Jay Jacobs

Jay Jacobs has a vision of leading Auburn Athletics to becoming the nation’s preeminent Athletics Department.

In his tenure at the helm of the Tigers’ program, the department has prospered athletically, academically and financially.

Under Jacobs’ leadership,  Auburn Athletics has made major strides that have benefitted Auburn student-athletes, coaches and fans.  The department has focused on five strategic goals under his leadership: Winning, graduating student-athletes, managing the department’s fiscal affairs, complying with SEC and NCAA rules and providing a professional game day experience.

Jacobs gained strong business expertise as the Senior Associate Athletics Director for Tigers Unlimited prior to his appointment as Director of Athletics and has initiated several successful business ventures for the Athletics Department.  Under Jacobs’ leadership, Auburn has also moved forward with numerous facility projects designed to benefit Tiger athletic programs and their fans.  Two years ago, Auburn fans enjoyed a new $2.9 million high definition (HD) video display scoreboard in the south end zone.  The first of its kind in the Southeastern Conference, the HD display measures approximately 30 feet high by 74 feet wide.

Jacobs was named Auburn’s 14th Director of Athletics on Dec. 22, 2004, after working in almost every area of the Auburn Athletics Department for the previous 20 years.

It was the final step for Jacobs in a career that had allowed him to gain a wide range of experience in collegiate athletics, from the perspective of a student-athlete, to the position of Senior Associate Athletics Director for Tigers Unlimited, Auburn’s fund-raising arm.

Jacobs grew up just 20 miles from Auburn in LaFayette.  Later, after moving to Jacksonville, Fla., where he attended high school, he returned to Auburn for college.  After walking on the Auburn football team, he earned two letters as an offensive tackle in 1982 and 1983.  As a senior, he started for the SEC Championship Tigers that finished the season ranked third nationally.  Not long after his career ended against Michigan in the 1984 Sugar Bowl, Jacobs started the journey that led him to being named Director of Athletics.

After one season as a coach at Lee-Scott Academy in Auburn, Jacobs returned to his alma mater as the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach.  After serving two seasons as a graduate assistant football coach, Jacobs was named Conditioning Coach, a position he held for three years.  In 1991, he became an Assistant Athletics Director. Three years later, he was promoted to Associate Athletics Director for Operations, overseeing a variety of support functions in the Athletics Department.

Jacobs earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in business administration from Auburn in 1985 and 1988, respectively.

He is married to the former Angie Sapp of Dublin, Ga.  The couple have three daughters, Haley, Meagan and Jayne.