Jason Eck, 49, has become one of college football's hottest coaching names after a 23-year journey as an assistant that included working for 12 different head coaches, being fired four times, and even spending an offseason maintaining a university golf course. Now in his second season at New Mexico, Eck has led the Lobos to a 7-1 record, an unbeaten mark in Mountain West play, and the program's first-ever appearance in the AP Top 25. He is 16-5 in two seasons at New Mexico and 42-18 overall as a head coach.
Eck's path began as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin, where he met his wife Kimberly. The couple endured a nomadic early career with stops at Colorado, Idaho, Winona State, and Ball State, where Eck was fired on Christmas Eve 2010 — the same night Kimberly went into labor with their son Palmer. A subsequent FCS job at Hampton paid $44,000, down from $75,000 at Ball State, and a stint at Western Illinois ended with Eck reassigned to service lawn mowers and work in a campus transit center. He nearly left coaching for a FieldTurf sales job before a last-minute opportunity at Minnesota State revived his career.
At Minnesota State, Eck helped guide the Mavericks to the Division II national championship game. He then joined South Dakota State, where head coach John Stiegelmeier told him, "I think you will be a very good head coach someday." Eck became offensive coordinator and won the AFCA FCS Assistant Coach of the Year in 2019. In December 2021, at age 44, he landed his first head coaching job at Idaho, leading the Vandals to three straight FCS playoff appearances and a 26-13 record.
Eck accepted the New Mexico job on December 14, 2024, citing the passionate basketball crowds at The Pit, favorable conference realignment, and athletic director Fernando Lovo. In his first season, the Lobos went 9-4, routed UCLA 35-10 at the Rose Bowl, and reached a bowl game for the first time since 2016. This season, New Mexico's defense ranks No. 1 nationally allowing 11.9 points per game and leads the country in turnover margin at plus-17. The school rewarded Eck with a five-year, $8.75 million contract.
Family remains central to Eck's story. His son Jaxton, a linebacker who followed him from Idaho, turned down NIL offers estimated between $600,000 and $700,000 to stay at New Mexico. "Money's not the most important thing to me," Jaxton said. The Lobos (7-1, 4-0 MW) travel to Nevada on Friday with a 5.3% chance of reaching the College Football Playoff, according to CBS Sports projections. Eck insists his focus remains on the season: "If we were 1-7 right now, there'd be no articles linking me to jobs. This is a byproduct of us doing well."
