Idaho’s Jason Eck Leaves Vandals Becomes a Millionaire

College football returns to television this week as the first-ever twelve-team playoff begins this Friday. Boise State prepares for a showdown with whoever wins the SMU/ Penn State Game. The University of Idaho announced it has hired Thomas Ford as its next head football coach.

Coach Ford will take over a team that had a very successful run under former Coach Jason Eck. The Vandals had their best run in years under Coach Eck, going 26-13 and three appearances in the FSC playoffs. Eck's Vandals came close to making college football history by almost upsetting number one Oregon in Eugene.

Coach Eck made winning seem easy for a program that had not seen a whiff of success before he arrived on campus. He left Moscow to become the head coach of the University of New Mexico Lobos, which is one of the worst jobs in college football.

The Lobos haven't had a winning program in years and have seen a revolving door of coaches. However, Coach Eck's salary will go from maxing out around $400,000 to a base of $1.15 million. The coach can earn additional revenue from meeting incentives like winning the Mountain West, getting the team to a bowl or the College Football Playoffs.

(You can read more about his financial windfall here.)

Idaho Vandal fans feared losing their winning coach due to the arms race in college football. The Vandals have failed to invest in the necessary infrastructure to attract top players. The facilities need to be upgraded, and coaches need additional compensation.

Other FSC Schools, like Montana and Montana State, have invested in keeping their coaches. Perhaps the loss of Coach Eck will spur the administration to invest in their athletic programs before they return to a less-than-stellar record.