Shelby Waddell

Jason Eck is 41-18 as a head coach. Idaho was 4-7 when he got there. New Mexico was 5-7. Both made the postseason in his first season. Now his name is on every P4 opening shortlist. It took him a long time to get the chance. Before Idaho, Eck spent 23 seasons as an assistant at 10 schools. Three times, at Ball State, Western Illinois and Montana State, the head coach he worked for was let go. At Western Illinois, Eck was kept on the payroll and moved off the football staff. "We've been in bad debt, bad financial shape," he said of those years. In December 2015, Montana State's new head coach brought in his own staff. Eck was 38, had four kids under 13 and was looking for his 10th coaching job. He had left a coordinator job at Minnesota State to go there. "Leaving Minnesota State probably wasn't a good idea," he said that month. South Dakota State hired him that January to coach its offensive line. In the interview, he was told to teach the staff like they were his players. So he gave each coach a lineman to play, called them up, put them in stances and taught footwork until sweat showed through his suit. His head coach there, John Stiegelmeier, left a mark on how he leads. "He taught me that if you believe in guys, they will exceed your expectations," Eck said. In 2019 the Jackrabbits made him their offensive coordinator and play-caller. He turned down more money to coach Houston's offensive line to keep that job. That fall he was named the AFCA's FCS assistant coach of the year. In the spring of 2021, his offense played for the national title. All the moving had taught him something too. "I've seen a lot of different ways to do things," Eck said. "I've tried to take some of those things I thought were really good, and also learn from the places where they missed." Idaho hired him in December 2021, after five straight losing seasons. He called it a sleeping giant, and he built it from the region. He liked kids from small, rural towns who played three sports and sometimes developed later. He also didn't keep the offense for himself. He hired Luke Schleusner to run it. "Knowing we have him here really frees me up to oversee the whole program and not get bogged down in the offense," Eck said. He hired young coaches on the rise and made developing them part of his job. On the field, he wanted every drill tied to the game. "The players have got to know, and they have got to be able to see that the drill they are doing is important," he said. Idaho won 16 games in his first two seasons. No Vandals coach had won that many in a two-year span since 1998 and 1999. The Vandals made the FCS playoffs all three years he was there and went 26-13. His last team lost its starting quarterback and 81.5% of its catches, then went 10-4 and reached a second straight quarterfinal. Before his first season at Idaho, he said, "I've always thought it is better to have an overconfident team than an underconfident one." A loss in 2023 taught him where that confidence comes from. Idaho led Cal 17-0, gave up two late scores before halftime, and the mood in the locker room turned. Cal won, and Eck decided a team gets its confidence from its head coach. He knows how to work with less, too. Eck says splitting partial scholarships at lower levels was practice for NIL. "You've got to find value within your budget if you're not the team that has the most money," he said. "There were some reasons I thought I could win here," Eck said of New Mexico. When he took over, he says, he told people the same thing in 90% of his meetings: "We're going to a bowl game this year." Then he went out and sold the program. He drove a low rider around Albuquerque, wore a bolo tie and pitched tickets himself. The Lobos went 9-4 in his first season, only the third nine-win season at New Mexico this century. They won 35-10 at UCLA, didn't lose at home and played in the Rate Bowl. A win over San Diego State drew the first November crowd of more than 30,000 at University Stadium in about two decades. Season-ticket sales are up 39% this year, and University Stadium has been allocated $28 million in upgrades. "He has an ability to inspire belief," New Mexico athletic director Ryan Berryman said. "Getting guys collectively to believe and all the people around us to believe is probably my biggest strength," Eck said. At Idaho in 2022, Eck said of a quarterback race, "We can't wait until it's a landslide." This September, New Mexico opened the season rotating quarterbacks. After three games, Eck ended it. "What we were doing wasn't working," he said. Toa Fa'avae got every first-team rep, and the game plan went from 80 plays to 60. New Mexico hasn't lost since. The Lobos are 6-1, with the fifth-best total defense in FBS. That's why his name is everywhere as the coaching carousel starts to spin. Baylor, Maryland and NC State have already fired their coaches, and more Power 4 jobs are expected to open. This week, Eck topped a national list of the 35 names to know this cycle. He saw it coming. In August, he said he had already talked to his team about handling distractions, including "my name being linked for stuff." He and his wife sincerely like it in Albuquerque, he said. "But, you know, the better you do increases the chances you're not here." In December 2015, Jason Eck was 38 and looking for his 10th coaching job. This December, he could be the first call for more than one Power 4 school.