A 1928 graduate of the University of Idaho, he was one of the school's greatest athletes, winning nine varsity letters in football, basketball and track. He was an All-Pacific Coast halfback for the Vandals on the 1927 PCC championship team.
He received his Masters Degree from Idaho in 1932 and coached for the Vandals until 1935 and then was named Athletic Director at Idaho Falls H.S. His teams there won state titles in football and basketball before he returned to Idaho to head the Physical Education Department and direct the intramural program and coach football. Jacoby moved to Wyoming following World War II and began the job of rebuilding the athletic fortunes. The football teams won national prominence under his directorship, capped by a Sugar Bowl appearance, which also included five other bowl games.
He hired some great names in grid circles, including Bowden Wyatt, Phil Dickens, Bob Devaney, and Lloyd Eaton. During his years at Wyoming the football teams won 170, lost 92 and tied 10 games, including three WAC titles, and seven winning titles in the old Skyline Conference. His basketball program gained national attention in the 30's and 40's, winning the national title in 1943. His baseball, wrestling and skiing teams won many national titles and competed in several NCAA regional tourneys.
His pride and joy was the 55-acre athletic complex for all sports completed in 1963. Jacoby was inducted into the Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame in 1973, posthumously, by the College Athletic Directors. Jacoby's wife, Dorothy, a native of Malad, Idaho still resides in Laramie and two sons, Michael, is an architect in Denver; and Peter is a broker in San Francisco.