New Mexico hires Idaho native Jason Eck as new head football coach: Source

New Mexico hires Idaho native Jason Eck as new head football coach: Source

Idaho’s Jason Eck has agreed to become head coach at New Mexico, a person involved in the negotiations said The athletic one on Saturday. The 47-year-old led Idaho to three consecutive FCS playoff berths in three seasons in which he went 26-13.

Idaho went 10-4 this season and was eliminated from the playoffs by a 52-19 loss to No. 1 seed Montana State on Friday night. The Vandals, who moved from the FBS to the FCS in 2018, had had five straight losing seasons before he took over.

Eck is a former Wisconsin offensive lineman whose Vandals nearly upset Oregon, the only undefeated FBS program, in their season opener. Midway through the fourth quarter, Idaho was just three points behind the Ducks, who were 45 1/2-point favorites, before losing 24-14.

The day after the Oregon game, Eck explained The athletic one Although he had only been a head coach for more than two seasons, the job had changed quite a bit in that time – as with all college coaches, especially those in the bottom half of the FBS and FCS.

“It’s definitely gotten harder than when I took this job, and I was hired in December 2021,” Eck said after losing his top players to transfers to Oregon State, Cal, UCF and Cincinnati in the offseason. “NIL had just become legal. You didn’t think people from your squad would be recruited the way they did. It’s just a balancing act to do something good for the children because for some it’s life-changing money.”

Before becoming the head coach at Idaho, Eck won the AFCA FCS Assistant Coach of the Year award for his work as offensive coordinator at South Dakota State.

In New Mexico, Eck will replace Bronco Mendenhall, who left the Lobos for Utah State after one season. The Lobos posted a 5-7 record this season, making them eight consecutive losing years.

(Photo: Ali Gradischer / Getty Images)

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