Dan Jackson, who previously played and coached football at South Dakota State, has accepted the Jackrabbits’ head coaching position, Director of Athletics Justin Sell announced Tuesday.
Jackson will become the 22nd head coach in Jackrabbit football history. An introductory press conference is planned for the week of Jan. 6.
An Omaha native, Jackson began his association with SDSU football as a player from 2003-05. He joined the Jackrabbits’ coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 2012, when SDSU began its current streak of 13 consecutive appearances in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. He was elevated to cornerbacks coach in 2014 and also served as recruiting coordinator, special teams coordinator and assistant head coach under John Stiegelmeier before moving on to Northern Illinois following the 2019 season.
Jackson coached two seasons at Northern Illinois, then was hired at Vanderbilt, where he coached defensive backs during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In 2024, Jackson became a defensive coordinator for the first time when he joined the coaching staff at Idaho under former Jackrabbit colleague Jason Eck. He also coached the linebackers for a Vandals squad that advanced to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs. Jackson recently was tabbed to become defensive coordinator at New Mexico under Eck.
Joining Jackson in Brookings will be his wife, Missy.
South Dakota State concluded the 2024 season with a 12-3 overall record and claimed its third consecutive Missouri Valley Football Conference crown with a share of the title. The Jackrabbits, who won national championships in 2022 and 2023, reached the semifinal round of the FCS playoffs this fall for the fifth consecutive season and seventh time in the last eight years.