The local shuffle of high school football head coaches took more turns this week when Utah’s newest high school made its second hire in the space of one month, while another head coach stepped down.

West Field High School has hired Eric Jones as its head football coach, the school announced Thursday, while Weber High head coach Jayson Anderson has stepped down from his post.

Jones heads to West Field after two seasons as head coach at Bingham High School, which came after 11 years as a math teacher and defensive coordinator at Roy High.

Jones, a Roy High and Weber State alumnus, will step into the role after West Field previously hired Mike Knight away from Syracuse High School in late November.

Knight later reconsidered the position. A Dec. 14 statement sent to parents and staff from West Field principal Mike Martini said the school was moving in a different direction “due to unforeseen circumstances.”

West Field athletic director Mike Russell declined to comment further about those circumstances except to say he wishes the best for Knight, whom he considers a friend.

Russell said it became apparent the school would need to hire a football coach for the second time about one week into December.

That led the Longhorns to Jones, a well-known coach and teacher in Weber County.

“I think he’s a great fit for so many reasons. Just the type of man he is, the character he has. Just in the short time we’ve been communicating, he’s very humble and I don’t think anything’s ever been handed to him,” Russell said. “He works hard, and he’s a really good teacher. He has a very good reputation as a math teacher.

“I think he checks every box we’d want checked, including being a guy who’s going to work well with others. We feel fortunate he had a change of heart and decided to apply.”

Among a strong field of candidates, Russell said Jones did not apply for the original West Field opening.

“It says a lot about him. I think he really wanted to see it out at Bingham … but I think it started with some members in the community who know Eric better than myself or Mike Martini, and they reached out,” Russell said.

On the first day of winter break, Jones did not respond to an interview request Thursday.

West Field, in the west Weber County community of Taylor, is set to open in the 2024-25 school year and draws students from the current boundaries of Roy and Fremont. It applied to compete as a 5A athletics school in its first season, which comes in the middle of a realignment period.

Russell said the new school has most department heads hired and he again has three fall head coaches with girls volleyball coach Jantzen Smith Ryan and girls soccer coach Cade Miller. Russell is planning a get-together sometime in early January so members of the new school community can meet the coaches.

Martini and Russell were among those hired or assigned as the first West Field Longhorns.

“That was easy for me,” Russell said. “I was bought in from Day 1.”

At Weber High, Anderson has stepped down after leading the Warriors for five seasons. Weber athletic director Trevor Howell confirmed that Anderson, also a history teacher, resigned his coaching post Tuesday and has also left his teaching position.

Anderson did not respond to a request for comment.

Weber recorded a record of 33-23 in Anderson’s five seasons, including two Region 1 titles. The Warriors went 10-3 in 2021, including a 6-0 region record, and advanced to the 6A state semifinals.

Weber’s vacancy is the sixth in Northern Utah this offseason and the only one currently open. Other hires this winter are Carson Mund at Box Elder, Cody Caputo at Clearfield, Nate Tuatagaloa at Fremont, Mitch Tulane at Syracuse and Jones at West Field.

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