BROOKINGS — South Dakota State managed to bring in an FBS defensive coordinator and stay in-house for their new head coach all at the same time.

Dan Jackson, an SDSU alum who spent eight seasons as an assistant under John Stiegelmeier, will be named the Jackrabbits next head coach, replacing Jimmy Rogers, who was recently hired by Washington State.

The third head coach of SDSU’s Division I era, Jackson spent last year as the defensive coordinator for Idaho under former SDSU assistant Jason Eck, and had recently agreed to take the same role at New Mexico after Eck was named the Lobos new head coach.

An Omaha native who played linebacker for the Jacks from 2002-2005, Jackson, 39, spent 2012-2019 on Stiegelmeier’s staff, coaching defensive backs while also serving stints as special teams coordinator, recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach. After leaving SDSU he coached two years at Northern Illinois, an FBS school in the MAC, and two years at Vanderbilt in the SEC. He began his coaching career at the high school level. This will be his first head coaching job.

Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.