OGDEN — Like a few assistant coaches for Weber State football, Robert Conley had a tight turnaround when it came to joining the staff.

Conley, a former Utah offensive lineman who has coached various positions at various levels of college ball, was an offensive coordinator at a Texas high school that played deep into December. So his hire took an extra wait to announce and came Jan. 13, a full four months after the man he was replacing, defensive line coach Kite Afeaki, stepped away from the program.

Conley had helped coach defense in his last season as a graduate assistant at Utah and says, pointing to the example of head coach Jay Hill, he takes pride in being versatile.

But, in early February and with camp underway just three weeks prior to the start of the spring season, running backs coach Quinton Ganther got a call from his former college coach, Urban Meyer, to join the Jaguars’ coaching staff in Jacksonville.

Utah State defensive assistant Bojay Filimoeatu was now available after USU let go of its staff, so Hill targeted him to coach defensive line and asked the offensive-minded Conley to coach running backs, a position he helped coach at the University of Houston.

He was thrilled.

“It’s a very talented group, very hungry, and they desire big things so I love coming to work every day and coaching these guys,” Conley said.

Conley and Ganther played together at Utah and kept in touch often about their coaching careers, so Weber State’s running backs room was a list of names Conley was already familiar with.

“When I got the chance to coach running backs I was elated, because I already knew this was a great group of young men and some big-time ballers,” he said.

Leading that group is 5-foot-9 Josh Davis, the junior who gives every ounce he’s got every time he touches the football. In 32 career games, he has 499 carries for 2,884 yards and 21 touchdowns. His list of accolades includes being national freshman of the year in 2018 and, in 2019, posting a new single-game rushing record for WSU with a 328-yard performance.

Davis is currently fourth on WSU’s all-time career rushing list. He’s 179 yards from overtaking Lee White for third and 710 from moving past Nick Chournos for second. (The late Trevyn Smith is still 2,145 yards ahead of Davis in first.)

“Coaching a young man like that is like driving an expensive sports car, you just try not to mess it up,” Conley said. “You don’t want to over-coach him, but we work on certain things to make sure he’s sharp and it’s a pleasure coaching Josh. He makes your job easy because he practices the way he plays, which is 120% every day.”

In the group of notable absences from the spring season who will return to play this fall, along with receiver Devon Cooley and defensive end McKade Mitton, is senior fullback Clay Moss. It may be hard to quantify the effect that will have on the run game and the offense, perhaps particularly in the red zone where the unit found its most troubles.

MATT HERP/Standard-Examiner

He appeared just briefly in the spring season. In his other 37 career appearances, he has totaled 217 rushing yards and two touchdowns with 166 receiving yards, and began to catch the eye of NFL scouts following the 2019 season.

“He sets the standard. He’s very intelligent. He knows the offense inside and out. It’s going to do wonders for our run game because he’s going to bring that physicality and that toughness we need,” Conley said.

Freshman back Dontae McMillan is among players who got valuable game experience because Weber State participated in the spring season, stepping in and shining while sophomore Kris Jackson was hurt.

McMillan ran for 376 yards and five touchdowns in the spring, including a breakout 138-yard, 13-carry performance at Southern Utah — all coming in the second half.

“He’s an extremely hard worker. He has some really phenomenal abilities to make a guy miss in space,” Conley said. “We’re excited to see him in the fall.”

Jackson, at 5-foot-10, 235 pounds, missed the first five games of the spring before taking two goal-line carries for a touchdown in the first-round playoff loss. He ran for 366 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2019.

“Kris is back to 100%. He’s lost a couple pounds and he’s looking better than ever. You should expect some big things out of Kris this fall, because that young man has busted his butt all summer, he’s taking care of himself, he’s finally healthy,” Conley said.

Outside of linebacker Noah Vaea and offensive lineman Hyrum Tapusoa, both seniors who decided to move on after the spring season, the other main roster loss came in the running backs group with junior Daniel Wright Jr. transferring to Tarleton State after rushing for 303 yards and three touchdowns in the spring.

Senior Dave Jones, who ran for 387 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman in 2017 and later moved to cornerback before rejoining the offense, is an “extra boost, because he’s experienced, he can be elusive in space,” Conley says.

Junior Breckin Gunter backs up Moss at the fullback spot. And 5-foot-11 freshman Damon Bankston, the top rusher in Texas’ 5A classification in 2020, rounds out the depth at running back.

From the speed and grit of Davis, to the shifty smoothness of McMillan, to the size and power of Jackson, there’s plenty of talent in the room — but only one football.

Not a problem, Conley says.

“Getting each guy the ball is going to come naturally, and I have an unselfish group. I’m very impressed with this group because even though everyone is really talented, guys want to do whatever it takes to get that fifth Big Sky championship and then go all the way and win that natty,” he said. “That’s the objective, and everybody’s on board with that.”

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