Welcome, @Coach_Eck!
We are thrilled to announce Jason Eck as the 36th head coach in Idaho Football History. https://t.co/v9VMbwXRMP#GoVandals pic.twitter.com/bcVEL99rGk
— Idaho Football (@VandalFootball) December 19, 2021
New Orleans Saints running backs coach Joel Thomas was a candidate for the open head coach job at Idaho, his alma mater, but the Vandals went with someone else instead: Jason Eck. South Dakota State’s offensive coordinator for the last three seasons, Eck was announced as Idaho’s new head coach Sunday.
As fate would have it, he and Thomas were part of the same Vandals coaching staff in 2004 — Thomas coached the running backs and worked as co-offensive coordinator, while Eck worked with the offensive line. Thomas later made the jump to the NFL, while Eck continued to climb the ladder in the college ranks.
So for now Thomas will stay in New Orleans on Sean Payton’s staff. Maybe he gets more calls in the offseason; the Saints lost a number of assistants early in 2021 and could hemorrhage more coaches over the next few months. It’s not impossible to imagine Thomas moving on if the right opportunity arises, though you have to think on some level his interest in Idaho was related to his history with the school.
