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Dec. 14—The Lobos have their man.
Nine days after the unexpected exit of Bronco Mendenhall, the University of New Mexico has hired Jason Eck as its new football coach.
Eck, 47, agreed to a five-year contract, the terms of which were not immediately available. UNM athletic director Fern Lovo will have more details when he addresses the media for the first time following Saturday night’s men’s basketball game in The Pit.
Eck has been Idaho’s head coach since 2022, leading the Vandals to a 26-13 record and a top-three finish in the Big Sky Conference all three seasons. His team went 10-4 this season, losing in the Football Bowl Subdivision national quarterfinals on Friday night to Montana State.
He took the Vandals to the postseason each year. His team turned heads by taking top-ranked Oregon down to the wire in its Aug. 31 season opener. The Vandals went on the road the following week to beat Wyoming, a team that handed UNM a loss in Albuquerque in November.
Idaho had had just two winning seasons in 22 years prior to Eck’s arrival.
“I am truly humbled to be selected as the head coach of the New Mexico Lobos,” Eck said in a statement. “I know that the university community, students, alumni, Lobo Nation and greater Albuquerque and New Mexico communities are eager for success and I cannot wait to give that to them. We will have tremendous coaches and support staff and develop our student-athletes into elite athletes, UNM graduates and people.”
Eck will have his hands full trying to maintain the momentum built by Mendenhall in his lone season at UNM. As of Saturday morning, 30 Lobos had entered the transfer portal with a number of them having already signed or committed to new schools. Another 15 to 20 players are expected to hit the open market in the coming weeks.
Eck was an offensive lineman at Wisconsin in his playing…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/unm-hires-idahos-eck-coach-003200517.html
Author : The Santa Fe New Mexican
Publish date : 2024-12-15 00:32:00
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