‘I’m fired up’: Mickey Mental introduced as 12th Weber State head football coach
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- Mickey Mental speaks at a press conference introducing him as Weber State’s head football coach Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Mickey Mental, center, speaks with school president Brad Mortensen, left, and athletic director Tim Crompton after a press conference introducing Mental as Weber State’s head football coach Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Mickey Mental speaks at a press conference introducing him as Weber State’s head football coach Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- President Brad Mortensen, left, and Mickey Mental listen to athletic director Tim Crompton (not pictured) speak at a press conference introducing Mental as Weber State’s head football coach Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Mickey Mental speaks at a press conference introducing him as Weber State’s head football coach Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- President Brad Mortensen speaks at a press conference introducing Mickey Mental as Weber State’s head football coach Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
OGDEN — The setting alone was a mark of just how far Weber State football has come.
Wednesday morning, WSU president Brad Mortensen sat at a table with Mickey Mental and athletic director Tim Crompton at the head of a meeting space that would have seemed unfathomable just six or seven years ago.
Next to them at the front of the team auditorium in WSU’s Youngberg Football Center was a lectern, set near a backdrop of glass windows overlooking the football field and the east side of Stewart Stadium.
With a group of assistant coaches and a handful of boosters in the audience, Mortensen and Crompton introduced Mental as the 12th head coach in the Division I history of Weber State football. He follows Jay Hill, the nine-year coach who helped oversee more wins than any other coach in Ogden, and such wins like the construction of the facility that ushered in his successor.
“The standard hasn’t changed. Coach Hill set the standard and now it’s our job to succeed and raise the standard each and every year,” Mental said. “I appreciate the opportunity to carry on a great legacy that Coach Hill and the rest of the staff built here.
“I think it’s just a great opportunity to lead a great program with a bunch of guys who I respect and like to go to work with … to work with tremendous people in this experience is a great honor and a blessing.”
Mental arrived at Weber State early this year as the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after two seasons as head coach (and seven as offensive coordinator) at Notre Dame College, a Division II program in Ohio that went 16-2 with him at the helm.
The assistants who were on hand stood and clapped when Mental first took the microphone. And their presence, Crompton said, was a key factor in selecting Mental among the field of candidates.
“We felt like we turned over every rock possible,” Crompton said. “We’ve had a lot of success over the last seven or eight years. We wanted to continue in that direction. We want to take steps forward from there. A key piece of that has been our staff … and being able to maintain that continuity was certainly a priority.
“It wasn’t the only priority that we had as we went through the search. We had a lot of tremendous candidates. … They all did an outstanding job and it was a difficult decision. But in the end, I think to really just maintain and just stay on course in the direction we have been going, we felt like the best candidate for the position is our 12th head football coach here at Weber State, coach Mickey Mental.”
Mental said he wants to continue the hard-nosed, tough culture that Weber State football reflects from Ogden itself.
“It’s a great program. What Coach Hill and the staff have done here the last nine years to put this thing in a perennial, national spotlight is a great opportunity to carry on,” Mental said. “We’re excited to get back to work and compete for championships.”
He said he considers himself a “cool, calm, collected” head coach who takes on each play and then moves on, and one who will “lean heavily” on his assistant coaches for plans, opinions and more.
Mortensen and Mental both thanked the assistant coaching staff — all of whom are being retained at their positions — for their work.
“With the change of the head coach, they did not miss a beat and went ahead and worked on their recruiting and making sure everything else was in place,” Mortensen said. “It just shows the great team and support system that we have here and the foundation to go forward.”
And when press conference time arrived Wednesday morning, Weber State had already signed three recruits as the early signing period opened the same day: three-star California quarterback Richie Munoz, three-star California running back Major Givens, and Idaho offensive lineman Trevor Beck.
Mental said he will continue to be the team’s offensive coordinator and play-caller. As for filling the remaining opening on the coaching staff, he’ll consult with his assistants and decide what will benefit the team the most.
The Wildcats returned to the playoffs in 2022 and finished with a 10-3 record, marking the sixth time in the last seven seasons WSU has played in the postseason. Mental helped the offense take a big step forward and plenty of players return on both sides of the ball.
“I love the group we’ve got coming back,” Mental said. “We had a Zoom meeting yesterday. They’re fired up, I’m fired up, and the rest of the staff is. A lot of big things coming in 2023 and I can’t wait to get to work with these young men.”
THE PROCESS
Weber State opened the job the day Hill’s departure to BYU became official. It fielded interest from a variety of places. The school utilized the search firm College Sports Solutions to assist with the process.
Crompton sat on the hiring committee that included vice president Norm Tarbox, former coach and current development director Jerry Graybeal, athletics senior woman administrator Kayla Morgan, faculty representative Craig Oberg, and Wildcat Club chair Kyle Redd.
Contact was made in both directions with a variety of coaches. Based on fit and mutual interest, the committee ultimately interviewed six candidates.
Three were internal: Mental, associate head coach Brent Myers, and co-defensive coordinator Joe Dale. Three were external: Minnesota-Duluth head coach Curt Weise, former North Dakota State and Kansas State offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham, and former WSU offensive coordinator Matt Hammer.
“We all relish the success that Weber State football has had for the last nine years and look to climb even greater peaks,” Mortensen said. “I’m excited for the prospect of our new head coach to lead us in that direction.”
SIGNING DAY
Wednesday opened the three-day early signing period for high school recruits in the 2023 graduating class.
As usual, Weber State signs only a small handful of players in the early period. But Munoz, Givens and Beck were a good start, to say the least.
“We’re really, really excited with the guys that we brought in today and the guys that we’ll keep recruiting and hopefully bring in by February,” Mental said.
Munoz lit up the field at Charter Oak High School in California this season, throwing for 272 yards per game and totaling 40 touchdowns to three interceptions. The 5-foot-11 QB had an offer from San Jose State and interest from most of the Mountain West after his verbal commitment to WSU in September.
Givens, a 5-foot-10 running back from the San Diego area, rushed for 33 touchdowns and nearly 4,000 yards in three seasons at Steele Canyon High School. As a senior, he ran for 175 yards per game on 8.2 yards per carry, totaling 14 touchdowns in 10 games.
Beck is a 6-foot-5 offensive lineman from the Boise, Idaho, area and is the brother of WSU linebacker Garrett Beck. He can play guard or tackle.
Munoz and Dylan Gutierrez, another three-star-rated California quarterback who came into Wednesday verbally committed to Weber State, stand to help replace Bronson Barron and Kylan Weisser, both of whom are leaving the program as transfers. Mental said he and the staff will also identify potential transfers at quarterback to pursue.