MOSCOW - Jason Gesser, who spent the 2011 football season as Idaho's running backs coach, has been named the Vandals' offensive coordinator, Idaho coach Robb Akey announced Thursday.

"He's very capable, he's a good coach," Akey said of Gesser. "He knows exactly what we want done. He's played it at a high level - both in college and at a professional level. The thing about your quarterback is he has been in those game-plan meetings. He's made those checks at the line of scrimmage. He's been able to build an offense as a coach and call it. I'm going to count on Jason to pull it all together and to be aggressive in the course of a ballgame."

Gesser, who quarterbacked Washington State during Akey's tenure on WSU's staff during the late 1990s and early 2000s, will call the plays for Idaho and shift to quarterbacks coach.