Toledo Football Preview 2026: Mike Jacobs Will Keep the Rockets Rolling

There’s no grace period at Toledo.

Why is Toledo is among the best programs not to make the College Football Playoff in the playoff era? Consistency.

That, and magnificent coaching.

There’s No Transition Year at Toledo Under Mike Jacobs

Try this for a coaching run since 1990.

Nick Saban. The head man in a 9-2 season turned out to be pretty good.

Who took over? Gary Pinkel – all he did was turn into a legend at Missouri after a fantastic ten-year run with the Rockets.

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Tom Amstutz started 45-18 before things fell off. Tim Beckman turned his time with Toledo into the Illinois job.

Matt Campbell had three nine-win seasons in four years before going to Iowa State (and now Penn State), and Jason Candle never had a losing season and won two MAC titles before going to UConn.

In comes Mike Jacobs, who won two straight SoCon championships with Mercer after winning a South Atlantic title at Lenoir-Rhyne, and all that after turning Notre Dame College into a Division II powerhouse.

Ten years, no losing seasons, only the four-game 2020 season with fewer than eight wins.

The Rockets aren’t stopping.

Toledo Quick Hits

• Head Coach: Mike Jacobs (1st year, 11th season overall: 94-23)

• Best Case / Worst Case: Win the MAC Championship/Suffer the first losing season since 2009

• Key Player: Andrew Zock, DE Jr.

• Biggest Question: How fast can the new coaching staff get all the parts together in the rebuild?

Toledo Key 2025 Stats

• 1st Half Scoring: Toledo 231, Opponents 74

• Penalties: Toledo 111 for 971 yards, Opponents 64 for 495 yards

• Total Offense: Toledo 5,398 yards, Opponents 3,306 yards

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Offense

Mike Jacobs hired Cris Reisert from Gardner-Webb as his offensive coordinator. Reisert’s attack was ultra-efficient, great at cranking the deep shots down the field, and balanced.

It’ll take a lot, though, to get that going right away with a whole new bunch of Rockets coming in.

What’s Working

The coaching staff. Again, Reisert knows how to work an offense, and at Mercer, Jacobs’ team was ninth in the FCS on third down conversions, dominant in pass protection, and was third in the nation in total offense (485 yards per game) and 13th in scoring (36 points per game).

The running backs should be good out of the gate. CJ Miller was a force for Jacobs’ Mercer attack, and landing Corey Smith from Penn State was a nice idea.

Autavius Ison didn’t do anything at Mercer last season, but he was a powerhouse for Charleston Southern two years ago.

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The small school gets at wide receiver should work well. Rico Bond (Lindenwood) was a big producer who could’ve ended up at a Power Four school.

Adjatay Dabbs was great at Mercer last season, and Kalvin Gilbert Jr. is a 6-4 veteran deep threat target from SE Missouri State who’ll be dangerous right away.

What Needs Work

The UConn Huskies. Former head man Jason Candle took several top offensive stars with him to Storrs. Quarterback Kalieb Osborne, running back Kenji Christian, six wide receivers, and four offensive linemen.

There’s a lot of hole-filling to do, especially at …

Quarterback. Tucker Gleason is done after a fabulous run, finishing with MAC-best 21 touchdown passes last year with four rushing scores.

Khamoni Robinson is an accurate leader from Lenoir-Rhyne who’ll get every look, but John Alan Richter is the 6-3, 225-pound junior who’s still around, after getting in a little work last year for the Rockets.

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There’s hope for the offensive line, but the depth will need time. Stephen Gales should be ready to go at one tackle spot, and Ibrahim Traore should be fine at the other.

Christian Medlock ended last year as the starting left guard, and the other two spots should be fine. The developed depth, though, isn’t there.

Player to Watch

CJ Miller, RB Jr.
The 5-11, 230-pound back was a force for the Mercer offense last year. He ran for close to 1,000 yards with 14 touchdowns, to go along with 26 catches and three scores. He should be an instant steadying force.

Defense

Defensive coordinator Jahmal Brown has worked just fine under Mike Jacobs. He comes over from Mercer after putting together a terrific group that was among the best in the FCS at getting behind the line and to the quarterback.

There’s a bit more returning experience on this side of the ball than the offense enjoys, but there’s still a big rebuild happening.

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What’s Working

Getting to the quarterback should be a given. It starts with adding Andrew Zock from last year’s Mercer team – he was the FCS Defensive Player of the Year, earning the Buck Buchanan Award.

Joining him from Mercer is linebacker Isaac Prince, who added three sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss. 

There’s more for the rotation in a stunningly deep group of options who know how to get behind the line.

