After the departure of former head coach Jimmy Rogers, the Jackrabbits bring in former player and coach Dan Jackson as the 22nd SDSU football head coach.
“It’s an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” said Jackson in his introductory press conference on Jan. 10. “I love this place.”
Jackson, a native of Omaha, Nebraska started his football career with the Jackrabbits in 2003.
He returned in 2012 and spent seven years with the Jackrabbits before getting a job with Northern Illinois, an FBS program.
In his coaching career at South Dakota State, Jackson spent time as a graduate assistant on the coaching staff, cornerbacks coach, special teams coordinator and assistant head coach. Jackson also spent time as a recruiter for the Jacks.

“I’ve done every job here,” said Jackson. “From a GA [graduate assistant] to a position coach, special teams coordinator, recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach.”
Similar to SDSU’s previous coaches, Rogers and John Stiegelmeier, Jackson is a defensive coach.
After two seasons at Northern Illinois under Thomas Hammock, Jackson took on the SEC with the Vanderbilt Commodores where he coached defensive backs.
Jackson’s last stop before returning to South Dakota State was Idaho to work under Jason Eck. Eck and Jackson spent time together at South Dakota State where Eck coached on the offensive side of the ball.
Eck took to social media on X, formerly Twitter after the hire of Jackson saying “Fired up for @coachDtjackson. Great opportunity to run his own program after doing a great job for us last year.”
Similar to his former defensive coordinator, Eck picked up a new coaching job in the Mountain West as head coach for the University of New Mexico Lobos.
Jackson originally planned to follow Eck to New Mexico but knew he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to coach at South Dakota State.
“This [coaching at SDSU] was my dream,” said Jackson. “This was my dream to be a head coach and when Justin [Sell] and I spoke on the phone when I got the chance to see President Dunn… I knew this was very clear to me. To me, it was a no-brainer.”
In Jackson’s single season with the Vandals, they finished third in the Big Sky, amounting to a 10-4 record and a playoff birth. Jackson and Idaho, who were seeded eighth beat Richmond before losing to the No. 1 seeded Montana State in the quarterfinals.
Under Jackson, the Vandals scored two defensive touchdowns, racked up 32 sacks and had the eighth-best fourth down defense in the nation, allowing a conversion on fourth down 32.1% of the time.
Now dawning the blue and gold once again, Jackson walks into an SDSU locker room that lost over 30 players and 2025 commits to the transfer portal along with multiple coaches.
“There is a new landscape in college football,” said Jackson. “Those things can change and morph and move but our standards will not change. Our goal will always be to win a national championship, our goal will always be to be the best football program in the country. We will evolve and grow and we will thrive in the new landscape of college football.”
Former SDSU quarterback Mark Gronowski showed his support for Jackson and the Jacks on X saying “Awesome Hire! Future is bright for SDSU.”
Jackson has been busy bringing on new staff to prepare for the 2025 season, stacking the coaching staff with multiple new and familiar faces.
Eric Eidsness joins the staff as a coordinator for the offense and as the new quarterbacks coach. Eidsness has been the offensive coordinator for the Jackrabbits two different times: from 1999-2003 and 2010-2018.
Similar to Eidsness, Brian Bergstrom is a former Jackrabbit who has come back to Brookings. Bergstrom spent time with the Jackrabbits while holding multiple positions as the safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator before heading to Winona State 2022 to become the head coach.
Vince Benedetto, a former Jackrabbit will work with tight ends, Deontae Cooper will be the running backs coach and Isaiah Jackson joins the staff as the special teams coordinator.
As for Rogers, he has taken a job as the new head coach for the Washington State Cougars in the PAC-12. In his two seasons as head coach for the Jackrabbits, Rogers went 27-3 with a national championship and an FCS semifinals visit.
Last season, the Cougars finished 8-5 with a bowl-game loss to ranked Syracuse in December.
Jackson and the Jacks will see the field again on Aug. 30 to take on a rival of Jackson’s former team, the Sacramento State Hornets at the Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
Roger • Jan 22, 2025 at 10:22 pm
Coach Rogers emphasized the team culture and considering the team as family when he took over the SDSU program. Turns out his real values are (1) split as soon as you get a better offer and (2) screw your former program over if it helps you get ahead. He should be able to establish a great culture at WSU building on those values.