Idaho had 2 winning seasons in 22 years prior to his arrival. In his 3 seasons there they went to 3 straight FCS playoffs. Pushed Oregon to the 4th qtr and beat other G6 teams from the FCS. Idaho got a big last second upset of #1 Montana last night but other than that it looks like they’ve backslid since Eck left. Looks like he’s able to hire some good assistants like Rob Aurich (currently Nebraska DC) and also his current DC.
At NM they had 2 winnings seasons in the prior 18 and in his first season there they went 9-4 and got a share of the MWC regular season title. He had 72 new players, most in the FBS . Played Michigan decently and beat down a struggling UCLA. This season took OU to the end and doing well so far. Starting qb lost for the year in the preseason and was shuffling qbs for a bit but now has settled on one, currently 4-1 after beating down UTEP 61-7 yesterday.
Former B10 OL and you can see his teams play tough hard nosed ball.
Jacobs feels potentially similar to me and has won at an 80% clip but want to see what he does at Toledo this year. Also a former B10 OL who also tries to build from the lines out. Maybe not as much a rebuilder as Eck but more taking the gamble on winners know how to win theme hopefully kind of like DeBoer. His former Mercer qb is killing it currently at Oregon State under former DeBoer assistant Jamarcus Shephard.
More on Mike Jacobs assuming he can have a good season at Toledo. It would only be 1 year at the FBS level but Saban was coach there only for a year, Eli Drinkwitz was only at App State for a year before Mizzou, DeBoer at Fresno State for 1.5 years before UW. Chesney was two at JMU. So it’s light but it’s been done.
It’s probably a little bit of a bigger gamble than some other names I’ve mentioned but he’s never lost more than 3 games in a year and won at an 80% clip…it’s a bet on winners know how to win and if have it you have it kind of thing. Been a HC for 10 years and won the conference twice at Mercer and sounds like they didn’t win one since 1932 and he did it twice.
If he doesn’t do well at Toledo this year then of course you cross him off but if he does well and others aren’t feasible for whatever reason, he might be a decent option..
This was an Athletic article from last year on coaches who might be the next Cignetti.
Bruce Feldman, The Athletic: “
Mercer head coach Mike Jacobs, a former O-lineman for Jim Tressel at Ohio State, got to Notre Dame in 2014 as its D-line coach — but that isn’t the Fighting Irish. They were the Notre Dame Falcons in Ohio, a short-lived Division II program, where he would soon take over a team that had gone 5-6, then go 42-8 in four seasons. He then went 32-9 at DII’s Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) before leaving in 2024 for FCS’ Mercer, where he is 16-4 so far.” (He ended up 20-6/15-1 his two years there)
Jacobs combines two of the things I love most about my job: lower-division football and the Freaks List. At Lenoir-Rhyne, he produced
my first small-school Freak in future Patriots safety Kyle Dugger,
then future Seahawks receiver Dareke Young as well.
Richard Johnson CBS Sports, Behind Chesney, Jacobs was No. 1 on my list. Mercer’s first conference title winner since 1932, in fact.
sure…let’s hire someone who not only has no college experience, but probably no clue how to navigate the ever changing NIL BS or recruiting.
