After a strong season for Toledo, the Rockets have hired former Mercer head coach Mike Jacobs. The move comes after Jacobs led Mercer to the top of the Southern Conference. His arrival means he will replace former Toledo head coach Jason Candle.

Candle finished the 2025 season with an 8–4 record, and after nine seasons as Toledo’s head coach and more than a decade on staff overall, he chose to pursue a new opportunity at UConn, leaving Toledo with a vacancy. Jacobs quickly emerged as the leading candidate, and CBS Sports reporter Matt Zenitz confirmed the hire on X.

“Toledo has finalized a five-year deal to hire Mercer’s Mike Jacobs as its new head coach, sources tell @CBSSports. Jacobs, an Ohio native and former Ohio State player, has a 94-23 overall record as a head coach. Will be Toledo’s replacement for Jason Candle.”

Jacobs joins Toledo after guiding Mercer to a 9-3 record and a strong showing in the Southern Conference. In two seasons at Mercer, he went 20–6 with back-to-back Southern Conference titles and an FCS quarterfinal appearance in 2024, the first SoCon program to repeat as league champion since Appalachian State in 2008–09.

Who is Mike Jacobs?

Michael R Jacobs, better known as Mike Jacobs, was born on May 9th, 1979, in Maumee, Ohio. In his early days, Jacobs played as an offensive lineman and long snapper for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Jacobs spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons as Mercer’s head coach in the Southern Conference. He was recently appointed as Toledo’s head coach beginning with the 2026 season. Before his appointment at Mercer, Jacobs was head coach at Notre Dame College in Ohio (2016–2019) and Lenoir–Rhyne (2020–2023).

Who is Mike Jacobs’s Wife?

There is little publicly available information about Mike Jacobs’ private life. What is known is that he is married to his wife, Lacey, though details about her are also limited.

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Who are Mike Jacobs’s Parents?

Mike Jacobs is named after his father, Mike Jacobs, who also had experience in collegiate football coaching. He served as an offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at Ohio State. There is not much information about his mother, Judy Jacobs.

Public records list the Jacobs family as longtime Ohio residents, but there is no public information confirming any additional details about their background.

Who are Mike Jacobs’s Children?

When Mike Jacobs joined Mercer in January 2024, Mercer Athletics Director Jim Cole welcomed him, his wife Lacey, and their two sons, Luke and Knox, in the announcement.

There is no public mention of any other children beyond these two.

What Are Mike Jacobs’s Career Highlights?

After his collegiate playing career, Mike Jacobs began his coaching journey as an assistant at programs at Eastern Michigan, Wilmington, Purdue, and California. After gaining experience, Jacobs landed his first major head coach job at Notre Dame College, Ohio, in 2016.

In three years, he racked up a 42-8 record and won two conference championships in 2018 and 2019. He led Notre Dame to a 13-1 overall record, with a 10-0 conference record in 2018. He led the team to the NCAA Division II Semifinals, which was the program’s first-ever deep postseason run. The performances continued to the next season, in which Notre Dame went 12-2 and won the conference again.

He then transferred to Lenoir-Rhyne in 2020 and amassed a 32-9 overall record. In 2023, he won the South Atlantic Conference, the Piedmont division, and the NCAA Division II Super Region Two Championship. That led to his eventual hiring at Mercer Bears in 2024.

Jacobs led the Bears to an 11-3 record in his first year and won the Southern Conference Championship. The success would follow the next season, as Mercer finished the 2025 season with a 9-3 record and became the first Southern Conference team to win the conference title in back-to-back seasons since 2009.

What is Mike Jacobs’s Contract & Salary?

There is no publicly available information about Mike Jacob’s contract and salary at Mercer. However, he signed a contract extension in March that would keep him at the program till 2029. That would make it impossible to determine his career earnings total, net worth, or endorsement deals, if any.

Hiring Mike Jacobs is a significant boost for Toledo, which closed the season with an 8-4 record. His track record shows he’s a consistent winner capable of elevating programs and steering them toward sustained success.