Ryan Jacobs
Head Coach

UNI head softball coach Ryan Jacobs is entering his fourth season as head coach for the Panthers, but Jacobs is no stranger to Panther athletics. The Cedar Rapids native played two seasons for UNI's baseball team, from 1997 to 1998, helping the Panthers to a then-school record 32 wins and second-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Last season Jacobs led the Panthers to their second consecutive winning season finishing with a 28-24 overall record and 13-12 in conference play. The team got the year off to a sizzling start, winning eight of their first nine games. Coach Jacobs once again proved his ability to put an outstanding offense on the field as the team finished second in the conference in batting average and in the top tier of almost every major offensive category. The team outscored opponents by 40 runs on the season. Coach Jacobs and his staff proved they are a rising program in the Midwest as they went on a six game win-streak in late April, which included wins over softball perennial powerhouses Nebraska and Iowa. In his three seasons Jacobs boasts an 82-74 overall record and his team's have set or tied five single-season school records. He has coached nine players to All-MVC honors and one MVC Newcomer of the Year. The Panther softball team has been resurrected to become a legitimate conference contender year in and year out.

It didn't take long for Jacobs to make his imprint on the UNI softball program as he guided the Panthers to one of their best seasons in school history in 2009 as the Panthers finished 34-22 overall record and 15-11 Missouri Valley Conference play. Coach Jacobs and his staff were named the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2009, which marked only the second time a UNI coaching staff has earned that honor in school history.

In his two years as head coach, Coach Jacobs is 54-50 overall and his team's have set or tied five single-season school records and he has coached seven players to All-MVC honors and one MVC Newcomer of the Year.

Last season, Jacobs and his staff orchestrated a 14-win improvement from his first season, a 7.5 game improvement in Missouri Valley play and coached the Panthers to the most conference wins (15) in school history after the Panthers had only won 11 MVC games the previous three seasons. This third place regular-season finish was also the top Valley finish for the Panthers since 2000, and is the second-highest finish in school history in a year where the Panthers were picked to finish last in the preseason poll.

Jacobs also led the Panthers back to the MVC Softball Tournament for the first time since 2002. Jacobs also guided the Panthers to a 5-0 start in MVC play, the first time in school history the Panthers got off to that start in league action.

Jacobs, known for his offensive mindset turned the Panthers into an offensive juggernaut in 2009 as the Panther set a new school record with 52 home runs in 2009, eclipsing the previous record of 42 homers set by the 2003 Panther softball team. The Panthers led the Valley in nearly every offensive category in 2009, which included batting average, slugging percentage, runs scored, hits, RBI, triples and home runs.

During his first year as head coach, Jacobs led the Panthers to a blistering 7-1 record to start the season before cooling off and finishing with a 20-28 overall record and a 5-16 conference mark. Jacobs also helped the Panthers improve their overall winning percentage from .373 (19-32 overall) in 2007 to .416 (20-28 overall) in 2008 and improve one spot in the Valley standings.

During the non-conference slate the Panthers snapped Nebraska's 44-game non-conference home winning streak with a 2-1 win, topped Minnesota, 6-4, and beat Wisconsin, 3-0.

In conference play, the Panthers just missed qualifying for the eight-team Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

The Panthers set a school record for team fielding percentage during Jacobs' first year after compiling a .971 fielding percentage, topping the previous school record of .961 set in 2001. Jacobs' squad only committed 41 errors, shattering the previous mark of 52 errors committed in a season back in 1998.

Jacobs served as the head softball coach at Cedar Falls High School from 2004 to 2007, guiding the Tigers to a 108-62-2 cumulative record. In 2007, the Tigers' squad finished with a 32-10 mark -- the second-best in school history -- and was ranked as high as fifth in Iowa's Class 4A. In Jacobs' tenure at CFHS, he guided six first-team All-Mississippi Valley Conference players, including one conference player of the year, five first-team all-district players and four all-state players.

After a season of playing professional baseball for the Richmond Roosters of the Frontier League and assistant baseball coaching stints at Cornell College and Cedar Rapids Xavier High School, Jacobs returned to Cedar Falls and UNI in 2001.

He served as an assistant coach on the Panther baseball staff, specializing in coaching the catchers and hitters. He also coordinated Panther camps and clinics and served as the team's first base coach. UNI recorded an average of 29 wins per season while Jacobs was on staff, including a school-record 35 victories and an NCAA tournament appearance in 2001. 

Jacobs' coaching philosophy revolves around pushing players to their maximum potential and being able to outwork the opposing team. Jacobs looks to focus on playing the game "the right way" and hustling to outplay opponents. Coach Jacobs signed a contract extension on April 30, 2009, that extends his contract through 2012.

Jacobs was a standout prep baseball player at Cedar Rapids Regis High School, being named both Mississippi Valley Conference Player of the Year and the Iowa Legion Player of the Year in 1994.

Jacobs and his wife Kelley, a UNI assistant women's basketball coach, reside in Cedar Falls with their two daughters, Haley (4) and Emma (3).

THE JACOBS FILE

1997-2001
Xavier High School (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Assistant Baseball Coach

1999
Cornell College (Mt. Vernon, Iowa) Assistant Baseball Coach

2001-2005
University of Northern Iowa Assistant Baseball Coach

2004-2007
Cedar Falls (Iowa) High School/Head Softball Coach

2007-Present
University of Northern Iowa Head Softball Coach