West Georgia head coach Joel Taylor has taken the same position at Mercer. Taylor went 12-10 overall and 6-10 in the United Athletic Conference in his two seasons at UWG.
Taylor was named the head coach of West Georgia in December 2023, following a four-season stint at Mercer as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Taylor’s hire coincided with UWG’s move from NCAA Division II to the FCS.
The Wolves’ first season in 2024 finished 4-7 overall and 1-7 in the UAC, but they were competitive. They opened their FCS with a victory at home against Samford, followed by five straight losses. The last two losses came against Austin Peay (20-16) and at #12 Central Arkansas (34-33). The one-point loss to Central Arkansas saw the Wolves go for the upset at the end of the game, but the attempt failed. UWG would win three of the last five games, including the season finale against Utah Tech on the road.
In 2025, West Georgia started strong at 5-0. After defeating #22 Nicholls in week two, the Wolves made their first appearance in the FCS top 25 poll. They would remain there for five weeks. At 5-0, UWG would face a buzzsaw in three straight weeks: at #22 Austin Peay, #19 Abilene Christian, and #3 Tarleton State. UWG lost all three games, but rebounded to win the final three games to finish 8-3 overall and 5-3 in the UAC.
Taylor will take over at Mercer for Mike Jacobs, who went 20-6 overall and 15-1 in the Southern Conference in his two seasons and left for Toledo earlier this week. Mercer has become a top team in the SoCon this decade with five straight seasons of 7 or more wins, back-to-back outright SoCon titles, and three straight FCS playoff appearances.
Taylor’s hiring keeps an interesting Lenoir-Rhyne-to-Mercer pipeline intact. The last three Mercer head coaches have previously coached at Lenoir-Rhyne. Drew Cronic led Lenoir-Rhyne from 2018 to 2019, before joining Mercer as head coach from 2020 through 2023. Jacobs led LR from 2020 through 2023 before taking the Mercer role in 2024 and 2025. Now, Taylor was the defensive coordinator at LR in 2019 (and an assistant in 2009) and takes over the Mercer head coaching job in 2026.
Taylor is the 14th FCS coaching change to occur in the current cycle. Albany (CAA), Bucknell (Patriot League), Cal Poly (Big Sky), Florida A&M (SWAC), Hampton (CAA), Mercer (SoCon), Monmouth (CAA), Penn (Ivy League), Portland State (Big Sky), Sacramento State (Big Sky), Samford (SoCon), Southern (SWAC), and Weber State (Big Sky) have also announced changes. The full list of changes can be found here.
Photo Credit to University of West Georgia Athletics
