New Mexico Football Coach's Son Throws First High School Touchdown for La Cueva

While University of New Mexico head football coach Jason Eck holds a quarterback competition in Lobos camp, his own son is taking snaps under center just 15 minutes up the road.

Palmer Eck, the middle child of the Ecks and a sophomore at Albuquerque’s La Cueva High School, has started to turn heads as an underclassman.

Palmer Eck Gets His First Varsity Touchdown

For those who weren’t already aware of Palmer, he let his presence be known in cleanup duty this past Friday for the Bears, tossing a 53-yard touchdown in La Cueva’s blowout victory over Eldorado.

Eck found Blake Ingersoll down the seam in the waning moments of the Week 1 win, tossing a strike more than 25 yards as the wide-open Ingersoll did the rest of the heavy lifting.

Eck currently sits behind 2027 quarterback Monty Melendez and 2028 quarterback Cainen Montano on the La Cueva depth chart, potentially putting him in position to compete for a larger role next season. Along with injury concerns for the Bears last year that now carry over into 2026, additional playing time may not be too far-fetched for the 2029 talent.

Either way, Eck should benefit from developing in a talented quarterback room.

His brother, Jaxson, played his high school football in South Dakota and is currently a University of New Mexico linebacker, while his dad was an offensive lineman before heading into coaching.

Palmer is also the first of the family to go through high school in New Mexico, and at a school that is rich in football success, what better way to develop?

If Palmer Eck go on to stardom in the New Mexico Friday night football scene, it would be fitting based on his dad’s outlook on in-state talent.

Football Runs in the Eck Family

“I believe in high school young men, and I think there’s going to be some rule changes that give you more flexibility with scholarships that I think is gonna give us an opportunity to recruit more New Mexico guys,” Eck said in his 2024 introductory press conference. “Maybe they’re not as polished as some guys from the Phoenix metro area or the Dallas metro area. But they have pride and passion for being from New Mexico, they can add to the culture.”

New Mexico Lobos head coach Jason Eck not only leads the Lobos, but he heads a football family. His son Palmer threw his first high school touchdown pass for La Cueva High last Friday. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Palmer will be able to finish his high school career in New Mexico as well (as of now), with the coach inking a five-year extension to coach the Lobos after a successful debut season.

The real question remains: could he become a Lobo?

"Boosters would ask me the first time I met them, 'you don't have a son that plays quarterback?'" Jason Eck told the Albuquerque Journal about his time in Idaho. "I think they kind of meant it as a joke, but there definitely was like, a vibe of a coach before playing the son he probably shouldn't have been playing, and some nepotism."

Now, he has a son who does.

Could Palmer Eck Eventually Become a Lobo?

For now, Palmer's college future is a long way off. He's a sophomore quarterback waiting his turn in a talented La Cueva program. But with one 53-yard touchdown pass Friday night, the son of New Mexico's head coach gave Lobos fans another Eck quarterback to keep an eye on.

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