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Jason Eck
Jason Eck went 40–18 as a head coach, 2022–2026, at Idaho and New Mexico. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 4–1); by them his record is 39–18. Share
Three seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2022–24 at Idaho. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 40–18 career
- Seasons
- 5
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Aug 11, 1977
- Best season
- 2026 5–1
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Idaho * | 7–5 | T–3rd | FCS First Round L | 18 | |
| 2023 | Idaho * | 9–4 | T–2nd | FCS Quarterfinal L | 8 | |
| 2024 | Idaho * | 10–4 | T–3rd | FCS Quarterfinal L | 7 | |
| 2025 | New Mexico | 9–4 | T–1st | Rate Bowl L | ||
| 2026 | New Mexico | 5–1 (Wikipedia: 4–1) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 3 | 3–0 | 100% |
| Conference games | 10 | 8–2 | 80% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 7 | 4–3 | 57% |
| At home | 9 | 9–0 | 100% |
| On the road | 9 | 5–4 | 56% |
| At neutral sites | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 12 | 12–0 | 100% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 7 | 2–5 | 29% |
His own 19 games on file, 2025–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| New Mexico Stateseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| San Diego Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| UCLAseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Colorado Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Hawai’iseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Idaho Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Utah Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Air Forceseries | 1 | 1–0 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2001 | Wisconsin | Graduate assistant | |
| 2002–03 | Colorado | Graduate assistant | |
| 2004–05 | Idaho | Offensive line coach | |
| 2006 | Idaho | Tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2007–08 | Winona State | Offensive line and tight ends coach | |
| 2009–10 | Ball State | Offensive line coach | |
| 2011 | Hampton | Offensive line coach | |
| 2012 | Western Illinois | Offensive line coach and running game coordinator | |
| 2013–14 | Minnesota State | Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 2015 | Montana State | Running game coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 2016–18 | South Dakota State | Offensive line coach | |
| 2019–21 | South Dakota State | Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 2022–24 | Idaho | Head coach | |
| 2025–present | New Mexico | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Barry AlvarezWisconsin
- Gary BarnettColorado
- Nick HoltIdaho
- Dennis EricksonIdaho
- Stan ParrishBall State
- Mark HendricksonWestern Illinois
Assistants who became head coaches
- Dan JacksonSouth Dakota State
- Daniel Da PratoSouth Florida
- Jared ElliottWestern Illinois
Worked under (6)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barry Alvarez | Wisconsin | 1999–2001 | Graduate assistant | |
| Gary Barnett | Colorado | 2002–03 | Graduate assistant | |
| Nick Holt | Idaho | 2004–05 | Offensive line coach | |
| Dennis Erickson | Idaho | 2006 | Tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| Stan Parrish | Ball State | 2009–10 | Offensive line coach | |
| Mark Hendrickson | Western Illinois | 2012 | Offensive line coach and running game coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (3)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Jackson | Idaho, 2024: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | South Dakota State | |
| Daniel Da Prato | New Mexico, 2025: special teams coach and assistant head coach | South Florida | |
| Jared Elliott | New Mexico, 2025: tight ends coach | Western Illinois |
Other assistants under him (6)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Luke Schleusner | Idaho, 2022–24: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; New Mexico, 2025–26: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Matt Linehan | Idaho, 2022–24: wide receivers coach | |
| Rob Aurich | Idaho, 2022–23: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Spence Nowinsky | New Mexico, 2025–26: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Darrius G. Smith | New Mexico, 2026: running backs coach | |
| Zach Lujan | New Mexico, 2026: wide receivers coach and assistant head coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Eck’s teams went for it on 34% of fourth downs and on 67% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 43% of plays and took 28.9 seconds a play, 2025–2026.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 12 g | 30 of 83 36% | 69% | 47% | 28.1 | +0.06 | |
| 2026 6 g | 13 of 42 31% | 63% | 34% | 30.4 | +0.12 | |
| All 18 g | 43 of 125 34% | 67% | 43% | 28.9 | +0.08 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.