Mountain West awards: Jason Eck is Coach of the Year; Jaxton Eck earns Co-Defensive Player of the Year

Dec. 2—New Mexico head coach Jason Eck was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year, the league announced Tuesday.

In his first year with the Lobos, Eck led the program to a 9-3 overall record, the most regular season wins for the program since 1997. UNM tied for first in the Mountain West at 6-2, but were not selected to play in the league title game.

The Lobos notably beat UCLA 35-10 and finished this season on a six-game win streak, including a 40-35 shootout win at UNLV. UNM also posted a 6-0 record at home, the program's best since 1938.

Eck is the first Lobo coach to earn coach of the year honors in the Mountain West since Rocky Long did so in 2002. The former Idaho coach was signed to a new five-year deal last week, increasing his annual compensation by $400,000.

His son, linebacker Jaxton Eck, was also named the Mountain West Co-Defensive Player of the Year. The 6-foot-1, 224-pound junior made 126 total tackles, the second-best mark of any league defender, and graded out as one of the highest graded linebackers in the conference, per Pro Football Focus.

The first Lobo to earn defensive player of the year honors in the Mountain West era, Jaxton confirmed he would be coming back to UNM next season in a social media post Tuesday.

"So thankful and blessed to be surrounded by elite coaches and players," he wrote on X. "This is a team award and would not be possible without all of my brothers!! Excited to run it back next year!!"

With both Ecks earning yearly honors, the father-son duo are the first to earn conference awards together in Mountain West history.

Jaxton shared league co-defensive player of the year honors with San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson. UNLV quarterback Anthony Colandrea was named the league's Offensive Player of the Year while Hawaii kicker Kansei Matsuzawa and quarterback Micah Alejado earned Special Teams Player and Freshman of the Year honors, respectively.

The Lobos had four first team All-Mountain West selections in total:

First team offense

TE Dorian Thomas

-Led all Mountain West tight ends with 53 receptions for 545 yards and four touchdowns

KR Damon Bankston

-Finished second in the league with 334 kick return yards and one touchdown

First team defense

DL Keyshawn James-Newby

-Led the Mountain West in sacks (8) and finished second in tackles for loss (13)

LB Jaxton Eck

-Finished eighth nationally with 126 total tackles

Second team offense

OL Kaden Robnett

-Did not allow a sack on a team-high 423 pass blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus

Honorable mention

DL Brian Booker

-Made 16 total tackles with one sack over 380 snaps this season

DL Brett Karhu

-Tied for fourth in the conference with seven sacks and made 10.5 tackles for loss

K Luke Drzewiecki

-Made 15 of 16 field goals and converted a perfect 36 attempted PATs

P Daniel Hughes

-Averaged 45.8 yards per punt, the fifth-best mark in the conference

WR Keagan Johnson

-Finished sixth in the conference with 730 receiving yards on 57 receptions