Jason Eck led the Vandals to new heights in his three seasons at the helm, so it makes sense that Idaho would want to hand the keys of the program that was familiar with that approach.
Turns out, that's exactly what they're going to do.
Thomas Ford, who spent the 2022 and 2023 season on staff under Eck coordinating special teams and coaching the running backs, is the new head coach of the Vandals
Ford spent the last season in Corvallis as the Beavers running backs coach.
Idaho had a lot of success on the ground with Ford on staff, as Anthony Woods rushed for over 1,100 yards and 16 touchdowns en route to First-Team All Big Sky honors and a Third-Team All American.
Before joining the staff at Idaho, he spent two seasons on staff at Washington, where he was an offensive quality control coach.
Ford will bring college head coaching experience to the new role, as he served as the head coach at Simon Fraser, a Division II program in Canada, for two seasons. He picked up GNAC Coach of the Year honors in 2018 after leading the program to their first win in four seasons while ranking among the top 15 passing offenses in all of Division II.
He also spent time as a head coach at the high school level at Stadium HS (Tacoma, WA), where he took an 0-10 team that hadn't had a winning season in 20 years and led them to playoff appearances in his third and fourth seasons at the helm.
As a player, he starred at Division III power Linfield (D-III - OR), where he was instrumental in a 41-4 record during his time as a player, winning a national title in 2004, and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2016.
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