Though they lead two vastly different teams, several things connect Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer and Mercer head coach Mike Jacobs.
Both started their careers at the FCS level as coordinators before being promoted to head coach and are currently in their first season at the helm of their respective programs. One similarity that stands out is a specific stop that both coaches made on their coaching journey — Eastern Michigan.
“I’m super proud of everything that’s happened there — both when I was there, those three years, and what has happened there since,” DeBoer said to the Hustle Belt.
DeBoer started his career as the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, the University of Sioux Falls. After the retirement of his former head coach Bob Young, he was promoted to head coach.
As head coach at Sioux Falls, DeBoer managed to accumulate the same number of national championships as games lost, going 67-3 over five seasons. After DeBoer’s tenure with the Cougars, it was only up for the South Dakota native, going from USF to Southern Illinois, Fresno State, Eastern Michigan, Indiana and now Alabama.
Eastern Michigan hired DeBoer as the offensive coordinator in 2014, a position he held for three years. In 2015, DeBoer’s offense exploded, recording 39 total touchdowns.
In the same year, running back Darius Jackson set the school’s single-season touchdown record with 16, earning him the title of third-team running back on the all-MAC conference team.
DeBoer’s tenure at EMU ended in 2016, when he was hired at Fresno State.
Long before becoming head coach at Mercer, Jacobs played college football at Ohio State, playing in a total of 38 games for the Buckeyes on the offensive line.
“That all set me up for good coaching success, just being around all the talented players and coaches that were on that staff there,” Jacobs said to The Toledo Blade
Jacobs went on to be the head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne and Notre Dame College in Ohio. Coming into this season, Jacobs held a 74-17 record as a head coach, the sixth-highest winning percentage among active Division I and II coaches.
Jacobs served as an offensive line assistant coach at Eastern Michigan in the 2002 and 2003 seasons, over a decade before DeBoer’s tenure with the Eagles.
Despite the differences in their time at EMU, both of their jobs there served a similar role in their careers as stepping stones. Both Jacobs and DeBoer left Eastern Michigan and landed jobs as coordinators at another program before being named head coaches at said program.
Alabama and Mercer will play on Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday at 1 p.m. CT. The game can be streamed on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.
