J. J. Eckert is an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coach. He was the head football coach for

Northeastern State University Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of high ...

from 2019 to 2023. He was previously head coach at

Kilgore College Kilgore College (KC) is a public community college in Kilgore, Texas. It has an annual enrollment in excess of 5,000 students and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate deg ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

Garden City Community College Garden City Community College (Garden City CC or GCCC) is a public community college in Garden City, Kansas. It was established in 1919 to provide a means for post-secondary education for area residents. The school initially shared facilities i ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. Eckert is also the son of long-time Northeastern State head coach

Tom Eckert Tom Eckert is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma from 1987 to 2002, compiling a record of 101–71–3. During that time, he led his team to the ...

Playing career

In high school, Eckert was starting quarterback at Tahlequah High School for two seasons. He was also a

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. Tulsa World Media Company is part of Lee Enterprises. The new owners announced in January 202 ...

All-Stater in 1993. After a year at the

University of Central Arkansas The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1907 as the Arkansas State Normal School, the university is one of the oldest in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As the state's only n ...

, Eckert transferred to

in 1994 to play quarterback under head coach

, his father. He was a part of the teams that won the NAIA National Championship in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and were National Runner-Ups in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Coaching career

Eckert began his coaching career as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and wide receivers coach at Northeastern State in 1998. In 2000, he was hired by Jim Rieves at

, a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

Kilgore, Texas Kilgore is a city in Gregg and Rusk counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United Sta ...

, for the same position. The following season, he became Kilgore's

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

. In 2005, Eckert became the head coach at

Garden City, Kansas Garden City is a city in, and the county seat of, Finney County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 28,151. The city is home to Garden City Community College and the Lee Richa ...

. During his two-year stint there, the Broncbusters won 13 games and made a bowl appearance. In 2007 Eckert returned to Kilgore as their head coach. Over the next 12 seasons, he led Kilgore to a 72–53 record, two

Southwest Junior College Football Conference The Southwest Junior College Football Conference (SWJCFC) is a football conference for National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) teams located in the Southwestern United States. The conference has produced 5 of the last 15 NJCAA national ...

championships, three regular season conference titles, and five bowl appearances. Eckert was awarded as Conference Coach of the Year in 2018 after a 10-2 championship season. In December 2018, Eckert returned to Northeastern State as their 20th head football coach.

Personal life

Eckert and his wife, Amanda, have three children. He is a citizen of the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...

Head coaching record

Junior college

College

References

External links

Northeastern State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eckert, J. J. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American football quarterbacks Garden City Broncbusters football coaches Kilgore Rangers football coaches Northeastern State RiverHawks football coaches Northeastern State RiverHawks football players