Jacobs shocked with Mason firing

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Little did he know when he was walking through the door at the Fort Lauderdale Marriot North after completing practice for the West squad at the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl, Anthony Jacobs' entire day was about to be turned upside down.

Jacob's, a long-time Minnesota commitment, was told of the news about Glen Mason being let go as the coach of the Golden Gophers. It was news that was totally unexpected, shocking, astonishing and about 500 other adjectives that came rushing to his mind all at once.

"I'm kind of shocked because I really liked him as a person, and he seems on the field like he's a good coach," said Jacobs, the top ranked player in Minnesota and the top prospect that is committed to the Gophers. "He got them to, I don't know how many, bowl games back to back. I don't see why they don't like him."

Jacobs shut down the recruiting process before it really even got started. He had not plans on taking any official visits and it honestly doesn't sound like he won't make any new ones either.

"It caught me off guard because it makes me think about things," Jacobs said. "If I'm going to play there for the next four years, am I going to have to live with a coach I don't like or don't know? I'll worry about it until I find out who's the new coach. Will I like the new guy, and stuff like that.

"I'm still going to be a Gopher because I like the school, I like the players, and the only person that changes is the coach. I'm still going to play as hard as I can. I'm just going to have to make an adjustment."

After hearing the news, the four-star prospect put in calls to his mother and to the Minnesota coach, Vic Adamle, that recruited him.

"My momma said if she doesn't like the new coach then she's not going to let me go there," Jacobs said. "I think I'm going to have a big say in how that goes, too, though. I haven't heard back from the coaches yet. I hope I hear what's going on soon."

Before he heard the news about Mason, Jacobs was having a great day. He was doing well in the first day of practices for Thursday's Offense-Defense All-American Bowl. While he didn't win any of the one-on-one battles against the offensive line, he said he felt like he definitely had a good day.

"I thought it was really fun," Jacobs said." There are a lot of big guys – bigger than there are in Northfield for sure. There wasn't as many guys as fast as me on the line. I'm just going to keep running.

"The one one-on-ones I lost, I thought a cone was the quarterback. So I stopped at the cone, and then I fought him off and found out that it wasn't even the spot. I use a lot of my running back stuff on the defensive side of the ball. I just try to get there as quick as I can."

Jacobs is planning on celebrating New Years Eve with his girlfriend and teammates as they head out to explore some of Fort Lauderdale.

"We'll have a good time, but not too much fun," he said. "I'm here to play a football game."