Jaxton Eck making his own name at Idaho

Jaxton Eck has made a name for himself as a sophomore linebacker for the No. 7 Vandal football team. He just so happens to share that name with Idaho head coach Jason Eck — his dad.

On Saturday, the younger Eck earned his first collegiate interception and led Idaho with 11 tackles in the 23-17 win over the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. His efforts were strong enough for the Big Sky to name him a co-defensive player of the week.

Jaxton Eck is the second Vandal to earn that honor this season after senior defensive end Keyshawn James-Newby won the award with a three-sack performance against Wyoming. The two defenders played a major role in the key turnover that swung momentum back to Idaho after NAU opened second-half drive at the Vandal 37-yard line because of a 63-yard kickoff return.

James-Newby was able to get to the quarterback and cause a weak throw and Jaxton Eck was there to haul it in.

“It was a cool honor, but I couldn’t have done it for sure without my teammates and coaches,” Jaxton Eck said. “Even on my pick, (James-Newby) had a great pressure, had the quarterback off balance throwing it. But it’s cool, but it’s a team award for sure.”

The sophomore linebacker has become a major cog in the defensive operation for Idaho this season. In six games, Jaxton Eck has 45 tackles with 22 solo tackles, both tops on the team. As a freshman he played in 12 games and had 37 tackles.

The Brookings High School of South Dakota graduate did not always want to play for his dad. There is always a stigma that goes along with being the coach’s kid, something Jaxton Eck wanted to avoid. However, when Jason Eck got the job as head coach of the Idaho Vandals, that changed the narrative.

“I thought it’d be cool to come back to where I was born,” Jaxton Eck said. “And a lot of my offers were out in the Midwest, or I had one offer down in Texas. So just having my family be able to come see me play also played a big role. My dad wasn’t able to come to a lot of my games as a kid, cause he’d be traveling for away games. So having him be at every game is cool and fun.”

Jaxton Eck said that the experience at Idaho was a lot better than what he was expecting. He knew that he was going to have to show up and earn the team’s respect. The linebacker was set on proving himself and working hard and feels that he has gotten close with many of his teammates and the chemistry is second to none.

Coach Eck said that he is proud of any of his players who perform well enough to earn an accolade like his son did, but that this one was a little different because he was proud as both a coach and a dad.

“Definitely proud of him and (he) always worked very hard,” Jason Eck said. “And credit to his mom for raising him really well when I’ve been busy coaching all these years, but he’s doing a good job for us.”

Jason Eck said that he has seen his son become more confident from his freshman year to his sophomore season. The coach credited Jaxton’s ability to learn the defense from all aspects and that he has really become a leader as far as communication goes.

The 6-foot-1 sophomore gave credit to the Idaho nutrition staff for helping him bulk up and get in better football shape in the offseason.

“A big thing that helped me was my diet. We have a really good nutritionist, Francine (Hoffman), and I wasn’t really eating enough,” Jaxton Eck said. “We get body scans, so I could tell I wasn’t growing a lot. But I really changed my diet this off-season, and I put on, I think, nine pounds of muscle and lost a few pounds of fat. So I think that’s played a big role.”

Jaxton Eck said that Hoffman helped create a personalized plan for him to follow. It allowed him to monitor his calories with goals for protein, carbs and fats. He said having a way to track everything as he went helped his process.

The linebacker noted that it can be difficult balancing life as a collegiate football player, trying to make sure that he gets his school work done while focusing each week on a new opponent.

“It’s a new team each week, so you’re kind of just starting over,” Jaxton Eck said. “And you wanna put yourself in the best position to succeed, so you wanna really master what they do.”

The next team that Jaxton Eck and the Vandals are preparing for is undefeated No. 3 Montana State. Idaho was able to defeat the Bobcats inside the P1FCU Kibbie Dome last season, 24-21, but will go on the road to Bozeman, Mont., at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday for a game that will be broadcast on ESPN2.

“We’re definitely very familiar with them, obviously playing them last year,” Jaxton Eck said. “We know they’re a really good team; (they) have a lot of talent and a lot of experience.

Isbelle can be reached at 208-848-2268, risbelle@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyIsbelle.