BROOKINGS, S.D. — Former South Dakota State player and assistant Dan Jackson has been hired as the Jackrabbits’ new head coach, the school announced Tuesday night.

Jackson takes over for Jimmy Rogers, who left for Washington State after leading the Jackrabbits to the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals.

Jackson was Idaho coach Jason Eck’s defensive coordinator this season and had been set to move to New Mexico for the same position under Eck before the SDSU job opened.

Jackson played for the Jackrabbits from 2003 to 2005 and became a graduate assistant at SDSU in 2012, when the program began its current streak of 13 straight FCS playoff appearances.

He was elevated to cornerbacks coach in 2014 and also served as recruiting and 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.

The Jackrabbits, who won national titles in 2022 and 2023, finished this season 12-3 overall and as co-champions in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

By WVUA Sports reporter Hunter Brantley

Coming into the weekend, Alabama’s offense was sputtering. The Crimson Tide began the season only shooting 31 percent from thee point range.

That changed in big way on Sunday, in a 105-82 win over South Dakota State.

Senior Grant Nelson got the scoring going, as the Devils Lake, N.D. native recorded the first eight points of the game for the Tide and finished the game with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Sophomore transfer Aden Holloway had his best game of the season, scoring 26 points off the bench while making 8 three-pointers in the win.

“It’s kind of crazy, because (Alabama coach Nate Oats) gets mad when I don’t shoot and that throws me off,” Holloway said. “I just take a second to just like be thankful and go out and play and do what we do. I’m grateful that he instills confidence in me and lets me play my game.”

Prolific guard Labaron Philon also dropped a season high, the freshmen concluded the game with 21 points, five rebounds and six assists to earn him SEC Freshman of the Week honors for the second time this season.

“Obviously, maybe a surprise to the public, but we kind of knew within the program based on play in the summer how good Labaron has been. He’s been really good in the games too,” Oats said.

Another developing story that transpired on Sunday was forward Derrion Reid missing the game with an ankle injury.

“He’s got an ankle injury that he sustained in practice two days ago. Little bit of a flare-up from a summer injury. We’re hoping that clears up quickly and he can practice by the middle of the week, get him ready for Oklahoma,” Oats said.

No. 5 Alabama will be in action on Saturday as they host No. 12 Oklahoma in its SEC opener. The game is set to tip off at 5 P.M on SEC Network.