Ed Jacoby Returns to Track & Field Coaching Staff

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Eric Heins announced that Ed Jacoby will rejoin the Northern Arizona track & field coaching staff. He returns to Flagstaff for his second stint after coaching the Lumberjacks from 1999-2000, and will serve as an assistant coach under Heins overseeing all sprinters, jumpers and hurdlers. Jacoby brings over 43 years of coaching experience to NAU, and is a member of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

"Whenever you can add a hall of fame coach to your staff, it is always a good thing," Heins said. "Ed has had so much success in the past, and I feel he can really help our athletes take it to the next level."

Jacoby returns to coaching after working eight years in the business sector for Tartan-APS as an executive director.

Before Tartan, Jacoby served as the Head Track & Field and Cross Country Coach at Boise State from 1973-97; 2000-01. He won 11 Big Sky Coach of the Year honors, as well as being named NCAA District Coach of the Year four times. He produced three Olympians at Boise, along with numerous NCAA champions and All-Americans.

In 2000, Jacoby produced four NCAA qualifiers while at NAU, including Big Sky women's triple jump record holder, Asa Lonn.

Jacoby's credentials aren't just limited to the college ranks. He is an active member of the U.S. Track & Field Team, and served as the men's high jump coordinator for eight years. From 1991-93, Jacoby was an assistant coach for the World University Games in Sheffield England, an assistant on the U.S. Olympic Team for the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain and was the head coach for U.S. World Championship team in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1993.

Jacoby has also authored three books on track & field, including Applied Techniques of Track and Field, Complete Book of Jumps and Winning Jumps and Pole Vault.

Alongside Jacoby for 52 years has been his wife, Jean. The couple is the parents of current assistant track and field coach at the University of Louisville, Jake.