Jan. 23—BROOKINGS — Dan Jackson has been the coach of the Jackrabbits for almost a month now, and he’s done an admirable job of calming the rough waters that were brought about by Jimmy Rogers’ departure.
Jackson’s staff is almost complete. There is clarity on which players and recruits are leaving and which ones are staying. And while there’s no doubt the roster took a big hit from players following Rogers to Washington State or going elsewhere, Jackson has wasted no time reaching into the transfer portal to bring in reinforcements.
They’ve added several players from the Big Ten who will come to the FCS level hungry for the playing time they didn’t get at their old schools, while also adding players from the sub-Division I level who have already proven themselves as productive players and are looking to challenge themselves at a higher level.
Here’s an update at where things stand, starting with the coaching staff, where every full time position coach has been hired except a receivers coach. They also need a strength coach to replace Matt Jacobs and, presumably, a mental performance coach to replace Kris Kracht. They both followed Rogers to WSU along with the rest of his staff.
Eric Eidsness — offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach
Brian Bergstrom — defensive coordinator, safeties coach
Isaiah Jackson — special teams coordinator
Mike Bangston — offensive line coach
Deontae Cooper — running backs coach, recruiting coordinator
Vince Benedetto — tight ends coach
Logan McCormick — defensive line coach
Zane Busekist — linebackers coach
Marcus McLin — cornerbacks coach
Dalton Thomas — assistant defensive line coach
DyShawn Gales — assistant secondary coach
Bangston has big shoes to fill, replacing Ryan Olson, who worked under and then replaced Jason Eck (Olson is headed to Northwestern to be assistant offensive line coach, the only member of Rogers’ staff that didn’t follow him to WSU).
Eck and Olson built the Jackrabbit offensive line into a monster that developed NFL talent and paved the way for two national championships. Bangston was most recently the O-line coach at Sam Houston, helping the Bearkats to a 10-3 record and a New Orleans Bowl win.
McCormick is a former NDSU defensive end who won four national championships as a Bison before going into coaching. He most recently worked as assistant defensive line coach at Northwestern under former SDSU assistant Christian Smith.
Busekist comes to SDSU from Boise State, where he was also an assistant defensive line coach, helping the Broncos reach the Fiesta Bowl this year.
McLin comes to SDSU from Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he was defensive coordinator and assistant head coach, and he’ll be joined by Gales, who starred on SDSU’s national championship teams and was in camp with the Browns this past year.
Key player additions:
Nate White, running back
A transfer from Wisconsin, White was a four-star recruit coming out of Milwaukee, choosing the Badgers over Minnesota, Purdue, Iowa State and Vanderbilt, among others. He’ll have three years left.
John Pica, offensive line
A 6-5, 295-pound transfer from Dakota Wesleyan, the Dell Rapids St. Mary product was named to the All-GPAC first team last year and second team in 2023.
The last time the Jacks took a chance on an NAIA all-star it worked out pretty well (linebacker Jason Freeman), so Pica’s accomplishments at a lower level shouldn’t be overlooked.
Matt Goehring, linebacker
Arguably the best player on the defense of a USF Cougar team that went 8-3 last year, Goehring is another local product (Roosevelt) that can play. He was named to the All-NSIC team as a freshman and sophomore and will have two years left for the Jacks. He had 59 tackles and four interceptions last year. Could be an immediate impact player.
Max Elrod, defensive line
A 6-1, 255-pound bowling ball with a motor, Elrod walked on at USF out of Harrisburg and turned heads on their scout team this past season. Will have four years in Brookings.
Reese Osgood, wide receiver
Jalyn Thompson, tight end
These two are both transferring in from Iowa, where they were walkons who didn’t see any game action. The 6-3, 255-pound Thompson has three years left and the 6-0, 190-pound Osgood has two.
Tak Tateoka, quarterback
A two-year starter at St. Thomas, Tateoka should push Jon Bell for the QB2 role. He had his share of ups and downs with the Tommies (he went 5-of-13 for 49 yards in a loss to USF), but has size, athleticism and extensive college game experience.
Koby Bretz, safety
A 6-2, 205-pound transfer from Nebraska, Bretz has just one year left but should have an opportunity to be an impact player right away. He played in 17 games for the Huskers across four seasons, including 10 in 2023.
Graham Eben, safety
The son of former USF great Curtis Eben, Graham chose to walk on at Iowa over a handful of FCS and Division II scholarship offers, but now comes to SDSU with four years of eligibility. At 6-2, 210, has the size and athleticism to play the hybrid nickle role.
Jackson Powers, safety
Another Big Ten walkon, Powers spent two years with the Gophers without seeing the field, and joins Bretz and Eben to give the Jacks three safeties with Big Ten experience. That should soften the blow left by SDSU safeties Cale Reeder, Tucker Large and Matt Durrance all heading to Washington State.
Speaking of which, here is the list of players who followed Rogers to Pullman:
Beau Baker, TE
Nick Bakken, OL
Max Baloun, DL
Matt Durrance, S
Caleb Francl, LB
Colby Humphrey, CB
Angel Johnson, RB
Tucker Large, S
JR Lecuona, DE
Anthony Palano, LB
Cale Reeder, S
Carsten Reynolds, LB
Trey Ridley, S
Jack Stevens, K
Kirby Vorhees, RB
Maxwell Woods, RB
Rogers also got several recruits from the 2025 class to flip to Wazzu. Among them are O’Gorman utility man Sullivan Schlimgen, Oklahoma quarterback Owen Eshelman and highly regarded linebackers Isaiah Hung and Erimus Wright and cornerbacks Trillion Sorrell and Tyrone Cotton.
Several others transferred somewhere other than Wazzu. Quarterback Mark Gronowski and defensive tackle Bryce Hawthorne went to Iowa, receiver Griffin Wilde and guard Evan Beerntsen to Northwestern, while tight end Davin Stoffel heads to Illinois and receiver Kentrell Prejean to Southeast Louisiana.
Rule changes in college football for the 2025 season already have and will continue to impact SDSU’s roster. The NCAA has mandated that FBS teams cap their rosters at 105 players, while also increasing their scholarship allotment to 105. Previously, FBS teams were limited to 85 scholarships but walkons pushed the average roster to 128 players at the FBS level. That means scores of players from FBS teams are being cut loose. Expect the Jacks to continue to keep some scholarships open as more and more players from FBS programs find themselves looking for a home.
