Jake Menage enters his first season as Washington State’s wide receivers coach on Jimmy Rogers staff, though he is familiar with the Cougar head coach having worked the past two seasons on the Cougar head coach’s staff at South Dakota State.
In 2024, Menage oversaw a unit that contributed to an SDSU offense that finished 12 nationally in total offense at 434.1 ypg. He mentored the development of sophomore receiver Griffin Wilde, who posted season totals of 70 receptions for 1,147 yards and 12 touchdowns en route to earning All-America Second-Team honors by FCS Football Central. Wilde’s totals ranked seventh in FCS for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Junior Grahm Goering contributed 25 receptions for 360 yards and five touchdowns.
Menage arrived at SDSU with a championship résumé of his own as he returned to Brookings to lead the Jackrabbit wide receivers prior to the 2023 season. Upon his return to Brookings as part of Jimmy Rogers' first coaching staff, Menage worked with twin brothers Jadon and Jaxon Janke, who both ended their careers in the all-time SDSU top 10 for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Jadon Janke was a first-team all-Missouri Valley Football Conference selection, while Jaxon Janke received honorable mention accolades. In addition, true freshman wide receiver Griffin Wilde earned a spot on the MVFC All-Newcomer Team.
A former Jackrabbit player and student coach, Menage served as the offensive coordinator at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, during the 2022 season, helping direct the Red Raiders to an NAIA national title. Northwestern led the NAIA ranks in third-down efficiency (54.8 percent), while ranking second in total offense (467.6 yards per game) and third in scoring (43.7 points per game).
A finalist for NAIA Coordinator of the Year, Menage coached 10 all-conference selections and three All-Americans on a squad that posted a 13-1 record.
Menage previously coached at the Division I level during a three-year stint at Northern Illinois, where he coached the wide receivers and tight ends. He began his coaching career as a student assistant at SDSU during the 2018 spring season, following a playing career from 2013-17 in which he was recruited as a quarterback out of Springfield (Minn.) High School before moving to wide receiver.
In the fall of 2018, he moved on to Southwest Minnesota State as a graduate assistant, working with the team's running backs.
Menage comes from a coaching family as his cousin, Pete, also is an assistant coach on Rogers WSU staff as well as at SDSU, and his late father, Jeff, served as offensive coordinator at South Dakota State during the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
