The season opener between Toledo and Michigan State on Friday night in East Lansing, Mich., will feature a pair of first-year head coaches looking to achieve different objectives.
For Rockets head coach Mike Jacobs, it’s about maintaining the standard of winning that Toledo has created in the Mid-American Conference in recent years.
Toledo has won at least eight games in a season four years in a row and hasn’t had a losing season since 2009, so Jacobs wants to keep the streak going after taking over for Jason Candle, the Rockets’ all-time wins leader (81), who left for the same post at UConn.
Jacobs came from Mercer, where he compiled a 20-6 record in two seasons and is 94-23 for his 10-year career as a head coach.
In order to keep Toledo among the best in the MAC, Jacobs will rely on a blend of transfers and returnees.
Defensive end Andrew Zock, one of 14 transfers from Mercer, was the FCS Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2025. Running backs CJ Miller (Mercer) and Corey Smith (Penn State) also should be impact players.
“They know how to win, (and) they brought in the No. 1 transfer portal class in the MAC,” Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald said of Toledo. “This is a storied program. As you look at their talent, it’s a hard matchup in Week 1.”
Headlining the returnees for the Rockets is junior quarterback John Alan Richter, who will get a shot at being the full-time starter after being the primary backup the past two seasons.
“We felt pretty good about John Alan’s talent,” Jacobs said. “He can make every throw in the offense. He’s proven to be a tremendous leader.”
Meanwhile, the Michigan State program also has a first-year leader in former Northwestern head coach Fitzgerald.
As opposed to Jacobs’ task to keep winning, Fitzgerald will seek to restore a once-proud program into a winner after an awful stretch.
Michigan State has gone four straight years without reaching a bowl game after having five seasons of double-digit wins between 2013 and 2021.
Fitzgerald was 110-101 overall and 5-5 in bowl games in 17 seasons (2006-22) as head coach at Northwestern. He was dismissed from the position in July 2023 after an independent investigation into allegations of widespread hazing in the football program. Fitzgerald sued the school for $130 million for wrongful termination, and the two parties settled the lawsuit. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
This season, Fitzgerald will guide sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic, who took over the starting job with four games left last season. He completed 111 of 173 passes for 1,267 yards and 10 touchdowns, with three interceptions.