The 20-year-old Northern Irishman has grown from strength to strength under manager Philippe Clement this season after being rewarded with his European debut under caretaker boss Steven Davis back in October.
Speaking to RangersTV to reflect on 2023, Jacobs says McCausland’s breakthrough is a source of pride for everyone involved in the Academy: “I remember in my first interview as Academy Director and I said that we wanted more than debuts only.
“We want Academy players contributing to a winning Rangers, and Ross is an excellent example of that.
“That is the culture that we’re creating. Football development is finite, and it keeps growing, but the meeting structures that we’ve put in place in terms of our Football Board, and the alignment between myself, Brian Gilmour, to the manager, is aiding that.
“Ross has done unbelievably well, but that’s on the back of a good structure. The Academy is more than just making players for the first-team; we want to have the best possible experience for every player.
“Ross is someone that we can celebrate, but it’s now on us to keep him going and to make the next players ready.”
There were further debuts for the Academy to celebrate last year when Bailey Rice, Johnly Yfeko and Arron Lyall featured for the first-team, which followed Ibrox bows for 2006-born trio Zak Lovelace, Archie Stevens and Paul Nsio in 2022.
Sitting below first-team level, Jacobs believes the strength of the B Team’s Best v Best games programme is continuing to equip young players with the tools to make a sustained impact in the first-team.
He also insists that the alignment between the Academy and the first-team – with Brian Gilmour moving up to become part of Clement’s coaching staff – is helping to support players making that very journey.
He added: “Our [B Team] games programme allows us to control where and when we’re playing, bringing all of our players under the eyes of the manager.
“Secondly, we can find the best sparring partners possible – Monaco, Manchester City, and many more – which allows us to bridge the gap.
“If we look at the outcomes so far, we have a 100% squad involvement in the first-team, meaning that every game this season there has been an Academy player on the pitch or the substitutes bench.
“But we also want Ross McCausland scenarios, where we have players contributing to a winning Rangers.
“We had over 20 appearances within our first-team. Brian Gilmour’s role in the first-team allows us to have clear communication and ensures that the transition goes smoothly.”