Jake Schaefer recently finished his first year as offensive coordinator for Otterbein in 2023, coming aboard following the hiring of Tommy Zagorski as head coach early in the calendar year. He also coaches the quarterback position.
During his first season, slot receiver Owen Menge earned All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors after finishing ninth in the league for total catches and receiving yards per game. In addition, nine players made the Academic All-OAC list for efforts in the classroom.
Schaefer worked as the lead assistant at Gilmour Academy (in 2022) under Zagorski by serving as OC, coaching the quarterbacks and overseeing the junior varsity program.
* The Lancers went 9-2 in his first season as a play caller and produced three all-state players on his side of the ball.
Prior to that, Schaefer worked at the University of Akron for three years (2019-21) – serving in quality control and Assistant to the Head Coach during the initial two before earning a promotion to quarterbacks coach in his third season. He oversaw the passing game in 2021, while primarily responsible for the development of younger quarterbacks and recruiting the position nationally.
* In 2021, the three quarterbacks who saw action for the zips accounted for 2,599 yards with 21 TD’s, while completing 65% of their passes. In 2020, Schaefer helped implement a new strength and conditioning offseason program while guiding the passing attack on a shortened six-game season. That aerial unit tallied 785 yards with five TD’s, completing 57% of passes. In 2019, the quarterback room accounted for 2,245 yards in the air with nine TD’s, competing 53% of their passes.
Before returning to Northeast Ohio, Schaefer was the quality control coach at Eastern Kentucky University in 2018. While at EKU, he helped recruit the QB position nationally and saw a passing attack that threw for 1,630 yards with 12 TD’s, completing 55% of passes The Colonels averaged 27.1 points per game and finished with a 7-4 record.
The year before, Schaefer served as the quarterbacks coach and video coordinator at Case Western Reserve University in 2017. He helped CWRU to a perfect 10-0 regular season and return to the NCAA playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade, where they beat Illinois Wesleyan (28-0) to open the national bracket and make the second round for just the second time in 25 years.
In 2017, Schaefer tutored senior quarterback Rob Cuda to first team all-conference, conference MVP and all-region honors after a campaign that saw him complete 55% of passes for 2,830 yards (third in school history, 25th nationally), achieve a 151.6 efficiency (fourth in school history, 35th nationally), and 29 passing touchdowns (third in school history, 14th nationally)… while also running 116 times for 506 yards and another seven scores. Cuda was also 10th in Division III with 15.5 yards per completion while ranking Top 40 in points responsible for (18.0/gm), yards per pass attempt (8.6) and total offense per game (278).
Schaefer went to play professionally (in Munich, Germany) after college in 2016. There, he was voted the youngest captain in GFL 1 history while finishing second in total offense and total passing in the league. While overseas, Schaefer was the pass game coordinator for the U19 Munich Cowboys team, which he helped coach to its first conference championship in 20 seasons.
Upon returning home, Schaefer joined the staff at his alma mater of John Carroll University as the assistant quarterbacks coach. He was part of a historic 12-2 season in the fall of 2016, highlighted by wins over nationally-ranked Mount Union and Wisconsin Whitewater. The Blue Streaks won the Ohio Athletic Conference championship and advanced all the way to NCAA Semifinals. The offense averaged 33 points per game - rushing for 2,503 yards and 30TD’s while going for another 2,929 and 31 TD’s in the air. All in all, the unit posted 388 yards of total offense each Saturday.
A Cleveland area product, Schaefer spent three years as a backup QB at John Carroll before earning the starting job (and team captain honors) as a senior in 2015. The savvy signal caller led the Blue Streaks to an 8-2 record that fall, completing 59% of his passes for 2,330 yards and 22 touchdowns. The Blue streaks averaged 31.3 ppg. and 390 of total offense.
“I am very appreciative of my college experience,” said Schaefer. “I developed a passion for coaching while waiting to become a starter – embracing details of our system, building trust in relationships, putting in hours behind the scenes. We do this (at this level) for the love of the game. I want to give back and recruit kids who are passionate about the educational balance of football and academics.”
Schaefer (who earned a bachelor’s degree from JCU in 2017) grew up in the Parma/Westlake areas of northeast Ohio where he attended Holy Name High School and was captain of both the football and basketball teams.
* At Holy Name, he was first team all-conference and all-district in football while also corralling honorable mention All-Ohio status as a quarterback in 2011. He broke school records in passing yards and passing touchdowns while guiding his team to a conference title. Schaefer was a recipient of the Four Years of Citizenship/Service Award, served as head of the school's Campus Ministry, and was both a school ambassador and volunteer pallbearer.
Schaefer now currently resides in Westerville, right near campus and Memorial Stadium.
