South Dakota State University head football coach John Stiegelmeier announced Friday the hiring of Jason Eck as the Jackrabbits’ new offensive line coach.
“We are excited to add Jason Eck as our offensive line coach,” Stiegelmeier said. “Coach Eck has coached in a number of very good programs. He brings great experience and energy to our Jackrabbit football family.”
Eck has coached at the collegiate level since 1999, most recently serving as run game coordinator and offensive line coach at Montana State in 2015. In his lone season with the Bobcats, Eck helped coach an offense that led the Football Championship Subdivision in yards per play (6.82) and ranked fourth in total offense with an average of 519.8 yards per game.
Joining the Jackrabbit coaching staff will mark a return to the Midwest for Eck, who coached a record-setting offense at Minnesota State, Mankato during back-to-back Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championships in 2013 and 2014. He served as the offensive line coach in 2013 and added offensive coordinator duties in 2014 as the Mavericks advanced to the NCAA Division II championship game.
A 1999 graduate of Wisconsin, Eck played on the Badgers’ 1998 Big Ten championship team which went on to win the Rose Bowl. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin under head coach Barry Alvarez and later moved on to Colorado. He also has served coaching stints at Idaho (2004-2006), Winona State (2007-08), Ball State (2009-10), Hampton (2011) and Western Illinois (2012).
Eck replaces John Flynn, who recently resigned to pursue other professional opportunities.
South Dakota State has qualified for the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs each of the past four seasons. The Jackrabbits finished the 2015 season with an 8-4 overall record and ended the campaign ranked 15th in the STATS media poll and 16th by the FCS coaches.
