Former South Dakota State quarterback J'Bore Gibbs starting over with Jason Eck at Idaho

Three years ago, J’Bore Gibbs was the future of South Dakota State football.

Now, after two years in the wilderness of major knee injuries, he’s starting over even farther from his home in Chicago, hoping a reunion with a familiar face can rejuvenate his career. Gibbs, who was the starting quarterback for SDSU in 2019 but missed almost all of the last two seasons with ACL injuries to each leg, has joined former Jackrabbit offensive coordinator Jason Eck at the University of Idaho, where Eck is now the head coach. Former SDSU receivers coach Luke Schleusner is Eck’s offensive coordinator.

Gibbs’ injuries allowed Mark Gronowski to emerge as the Jackrabbits’ new long-term answer at quarterback. The Vandals were a little thin at the position when Eck and Schleusner arrived. It’s a perfect marriage, and for Jackrabbit fans, players and coaches who were excited about the potential Gibbs showed as a rookie, it’s a feel-good way to see him continue his career elsewhere.

“I think it’s a perfect situation for J’Bore, and I’m happy for him,” said Jacks coach John Stiegelmeier. “I don’t know of too many athletes that went through a tougher situation than he did. He deserves a second chance, and I respect him for making the right decision for him and moving on. I wish him nothing but the best.”

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It all looked so promising when Gibbs first suited up as a Jackrabbit.

After a redshirt year, Gibbs stepped in to replace record-setting four-year starter Taryn Christion as the starting quarterback, and nearly led SDSU to an upset win over the Minnesota Gophers in his first career start. Several more impressive performances later, Gibbs led the Jacks against rival North Dakota State in the Dakota Marker game, where fellow freshman phenom Trey Lance (now of the San Francisco 49ers by way of a first-round draft pick) started at quarterback for the Bison. It was billed as the first of (at least) four clashes between two young quarterbacks who it was believed would take over the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

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It would be the only time they’d face off.

Gibbs tore his ACL that day, ending his season. COVID-19 arrived months later to delay the 2020 season to the spring of 2021, and Gibbs, still recovering from the knee injury, contracted the virus, further slowing his recovery.

He struggled to perform and was replaced in the starting lineup by Gronowski, then a true freshman. Midway through that spring season, Gibbs tore his other ACL in mop-up duty in a win over Southern Illinois. That meant he was unavailable for duty in the national championship game when Gronowski suffered a knee injury of his own, and would be unable to play in the fall season of 2021. He hasn’t taken a meaningful snap in a game since the injury against NDSU in 2019.

“It was very tough,” Gibbs says now. “I feel like for any young man, but especially in college, playing football, that can be a traumatic experience. But I got through it. I was really prayerful. All of those things happen for a reason. It’s made me better. I wouldn’t change it.”

That said, as Gibbs watched Chris Oladokun (now a Pittsburgh Steeler) lead the Jacks this fall while SDSU continued to add more talent to the quarterback room, it was hard to envision a role for him in the future. With two full years of inactivity, it would have been difficult to blame Gibbs for hanging up the spikes and moving on with his life, especially after he earned his degree from South Dakota State.

“Yeah, I went through those thoughts, thinking maybe it was time (to retire),” he admits. “But God let me know it wasn’t time yet, and I follow what he says. He said I still had things to do in football, it wasn’t my time to quit yet. So I’m still pushing, still striving.”

Jason Eck was happy to bring Gibbs to Idaho

Meanwhile, Eck arrived at Idaho with much fanfare. One of the most successful and high-profile coordinators in the FCS, he was announced as the Vandals' new coach only days after SDSU’s loss to Montana State in the playoff semifinals. When he arrived, it became apparent that the Vandals didn’t have a lot of depth at quarterback.

With Schleusner coming along, Eck obviously planned to run his offense at his new job. Gibbs entered the portal in January, and suddenly there sat a quarterback who had spent three seasons in Eck’s offense and had once been one of the most promising players in the country.

“We always had him in the back of our minds,” Eck said. “We know what kind of player he is – he’s a quality FCS quarterback when he’s healthy.”

But after so much time away from the action, Gibbs was sure to be rusty, and it was fair to question his mentality after all he’d been through. It didn’t take long for Gibbs to let his old coach know he was ready to reclaim his status as a playmaker.

“He’s in a great place,” Eck said. “He looks great. He’s working harder than I’ve ever seen him work. We have mandatory workouts, and he’s always back doing extra stuff after that, either in the weight room or throwing with the guys. He’s really focused.”

Eck said Gibbs is down to about 215 pounds. He played at close to 230 as SDSU’s starter. Gibbs has done personal workouts on the side to keep his skills sharp as well as to stay in shape and improve his strength and conditioning. To call him a scrambling or running quarterback would probably be a stretch, but he was definitely mobile and tough to bring down. He had four rushing touchdowns in six games in 2019, including a game-clinching 63-yarder against Youngstown State. He also completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,058 yards and 10 touchdowns with four interceptions.

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“That’s the type of quarterback I have been and plan to be,” said Gibbs, who expects to have three more years of eligibility. “I work out every day, trying my best to prevent further injuries. I don’t plan on being who I was in 2019. I plan on being better. I’m motivated to prove myself. This is something I can do, something I love and have always desired in my life. I’m still following that dream. I’m not gonna let it die just because of some setbacks. I’ve persevered through a lot in my life and this is just part of that. I will continue to fight and push forward no matter what obstacle is there.”

Sophomores CJ Jordan and Gevani McCoy are the Vandals’ top returners at quarterback, and Eck envisions a fierce battle between the three; he’s certainly not promising the job to Gibbs just because he knows him. Gibbs says he learned a lot from being in the press box and on the sidelines during his injuries, and Eck plans to challenge his new and former quarterback by throwing him into some difficult situations in practice that he hopes reminds him what it’s like to go against the live bullets of an opposing defense.

“There’s some rust, but he’s working his tail off to get reacclimated,” Eck said. “It’s a good situation for him. It’s a playbook he knows, coaches he’s familiar with, and I think he was just ready for a change of scenery, so this is good for him. He’s got a new lease on life.”

That’s certainly true, but Gibbs makes clear there are no hard feelings about what happened at SDSU.

“It was a blessing, regardless of what happened,” he says of his time with the Jacks. “Regardless of the injuries or whatever else happened, all of that was a blessing to my life. I got my degree. I’m the first person in my family to get a college degree, and I’m blessed to have that be from South Dakota State University. I’ll forever be grateful for that.”

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Former SDSU quarterback J'Bore Gibbs starting over in Idaho