As the 2025 FCS offseason marches on, HERO Sports will look at five questions for the 2024 quarterfinalists.
Next up is South Dakota State.
SDSU finished 12-3 last year, losing 28-21 at North Dakota State in the semifinals. Here are five questions for the Jackrabbits entering 2025.
How Good Exactly Is SDSU Going To Be?
SDSU was a model of consistency for years. Head coach John Stiegelmeier helped build the powerhouse, and SDSU executed a smooth handoff of the program when defensive coordinator and lifelong Jackrabbit Jimmy Rogers took over in 2023.
The Jacks won their first FCS title in 2022 in Stig’s final season, and they won another in Rogers’ first year in 2023. SDSU was certainly good enough to win a third in 2024 but fell short in the semifinals at NDSU. The program was consistently sending guys to the NFL, competing for championships, getting record attendance and donations, and having players turn down high FBS NIL offers to stay in Brookings.
Things were at an all-time high.
The glory days were the here and now.
And then things seemingly came crashing down. In a hurry. And in quite a jarring way.
There is a line of thinking that Stig stepped down a year or two earlier than he wanted so Rogers could finally take over. He was getting wooed with big P5 defensive coordinator offers. Most SDSU fans knew Rogers wasn’t going to stick around for too long. But he left for Washington State after just two years as HC. Not only that, but he took his entire staff with him, took more than 15 SDSU players with him, and got a handful of 2025 recruits to flip their commitment.
Competing arguments say this is the world of college athletics now. The other argument is this is a bit different, considering Rogers was a lifelong Jackrabbit who was gutting the program not long after SDSU and Stig went out of their way to make sure they handed the keys to him.
One week, SDSU fans had a realistic hope for a three-peat and plenty of optimism about what they’d be bringing back in 2025. A week later, they were dealing with a season-ending loss to their rival and then the entire coaching staff was leaving and trying to get dozens of players to leave with them. It quickly went from enjoying a great ride to all-out online panic.
The glass-half-empty look at the 2025 SDSU team is that it will take a step back. There are too many question marks to overcome as it returns just four starters. The glass-half-full look is that SDSU actually recovered pretty well from the blow of Rogers and the staff leaving, that it could have been much worse as far as players leaving, that a good chunk of key guys decided to return, and that the new staff has upgraded some spots and are already recruiting very well.
The most realistic outlook for SDSU is that the 2025 roster won’t be as good as 2024’s. But the Jacks might be just as competitive nationally in 2025 as they were in 2024.
NDSU looks loaded for another run but also will have a change at quarterback. South Dakota looks poised to keep ascending. After that? Montana State loses a lot. UC Davis loses a lot. Idaho loses a lot. Is UIW, Mercer, or a team like Tarleton State or Abilene Christian really ready to join Tier 1 of the FCS? The gap is still noticeable.
SDSU will be good in 2025. Plenty of talent, known and unknown, remains. The question is how good. Second-round good? Quarterfinal good? Semifinal good? A trip to Nashville good?
We shall see. But the first two games will be very telling — vs. Sac State and at Montana State. Sac State may not even be FCS playoff eligible as it looks to join the FBS in 2026, perhaps as an independent. The Hornets have a very talented roster via transfers and recruits and a new system in place that will be tough to prep for in Week 1. A road trip to Bozeman the next week is another difficult task. A 2-0 start would be very impressive for SDSU. And although not as likely, it wouldn’t be an absolute stunner to see a 0-2 start.
Can Chase Mason Deliver On The Hype?
Mason’s impact has already been felt this offseason. Getting courted to go to Washington State, the QB1-in-waiting decided to stay at SDSU, which created a snowball of other guys also deciding to stay.
Mason has been getting groomed under Mark Gronowski to take over as SDSU’s starting quarterback. In fact, last summer when Gronowski said 2024 would be his last at SDSU despite having another year of eligibility, one reason he gave was he believed Mason deserved his chance to lead the Jacks.
Mason has all the physical traits to be a great QB. The 6-foot-4 and 230-pounder was described as one of the best overall football players on last year’s team. He was used as a running threat last season, rushing 46 times for 464 yards (10.1 yards per carry) and six touchdowns. He has an effortless rocket arm with a smooth delivery. But what we don’t know just yet are the intangibles — reading a defense presnap and postsnap, having touch on the ball, accuracy, taking care of the ball and himself, etc.
