UNM finds its FB Coach

[Meister_Rebel]

Just saw this news.

Entering the Eck era: New Mexico taps Jason Eck to be its next football coach

Idaho head football coach Jason Eck is being hired for the same role at New Mexico, the Journal has learned.

www.abqjournal.com

 

[RebelSoldat]

Interesting hire but it could be a risky one.

 

[Meister_Rebel]

Interesting hire but it could be a risky one.

They are at the bottom now so they either stay there or move on up.

 

[Meister_Rebel]

From ESPN. This particular sentence made me shake my head.

"It marked a distinct turnaround at Idaho, which had just two winning seasons in the 22 years prior to Eck's arrival. His work at a place that doesn't traditionally win appealed to New Mexico officials, according to sources."

Sources: New Mexico to hire Idaho coach Eck

New Mexico has agreed to a five-year deal to hire Idaho coach Jason Eck, sources told ESPN.

www.espn.com

 

[WarthogRebel]

What an amazing difference. We were there 8 years ago.

 

[MRJA]

Idaho just lost in the playoffs last night. Maybe Eck was like Odom, thinking about the new job?

 

[Meister_Rebel]

Idaho just lost in the playoffs last night. Maybe Eck was like Odom, thinking about the new job?

Definitely. He obviously had already accepted the offer and was just waiting to make the announcement. The moving truck was probably already headed out of Moscow.

 

[rebelzzz]

I think this is a good hire for them. I dont know what they are going to pay but my guess is theu dont have the money to go after a $2million+ coach. This guy has shown he can be successful. Plus it probably leaves money to try and retain Petino. This next year will be difficult but they could have done worse

 

[j. spilotro]

Definitely. He obviously had already accepted the offer and was just waiting to make the announcement. The moving truck was probably already headed out of Moscow.

Smells very Haucky.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

I think this is about as good as hire as UNM could expect to make barring some massive influx of booster money. I don't know if it will work out or not but Eck was doing a really good job at Idaho.

For some perspective (And I'm not comparing Eck's resume to Entz) Fresno State a 'flagship' program for the new PAC just hired Entz. Considering the perceived gap between Fresno and UNM I think Eck is every bit as good of hire as Entz when you factor that in.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

Smells very Haucky.

Kinda but Hauck took over a juggernaut FCS school in Montana and kept it rolling. Eck took over a struggling program in Idaho and turned things around.

If I was a Lobo fan I'd be happy with the hire knowing the schools limitations.

 

[Meister_Rebel]

Kinda but Hauck took over a juggernaut FCS school in Montana and kept it rolling. Eck took over a struggling program in Idaho and turned things around.

If I was a Lobo fan I'd be happy with the hire knowing the schools limitations.

It would take a miracle for UNM to win 2 games next year. Recruit signing day I saw 2 players commit. The portal has over 30 players from UNM. Happy is a word kind of lost on UNM fans right now. This might be one of the toughest rebuild jobs in the Country.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

It would take a miracle for UNM to win 2 games next year. Recruit signing day I saw 2 players commit. The portal has over 30 players from UNM. Happy is a word kind of lost on UNM fans right now. This might be one of the toughest rebuild jobs in the country.

Agree 100%.

I've been saying for years there's very little hope for that program baring a miracle.

The portal helps alleviate some of this but..

New Mexico is a sparsely populated state. So it doesn't churn out a ton of FBS talent. The good talent they do produce leaves to bigger schools. So you can't really build with in state talent.

Add to it they simply haven't shown any inclination to really invest in the program. Landing Mendenhall was a step in the right direction. But not being able to find the money to counter USU shows they are only interested in winning not committed to it. Even if they matched Bronco probably still leaves, but I'm not sure how hard they tried.

At the very least Eck showed at Idaho he can rebuild/build something from nothing. Will it translate to UNM, I don't know it's a really tough job. But I think his type of resume was a good fit for UNM.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

Pretty impressive job by Eck...

 

[Masked_rebel]

UNM seems like a worse job than the Idaho job. Bronco was able to leverage some of his name recognition and he's a pretty good coach to help UNM to get to 5 wins. Feels like this is a 3 win team for next few seasons and hopefully they can become a 6 or 7 win program. Gotta be disheartening to go from Bronco to a coach from FCS.

 

[Meister_Rebel]

Agree 100%.

I've been saying for years there's very little hope for that program baring a miracle.

The portal helps alleviate some of this but..

New Mexico is a sparsely populated state. So it doesn't churn out a ton of FBS talent. The good talent they do produce leaves to bigger schools. So you can't really build with in state talent.

Add to it they simply haven't shown any inclination to really invest in the program. Landing Mendenhall was a step in the right direction. But not being able to find the money to counter USU shows they are only interested in winning not committed to it. Even if they matched Bronco probably still leaves, but I'm not sure how hard they tried.

At the very least Eck showed at Idaho he can rebuild/build something from nothing. Will it translate to UNM, I don't know it's a really tough job. But I think his type of resume was a good fit for UNM.

UNM didn't have a chance with keeping Bronco. These four things sealed the deal. You can reshuffle the order any way you want but he was gone.

1. The MW breakup probably didn't help.
2. The AD that hired him took the Houston job.
3. His mother lives 2 hours drive from Logan.
4. His Montana ranch is 8 hours drive or 1.5 hours on his private plane from Logan.

 

[LocoRebel]

Just saw this news.

Entering the Eck era: New Mexico taps Jason Eck to be its next football coach

Idaho head football coach Jason Eck is being hired for the same role at New Mexico, the Journal has learned.

www.abqjournal.com

Personally I think it's a great hire for UNM. They are in a really tough spot for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is financial. Eck would have been a candidate for better MWC jobs in just a few years, IMO. He'll do well enough in Albuquerque to get out.