UNM AD reflects on Jason Eck's program building, 'infectious' personality and dance moves

Yes, the dance moves played a role.

New Mexico Athletic Director Fernando Lovo said he hired new head football coach Jason Eck because of his reputation as a proven program-builder with an “infectious” personality, someone who can connect with the community at large.

Eck was announced as UNM’s third head coach in as many years on Saturday after compiling a 26-13 record in the same role at Idaho — where the 47-year-old former offensive lineman often celebrated big wins by dancing in the locker room.

“I told the team (Saturday) — when I was going through the things that caught my eye, I think one of the second to last things I said was the dance moves,” Lovo told the media on Saturday night. “That got a chuckle out of the team. But he’s got some pretty good moves, I will tell you that.

“He shared with me that he’s gonna be doing that quite a bit here, so that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

Working on an “aggressive” timeline to replace former head coach Bronco Mendenhall, Lovo said Eck surfaced quickly due to his success turning around a struggling Idaho program. Eck took the Vandals to the FCS playoffs in all three seasons at the helm, notably defeating two FBS programs in Nevada and Wyoming over the last couple of years.

Idaho (10-4 in 2024), which dropped from FBS to FCS in 2018, had only one winning season in the 12 years before Eck’s arrival in 2021.

“He’s not a team-builder, he’s a program-builder,” Lovo said. “And I think that’s critically important, not just for New Mexico but across the board, because of the stability it brings to your program. The peace of mind that it brings to your players and everyone around the program was something that was really important to me.”

How Eck did it mattered, too. Lovo said his energy as a coach and as a person made it clear he’d be able to engage with the community at large in the same way he did at Idaho.

“And I noticed that quickly,” Lovo added. “The other thing (I looked for) is someone that deeply cared about the holistic development of the student athlete, right? You’ve got the Xs and Os, all of those things are important … but someone that has a plan to develop student athletes both on and off the field was something that was really important to me, and something coach Eck has a tremendous plan for.”

Lovo, a first-time athletic director, was thrown into a search for a new football coach in his first week on the job. Lovo started Dec. 2 and days later, Mendenhall announced his departure for Utah State after just one season with the Lobos, citing proximity to family as the primary reason.

Lovo declined to discuss many of the specifics of the search, including what other coaches UNM interviewed. Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore was linked to the job via a report from CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd last week; when asked if Moore interviewed, Lovo said he wouldn’t discuss the particulars of UNM’s process.

“What I will tell you about the process is that we had an incredible pool of candidates,” he said. “All the conversations that we had, I could sense the excitement, right, that was surrounding Lobo football and the University of New Mexico.”

Lovo also confirmed that Eck’s deal spans five years. Details of his contract were not available at the time of publication.