaign.
A former standout on the offensive line for coaches John Cooper and Jim Tressel at Ohio State from 1997-01, Jacobs was a five-year member and two time letter-winner at the Ohio State University from 1997-2001. He was an offensive lineman and a long snapper for both John Cooper and Jim Tressell. During his career, he played in over 30 games, including two Sugar Bowls.
The Maumee, Ohio, native earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Ohio State in 2001, and completed his graduate work in education at Purdue in 2008.
Coach Jacobs and his wife, Lacey, are the proud parents of two sons, Luke and Knox.
Updated: June 2025
Jacobs, who has compiled an 85-20 (.810) record across head coaching stops at Notre Dame (Ohio), Lenoir-Rhyne and Mercer, boasts the nation’s sixth-best winning percentage among active coaches at the NCAA Divisions I and II levels.
In just nine campaigns as a collegiate head coach, Jacobs has mentored 13 student-athletes to all-America nods, and his NCAA Division II squads at both Notre Dame and Lenoir-Rhyne also raked in 17 all-region laurels. His programs have also boasted 100 all-conference awards, including 62 in four seasons at Notre Dame, and seven Academic All-America crowns.
Former Notre Dame running back Jaleel McLaughlin was a two-time finalist for the Harlon Hill Award, including a runner-up finish in 2019, while former L-R wide receiver Dareke Young was selected in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks. MU cornerback TJ Moore culminated his senior season in 2024 by finishing runner-up in voting for the Buck Buchanan Award which honors the national defensive player of the year in Division I FCS college football.
A four-time conference coach of the year recipient, he was also tabbed as the National Coach of the Year in 2018 by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette. He was also a finalist for the 2024 Eddie Robinson Award which is presented annually to the national coach of the year in Division I FCS college football.
Utilizing one of the nation’s top defensive units that helped it bully its way through the league gauntlet and stake claim to the first conference championship in the 51-season history of the program, Mercer paced all 123 FCS teams in five defensive statistical categories in 2024, including school-record marks for forced turnovers (34), passes intercepted (25) and rushing defense (70.8 rushing yards/game allowed). On the other side of the ball, the Bears averaged more than 400 yards and 33 points per game behind a balanced offense that was anchored by senior transfer Dwayne McGee who shattered the school’s single-season rushing record with 1,187 yards on the ground.
The Bears opened the Mike Jacobs Era with a record six-straight wins on the way to an 11-3 record and a run to the quarterfinals round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs. Nineteen student-athletes earned a spot on either the coaches' or Phil Steele All-Southern Conference squads at season's end, while six of those players went on to grab all-America laurels.
Jacobs, who succeeded former MU head coach Drew Cronic as the leader of the program at Lenoir-Rhyne prior to the 2020 campaign, skippered the Bears to a 32-9 record from 2019-23, as well as the 2023 South Atlantic Conference championship and a trio of league divisional titles. L-R capped its most recent campaign, one which included the school’s first NCAA postseason road victory, with a No. 4 national ranking as well.
Tenacious defensive units proved to be the calling card for Lenoir-Rhyne’s success under the leadership of Jacobs as the Bears limited opponents to just 288.5 yards per game across his 41-game tenure in Hickory, including just 105.7 yards per game on the ground. L-R boasted the nation’s 9th-ranked total defense (258.5 yards allowed/game) during its run to the 2023 NCAA Division II Semifinals, as well as NCAA Division II’s 7th-best scoring defense (14.7 points allowed/game).
The Bears were equally as impressive on the offensive side of the ball under Jacobs’s direction, averaging 433.8 yards an outing across his time in western North Carolina, including an impressive 348.8 passing yards per game across that span. Lenoir-Rhyne showcased the nation’s 5th-best total offense (488.7 yards/game) during its run to eight victories and an NCAA postseason berth in 2021. The Bears tacked up 38.5 points per game (13th NCAA) during that campaign as well.
Jacobs led Notre Dame to a dominant run of success from 2016-19 as evidenced by a cumulative 42-8 (.840) record and a pair of Mountain East Conference championships. The Falcons racked up a 13-1 record and advanced all the way through to the semifinal round to cap the program’s first-ever berth into the NCAA postseason in 2018, and returned to the sport’s biggest stage the following season on the way to a 12-2 record and a berth into the NCAA quarterfinals.
Jacobs’s Notre Dame squads exhibited a similar level of dominance in South Euclid, Ohio, but relied more on an unrelenting ground attack. The Falcons registered 431.2 yards and of total offense and 34.4 points per game across a 50-game stretch for Jacobs in northeast Ohio, including nearly 235 yards per outing from its infantry. Notre Dame carried NCAA Division II’s 12th-best rushing offense during both the 2017 (264.6 rushing yards/game) and 2018 (232.5) seasons, and then boasted the nation’s 17th-best ground game (239.4) en route to an appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals in 2019.
