“Jake” Jacobson was born October 26, 1899, in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin.

After graduation from Whitewater, the University of Illinois, and the University of Wisconsin, Jake coached at Monroe, Cuba City, and Milbank, South Dakota. From 1926 to 1931, his Milbank football team lost only four games.

Jake became head coach at Beloit Memorial High School in 1932 and retired from coaching in 1946. He is the only coach in the State of Wisconsin to coach three state basketball champions. His 1933, 1934, and 1937 squads each won first place.

In the Big Eight, Jake coached six basketball champions and three football champions, including the 1937 team which was undefeated and is considered one of the best football teams ever fielded by Beloit Memorial.

Jake initiated the statewide rating for high school basketball teams when he was president of the Wisconsin High School Coaches Association.

Jake is enshrined in the Whitewater Athletic Hall of Fame, the Wisconsin High School Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame—of which he is a charter member—and in the Wisconsin High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.