Mike Jacobs Resigns as Mercer Head Coach, Takes HC Job at Toledo

After two seasons as the Bears HC, Jacobs leaves for the Rockets and his hometown

MACON, Georgia – (41NBC/WMGT) – Mercer University announced Wednesday that head football coach Mike Jacobs has stepped down to accept the same position at the University of Toledo. The school said a national search for his successor will begin immediately.

“Coach Jacobs has led the Mercer football program to unprecedented success over the last two years with back-to-back Southern Conference championships, and we are incredibly grateful for his leadership,” Mercer athletics director Jim Cole said in a statement. “We want to thank him for the impact he has had on Mercer, and we wish him and his family the very best. BearNation cannot thank him enough.”

Jacobs, a Maumee, Ohio, native whose hometown sits just nine miles from Toledo, was hired as Mercer’s 21st head coach in January 2024. He posted 20 wins in two seasons, including an 11–3 debut campaign that delivered the program’s first Southern Conference title and a run to the FCS quarterfinals.

Mercer followed with a school-record nine-game winning streak in 2025 and went a perfect 8–0 in league play, becoming the first team since Appalachian State 16 years ago to claim back-to-back outright SoCon championships.

Under Jacobs, the Bears collected 34 All–SoCon or SoCon All-Freshman selections over two seasons, including 14 first-team honorees. Mercer also produced both the league’s Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in 2024 and 2025, while Jacobs earned consecutive SoCon Coach of the Year honors.