Who Are The Offensive Playmakers?
SDSU feels comfortable at the quarterback spot with Mason. But what is around him?
SDSU loses its two best offensive linemen, top three running backs, and top wide receiver.
The No. 2 and 3 WRs are back: Grahm Goering and Lofton O’Groske. So are two of the top three tight ends: David Alpers and Greyton Gannon. On the o-line, SDSU returns three tackles with starting experience: Quinten Christensen, Sam Hagen, and Marcus Hicks. Hagen or Hicks will likely move to guard. Guard William Paepke is also back after playing a key role and logging more than 300 snaps last season.
The cupboard isn’t bare. But multiple guys will need to emerge in the backfield and someone has to step up as the go-to pass-catcher.
How Does The Defense Reload?
After owning some of the best defenses in the FCS recently, the Jacks have a lot of rebuilding to do.
The entire starting secondary is gone, as are the linebackers. However, SDSU did retain some backup LBs who have been described as guys just waiting their turn to be stars: Cullen McShane, Joe Ollman, and Chase Van Tol.
On the d-line, the Jacks got a key recommitment from Kobe Clayborne, who entered the portal and was getting plenty of FBS offers. Dawson Ripperda, Logan Green, Reis Kirschenman, and Aaron Wolfcale-Holsten are also back after playing more than 200 snaps last year as part of SDSU’s deep rotation.
How Is The Coaching Staff?
Jimmy Rogers quite literally took his entire staff with him to Washington State. For how bad of a spot that put SDSU in, the Jacks recovered quite well on their coaching staff, especially at the top three positions. Some may argue they even upgraded at some of those positions.
In the mid-to-late 2010s, three SDSU assistant coaches were being groomed to one day potentially take over as head coach: defensive coordinator Jimmy Rogers, offensive coordinator Eric Eidsness, and assistant head coach/special teams coordinator/cornerbacks coach/recruiting coordinator Dan Jackson. Eidsness and Jackson departed to take on new opportunities. When John Stiegelmeier retired to let Rogers take over, some now argue that could have been Jackson’s job had he been on staff.
Well, things come full circle.
Rogers leaves in December, and SDSU hires Jackson pretty quickly. Jackson was previously the defensive coordinator at Idaho under Jason Eck, another former SDSU coordinator. Eck left for New Mexico and Jackson was offered the Idaho head coaching job as the popular replacement from Idaho fans and players, but he declined the offer and followed Eck to New Mexico. The SDSU gig opened up shortly later, and Jackson was the guy. One could wonder if Jackson turned down the Idaho HC offer because he had an inkling that SDSU would have an opening soon.
One could also wonder what would have happened if Eck hadn’t taken the New Mexico job. Would he have been the top target at Washington State? Or what would have happened if Montana State’s Brent Vigen felt more tempted at the WSU opening? Or what would have happened if SDSU beat NDSU in the semis and was prepping for the title game during WSU’s search? A lot of what-ifs on what that all could have meant for SDSU’s coaching staff and roster in 2025.
Regardless, Jackson is an initial home-run hire for SDSU. Results will ultimately give the final grade of his hire. And he has assembled a quality staff. Jackson landed Eidsness as his OC, an impressive get considering he was another name on the candidates list to replace Rogers. Eidsness called some of SDSU’s best offenses in the 2010s before leaving to be the QBs coach and OC at Northern Illinois. SDSU fans are ecstatic to get him back after watching a choppy offense with no real flow in 2024. Jackson also hired Brian Bergstrom as his defensive coordinator. Bergstrom was SDSU’s co-defensive coordinator with Rogers from 2019-21 before leaving to be the head coach at Winona State.
That’s a strong head coach and coordinator trio that helped build SDSU into a contender in the 2010s.
The bigger question is the assistants. How good of recruiters are they? How well do they develop their positions, teach the fundamentals, and create a strong culture?
But the top three guys on staff know what it takes to recruit to Brookings and how to contend at the top of the FCS.