NASHVILLE, TN - Nashville SC announced on Wednesday that Mike Jacobs has been promoted to President of Soccer Operations and General Manager, with his contract being extended through the 2028 MLS season.
"“I am beyond grateful to our club’s leadership for having the confidence in me to serve in this capacity,” said Jacobs in a club statement. “Our club does a tremendous job of hiring outstanding staff to empower and entrust, and I am very fortunate to be able to collaborate with tremendous executives, coaches, support staff, and players. I can’t thank John Ingram, Ian Ayre, and the rest of our leadership and ownership enough to show my appreciation for this opportunity. I will continue to work tirelessly in pursuit of sustained success for our club on and off the field.”
Jacobs initially joined Nashville SC in 2018 while the club was in the USL Championship. A former assistant GM at Sporting Kansas City, Jacobs immediately took over building a roster for USL while also laying the foundations for success in MLS. Under Jacobs, Nashville qualified for the playoffs in their first four seasons.
After underperforming in the back half of 2023 and missing the playoffs for the first time in 2024, Jacobs moved on from long-term head coach Gary Smith and brought in former USMNT assistant BJ Callaghan to take Nashville in a new direction.
Combined with a full-scale overhaul of the roster this winter, Nashville have quickly improved, looking like one of the better sides in the Eastern Conference early in the season. Nashville have similar flexibility heading into 2026, with 14 players out of guaranteed contracts at the end of the year.
“I have been fortunate to work closely with Mike for almost seven years and during that time I can say that he has without a doubt played a pivotal role in developing our soccer operations at Nashville SC,” said Nashville SC Vice Chairman Ian Ayre. “I know firsthand how difficult building a roster, buying and selling players, and creating a balance in this area can be for any sports team, often under pressure and typically with a lot of challenges and differing opinions. Mike has done an outstanding job navigating those challenges and fully deserves this additional recognition and promotion. The opportunity provides all of us at NSC an important level of leadership continuity and the ability to continue moving forward together as the entire organization continues to evolve in Major League Soccer.”
