Rocket Spotlight on Andrew Zock
On his family and growing up in small-town Florida
I’m from Citra, Florida. It’s a real small town. We’ve got one stoplight. I actually live on a dirt road, probably the worst dirt road in the county, if you ask me. Drive all the way down this dirt road and ours is the very last house on the right side. I’ve got eight siblings total, seven brothers and one sister in two different households. So there’s a lot of us, a lot of boys. I’m the oldest in my mom’s household. I’m in the middle with my dad’s. My parents have been a blessing. I’ve got two stepparents and they’re just like my regular parents. Blood couldn’t make us any closer. So I’ve actually got four parents and eight siblings. And a bunch of cousins.
How his upbringing shaped him as a person
I have a great support system. I have four parents who love and care for me. Being from a small town and having younger siblings, I always played football with people looking up to me. It’s always kept me humble, and I’ve always been the guy to try and show people the right way to do things. I don’t want to be doing things the wrong way, and then try telling them how they should be doing stuff. I try to lead by example.
On how he ended up at Mercer
My sophomore year, I actually met Coach (Jimmy) Long, who’s our d-line coach here at Toledo. He was the d-line coach at Mercer. He was one of the first college coaches to talk to me. Going into my junior year, I had a couple of FBS schools interested in me but that eventually fell away. I also had some FCS offers, including Mercer. I committed to Navy because I wanted to play FBS football. But Navy was going to send me to their prep school, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized what I really wanted was to play football right away. This was in May of my senior year, so I wasn’t sure what was still out there for me. I was blessed because Mercer made a coaching change around that same time, and Coach Long was a big advocate for me. He fought every day for me with Coach Jacobs, who had just been hired as the head coach. He had to convince him to take me over a portal guy. I ended up getting the offer from Mercer. I couldn’t be more thankful for Coach Long. If he wasn’t kept as an assistant at Mercer when Coach Jacobs came over, there’s no telling where I would be right now.
On keys to his success as a football player
I think I just want it more than everybody else. I’ve always been undersized. People told me that I’m not athletic enough, I’m not big enough. But at the end of the day, I’m a football player. I know how to play football. I’ve always known the ins-and-outs of the game since I was five-years-old. I’ve always focused on that side of the game. But really, I’m just a hard worker. I stay humble and I try not to get too down on myself or too high on myself. I don’t take no for an answer when I’m on the field. I’m a competitor. I hate losing. If somebody beats me at rock, paper, scissors, I’m going to be upset.
On his freshman season at Mercer
When I first got there, the first workouts, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I made the right decision.’ Man, I was hurting. But I always knew to just stick with it. I’ve always been a hard worker, so I wasn’t going to let that deter me. On the football side of things, I’ve always been confident in myself. I knew I could go play, but we had guys ahead of me in the depth chart and they were good football players. But I worked hard and circumstances allowed me to start taking more reps as a starter and showcase my abilities. We had a Thursday night game against Presbyterian at home, and they told me that I was starting. It was crazy, because when I first started fall camp, I was a scout team guy.
On his decision to transfer to Toledo
I’ve always had a connection with Coach Jacobs and Coach Long where I can talk to them about anything. It was a great opportunity for me at Mercer, and at the end of last season I thought about staying there another year, but I also considered entering the portal. To be completely honest, I was 50-50. Then Coach Jacobs told me he was going to Toledo, and I was like, ‘I don’t know, that’s far from home.’ I was looking for an opportunity closer to home. I got recruited by some Power 4 schools. But there wasn’t enough to convince me. If they only had location to offer, or a big name or money, that’s not enough for me. It’s really the connections. Having Coach Jacobs and Coach Long and the rest of coaching staff here, they beat everybody in that way. And Toledo is putting guys in the NFL all the time, sending them to the Combine, giving them great opportunities. Toledo was never a backup option for me.
On his close relationship with the coaching staff
I’ve known Coach Long for five years or so, and Coach Jacobs since I went to Mercer. Both of them, and the whole coaching staff, they’re people I can talk to outside of football, outside of school. Talk just as men, heart-to-heart conversations. When I came up on my recruiting visit, I talked to Coach Jacobs’ two boys because they’re like my little brothers. I talked to Coach (Evan) Barr’s kids. These are people who really care about me. You can go to a lot of places in the country and they can say, oh, yeah, we care about you. But I know what I’m getting with these coaches, and it truly is a family. Having those types of connections, and having so many people that truly care about you, knowing you’re going to be taken care of, that’s important to me.
On his impressions of Toledo
Other than how cold it is, I love it. I’ve been told that I came in the coldest winter in a long time. But other than that, I love it. The facilities are far, far better than what I’ve had in the past. Little things make a difference. We’ve got a player’s lounge room right next to the locker room. The Team Room is great, with these nice, cushioned seats. Coach Barr did a great job as strength coach at Mercer, but now he has a weight room that’s top-notch with so much more stuff to work with. We’ve got a great indoor facility. The city is nice. I’m from a small, small town, so Toledo is huge for me. You’ve got all different types of options for things to do. I went ice skating for the first time a couple weeks ago. I never thought I’d do something like that. And the weather, I’m getting used to it. It’s funny, when it was 40 degrees back home, I would be freezing. But when it was 40 degrees here last week, I walked outside with just a t-shirt on.
On wearing the number zero for the Rockets
In Florida high school, you weren’t allowed to wear the number zero, but they changed that rule my junior year. We got new uniforms that year, so they let me be the first one to wear it. So that’s really where it started. I just liked the way it looked. When I got to Mercer, I wore 94 my freshman year because we had a D-end who wore zero. The year before, it was a safety. I found out they try to reserve zero for the best defensive player going into the season. So I just took it over in my sophomore year. Now it’s a D-line thing with Coach Jacobs. He likes to put a D-lineman in zero and I’m just the guy for it now.
On his personal goals for 2026
I’d like to have my best season yet. I had a better year my sophomore year than I did my freshman year, and I’d like to take another jump for my junior year. I’d like to be more productive. First and foremost, I want to be the best teammate and be a leader so we can achieve our goals: beat That Team Down South, win the MAC, and be one of the teams that represents the G-6 in the College Football Playoff.
