Jacobs Named New Herd Volleyball Coach

3/19/2002

Huntington, W.Va.--The Marshall University Athletics Department has announced the hiring of Mitch Jacobs, former head coach at Fairfield University, as its new head volleyball coach. Jacobs replaces Steffi Legall, who resigned in February.

“We are extremely excited to have Mitch join our staff here at Marshall,” said Marshall athletics director Lance West. “His credentials speak for themself. We look forward to Mitch making an impact on our volleyball student-athletes and our athletic program in general.”

Marshall’s volleyball team went 6-21 in 2001 and 4-27 in 2000.

“I’d like to personally thank Beatrice Crane and Lance West for allowing me to come in and be a part of Marshall University athletics,” said Jacobs. “It’s an exciting time for my family and I, and I look forward to turning this program around.”

Jacobs brings an impressive resume to the Thundering Herd after impressive stints with Fairfield and Florida Tech University in Melbourne, Florida. While at Fairfield, he guided the Stags to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and three straight MAAC Tournament titles. His three-year record at Fairfield was 75-24, including a staggering 26-1 conference mark. He has coached six All-MAAC players, two MAAC Players of the Year, and one Rookie of the Year. Academically, his teams have excelled in the classroom, earning a team GPA of more than 3.0 at the end of each academic year during his tenure.

Before his arrival in Fairfield, Jacobs was the head coach at Division II Florida Tech, where he is the all-time leader in career volleyball coaching wins. He led the Panthers to five winning seasons, their first in the history of the program. He also guided the Panthers to their first-ever Top 25 ranking for Volleyball. Additionally, in 11 of 12 semesters with Florida Tech, his teams finished with the highest GPA among all athletic programs.

In addition to his collegiate coaching duties, Jacobs has also coached on the Junior Olympic level. He was the Director of Coaching Development and Technical Training with the Connecticut Juniors Volleyball Club in Woodbridge, Conn., and the Director and Head Coach at the Harbour City Juniors Volleyball Club in Melbourne. At Harbour City, 29 athletes received college scholarships and four former players participated in the Final Four, including one player who won a National Championship at Penn State. Jacobs received his first head coaching experience as the head coach at the Tampa Bay Juniors Volleyball Club, a premiere Junior Olympic club in the Florida region.

Jacobs is a 1991 graduate of the University of Iowa where he majored in Political Science and played on the club volleyball team from 1986-1991. In 1991, he received All-Big Ten Club Volleyball team honors.

Jacobs and his wife, Laura, married July 30, 1995, have two children, a daughter Jayden (5) and son, Lucas (3).