The call came just hours following his team’s monumental upset victory against Goliath — aka No. 1 seed Kansas — in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
That’s when Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson dialed athletic director Troy Dannen’s number.
"Let’s get this done,” Jacobsen said.
Thirty-six hours later, Dannen helped raise $2 million to help ink Jacobson to a 10-year deal to remain in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The timing was odd since the Panthers were just days away from facing Michigan State in the Sweet 16.
But Jacobson didn’t want to drag this one out. He knew exactly where he wanted to be.
"The main reason I wanted to do it early in the week is because I knew these days when jobs open, names get thrown out there,” Jacobson sad. "I knew the kids on the team were going to see it.”
"We’d been talking about his contract for a while, but we were going to wait until the end of the season,” Dannen said. "But then he called me and wanted it done.”
Jacobson didn’t want the distraction.
Think of Jacobson as the poor man’s Brad Stevens, which these days is about as strong of a compliment as you can be handed in the college hoops community.
Stevens gave the Heisman to several suitors following Butler’s loss to Duke in the national championship game, electing instead to sign a lengthy and lucrative long-term deal to remain with the Bulldogs.
Jacobson did the same, inking a 10-year deal through 2020 to remain at Northern Iowa.
Before he ever even had a chance to look elsewhere.
Most guys would have, at the very least, enjoyed the thought of basking in the limelight and welcomed the attention that came with arguably the most notable upset the NCAA tournament had witnessed in years.
Not Jacobson.
"It’s certainly not par for what has become the course,” Dannen admitted.
The Iowa job was open, and Jacobson would have been a home run to replace Todd Lickliter.
There were other spots that Jacobson could have become involved in, but he took himself out of the equation before he was ever truly on the open market.
"We’ve worked hard to build a solid foundation,” Jacobson said. "This was an easy decision for me. It’s a great job.”
Jacobson never would have uttered those words when he first got to Cedar Falls.
Just think about this: In Jacobson's first season at Northern Iowa on Greg McDermott’s staff in 2001, the Panthers finished 7-24 overall and were dead last in the Missouri Valley with a 3-15 record.
"Back then, when Mac took it, this job wasn’t on anyone’s radar,” Jacobson said. "It’s a completely different place than it was 10 years ago. It’s actually a completely different place than it was five years ago.”
While Jacobson said there were several factors that went into his decision to remain at Northern Iowa and pull a quick trigger with his extension, he did admit that watching McDermott leave and struggle in the Big 12 with Iowa State played a part.
"Obviously, I’m very close to Mac and I followed his situation pretty close,” Jacobson said. "I learned a lot even though I was on the outside. Mac never really talked to me about it; he’s never been that way.
"But his situation was certainly included in my thought process. There are also plenty of guys who have stayed, and it’s been positive.”
Gonzaga’s Mark Few is the poster child.
Despite the victory over Kansas, Jacobson didn’t go in and demand more money from Dannen. He understood the school’s financial resources.
"We can’t give him the million-dollar a year contract here,” Dannen said. "That’s not in our cards.”
Neither was Jacobson leaving Cedar Falls.