Three of the best defensive backs from Mercer are coming to Toledo. The corner combination of Donovan Watkins and KJ Thomas combined for 16 broken up passes, and safety Kaleb Hutchinson did a little of everything with 66 tackles and three picks.

Like the pass rush, there’s good depth coming in. Safety Amorion Smith (Michigan State) and corner Israel Petite (Robert Morris) can play.

Take a guess where the two top linebackers are coming from. South Florida’s Langston Long will find an instant home, but Mercer’s Julian Fox is coming off an 85-tackle season with two sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss, and again, Prince is an elite pass rusher who can get all over the field.

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What Needs Work

There’s no real bulk on the defensive front. There aren’t any 300-pound Coke machines who can sit there and take up space. The Rockets will have to rely on a rotation, but that will take a little while to find.

There are a lot of key lost parts. There’s no replacing Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, a superstar safety talent who’s now with the Cleveland Browns. 

He was a First Team All-MAC star, as was linebacker K’Von Sherman (UConn), safety Braden Awls (Iowa State), and corner Andre Fuller.

Corner Avery Smith, tackle Martez Poynter, end Malachi Davis, and linebacker Chris D’Appolonia were all all-stars, too.

New year, brand new team, new players, new coaches, and all that. However, form should still hold when it comes to the run defense.

The Rockets were 1-4 when giving up 90 rushing yards or more, and 0-3 when giving up 160 or more.

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Player to Watch

Andrew Zock, DE Jr.
He’s only 6-2 and 250 pounds, but the undersized pass rusher never stops. 

In two years at Mercer he made 18.5 sacks, 84 tackles, 34.5 tackles for loss, and 38 quarterback hurries. He should be a force in the MAC right away.

Keys to the Season

• Figure out the quarterback situation and find the one guy to go with.

• Get the interiors of both lines going with enough depth to rely on.

• Establish production right away – show that the success doesn’t stop in the transition.

Player Who Needs To Shine

John Alan Richter, QB Jr.
Out of all the positions undergoing a big change, this is the one that doesn’t have the sure-thing producer.

There might be other options to work with in fall camp, but the 6-3, 225-pound Richter has just enough experience to rely on early on. 

In just over three years of mop-up/backup work, he completed over 60% of his passes for close to 700 yards and seven touchdowns.

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Biggest Concern

Penalties
Out of all the areas that need to go through a deep cleaning under the new coaching staff, this is it.

Only Louisiana Tech was hit with more penalty yards per game, and only Georgia State was flagged more times per game. The Rockets ended last year committing 111 sins for 971 yards. 

Mercer was flagged 68 times for 615 yards – that would’ve made it 34th in the FBS last season.

Biggest Game

Western Michigan, October 24
The 14-13 loss in the MAC opener against the Broncos last year was a big deal.

This year, the Rockets get the defending MAC champs in the Glass Bowl. With Sacramento State, UMass, and forgetting last year’s loss, Bowling Green to follow, there’s a shot to go on a big run with a win.

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Transfer Portal

Remembering that Toledo is a Group of Five program, the new coaching staff did a marvelous job of filling in the gaps with a slew of parts from all over the board. 

The 14 lost players to Jason Candle’s UConn team are a lot, but – helped in a big way by the 13 players coming over from Mercer – there are more than enough decent signings to get up to speed fast.

Best Signing

Rico Bond, WR (Lindenwood)
The 6-1, 180-pound deep threat had a monster true freshman season, catching 61 passes for 701 yards and six touchdowns at Lindenwood.

The receiving corps will be good, but Bond should be among the team’s most dangerous playmakers from jump.

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Biggest Loss

Anthony Boswell, C (Houston)
The sophomore isn’t huge, and the Rockets do have options, but Boswell was a First Team All-MAC center who’ll now be the leader of the Houston line for the next few years.

Other Names to Know

• Tucker Kelleher, TE (BYU)

• Khamoni Robinson, QB (Robert Morris)

• Ahmad Carwise, OG (Gardner-Webb)

CFN Season Prediction

Here’s the thing to remember when it comes to the Toledo situation and the total overhaul of talent and players.

Toledo plays in the MAC.

Yes, there might be a whole slew of new parts coming in, and new coaches, and new ways to figure out the depth chart, but the new guys are mostly at the same level – if not better – than the rest of the MAC.

CFN Prediction: 8-4

Here’s the other thing to remember. Toledo underachieved in a big way last season.

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It should’ve won the MAC, or at least played for the conference title, and ended up going 8-5. This year’s team has the schedule and expectations to at least push for eight wins.

Nothing stops.

Related: Miami University Football Preview 2026: Another Run at the MAC Crown