Defensively, the Falcons were just as stout, especially when it came to the front line. Opponents mustered just 103.5 rushing yards per game against Notre Dame from 2016-19, and the Falcons toted a pair of top-10 rushing defenses across the latter two campaigns. NDC limited opponents to just 82.9 rushing yards per game (5th NCAA) during its run to the NCAA semifinals in 2018, and then allowed just 90.0 rushing yards an outing on the way to the quarterfinal round of the 2019 NCAA Division II Playoffs.
Jacobs has stints on the coaching staffs at four other collegiate institutions as well, including one as a graduate assistant coach and offensive line assistant at Eastern Michigan for the 2002 and 2003 seasons. He later served as an assistant coach at Wilmington (Ohio), Purdue and California (Pa.), before accepting a position as the defensive line coach at Notre Dame in time for the 2014 season. He was promoted to defensive coordinator for the Falcons prior to the 2015 campaign.
A former standout on the offensive line for coaches John Cooper and Jim Tressel at Ohio State from 1997-01, Jacobs was a five-year member and two time letter-winner at the Ohio State University from 1997-2001. He was an offensive lineman and a long snapper for both John Cooper and Jim Tressell. During his career, he played in over 30 games, including two Sugar Bowls.
The Maumee, Ohio, native earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Ohio State in 2001, and completed his graduate work in education at Purdue in 2008.
Coach Jacobs and his wife, Lacey, are the proud parents of two sons, Luke and Knox.
| THE JACOBS FILE | |
| Coaching Experience | |
| 2002-03 | Eastern Michigan (Graduate Assistant Coach/Offensive Line) |
| 2004 | Wilmington (Assistant Coach/Offensive Line) |
| 2005-07 | Purdue (Graduate Assistant Coach/Offensive Line) |
| 2008-13 | California, Pa. (Assistant Coach/Defensive Line) |
| 2014 | Notre Dame, Ohio (Defensive Line) |
| 2015 | Notre Dame, Ohio (Defensive Coordinator) |
| 2016-19 | Notre Dame, Ohio (Head Coach) |
| 2020-23 | Lenoir-Rhyne (Head Coach) |
| 2024-Present | Mercer (Head Coach) |
| Playing Experience | |
| Played four seasons (1997-00) at Ohio State for coaches John Cooper and Jim Tressel. Saw action in the 1998 and 1999 Sugar Bowl. | |
| Education | |
| Bachelor's degree in education (Ohio State, 2001); Master's degree in education (Purdue, 2008) | |
| Family | |
| Wife, Lacey, and two sons, Luke and Knox | |
HEAD COACHING RECORD
| Season | Team | Overall | Pct. | Conference | Pct. | Postseason |
| Notre Dame Falcons (NCAA II - Mountain East Conference) | ||||||
| 2016 | Notre Dame | 9-2 | .818 | 8-2 | .800 | |
| 2017 | Notre Dame | 8-3 | .727 | 8-2 | .800 | |
| 2018 | Notre Dame | 13-1 | .929 | 10-1 | .909 | MEC Champions, NCAA II Semifinals |
| 2019 | Notre Dame | 12-2 | .857 | 9-1 | .900 | MEC Champions, NCAA II Quarterfinals |
| Notre Dame (Ohio) | 42-8 | .850 | 35-6 | .854 | ||
| Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (NCAA II - South Atlantic Conference) | ||||||
| 2020-21 | Lenoir-Rhyne | 3-1 | .750 | 3-0 | 1.000 | SAC Division Champions |
| 2021 | Lenoir-Rhyne | 8-3 | .727 | 6-2 | .750 | NCAA II Playoffs |
| 2022 | Lenoir-Rhyne | 8-3 | .727 | 7-2 | .778 | SAC Division Co-Champions |
| 2023 | Lenoir-Rhyne | 13-2 | .867 | 8-1 | .889 | SAC Champions, SAC Division Champions, NCAA II Semifinals |
| Lenoir-Rhyne | 32-9 | .780 | 24-5 | .828 | ||
| Mercer Bears (Southern Conference) | ||||||
| 2024 | Mercer | 11-3 | .786 | 7-1 | .875 | SoCon Champions; NCAA Quarterfinals |
| Totals | 85-20 | .810 | 66-12 | .846 | ||
Updated: June 2025
Press Conference Mercer Football (Week 5 vs East Tennessee State)
Tuesday, September 23
Mercer 38, Citadel 0 | Postgame Press Conference (9/20/25)
Saturday, September 20
Mercer v U.T. Martin VB Highlight Reel: 9/20/2025
Saturday, September 20
Mercer v North Dakota VB Highlight Reel: 9/19/2025
Saturday, September 20
