1 / 10

Weber State receiver Ty MacPherson, center, tries to evade defenders, including Kam Garrett (18), during the first day of spring camp Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

2 / 10

Weber State quarterback Kylan Weisser (16) looks on as offensive coordinator Mickey Mental, center, speaks with players during the first day of spring camp Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden — with, from left of Mental, tight end Justin Malone, quarterback Creyton Cooper and receiver Jacob Sharp nearby.

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

3 / 10

Weber State lineman Cole Casto, center, prepares to snap the ball during the first day of spring camp Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

4 / 10

Weber State head coach Jay Hill coaches during the first day of spring camp Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

5 / 10

Weber State receiver Ty MacPherson (17) smiles as he celebrates a touchdown with teammate Haze Hadley (80) during the first day of spring camp Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

6 / 10

New Weber State football offensive coordinator Mickey Mental, center, watches a play during the first day of spring camp Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

7 / 10

Weber State receiver Ty MacPherson (17) speaks with quarterbacks Kylan Weisser (16), Bronson Barron (10) and Creyton Cooper (8) during the first day of spring camp Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

8 / 10

Defensive graduate assistant Zach Larson, left, speaks with offensive coordinator Mickey Mental, center, as quarterback Bronson Barron (10) looks on during the first day of spring camp Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

9 / 10

Weber State quarterback Creyton Cooper (8) hands the ball off to a teammate during the first day of spring camp Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

10 / 10

Weber State quarterback Bronson Barron (10) pulls back to throw during the first day of spring camp Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

❮ ❯

OGDEN — For the first time since 2019, Weber State opened what is — hopefully — a standard spring football camp Tuesday at Stewart Stadium, looking to break in a new offense, some key players throughout the field, and finishing up the session just before a rainstorm found its way to the foothills.

“Sometimes in the past, spring ball has kind of been like one of those necessary evils. I think this year, it’s been something our coaches and players are excited about,” ninth-year head coach Jay Hill said. “It’s a good time to develop, we haven’t had it since 2019. We’re so young in so many spots, the ability to come out and practice and compete and fight, and try to move up the depth chart, without having to get ready for a game, is critical. I thought they took a great approach to it today.”

The 2020 spring camp was canceled after two practices due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the fall 2020 season was postponed to the spring of 2021, meaning by this time last year, camp was a preseason camp and two games had already been played.

Top of mind is the installation of a new offense under new director Mickey Mental, who was hired as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach one month ago.

“I think Coach Mental and the offensive coaches did a great job of having them ready to go today, knowing what to expect, what the installs were. For the most part, they executed a lot of it pretty clean,” Hill said. “And it’s not like you’re reinventing the wheel. It’s a new offense, but a lot of these plays we ran today are similar to things we had last year.”

Mental was offensive coordinator at Division II Notre Dame College in Ohio for seven years, including the last two as head coach when the Falcons went 16-2.

Mental looks to push tempo, create mismatches using space and rack up plays (and subsequently, yards).

“Any time you implement a new offense and a new tempo, new verbiage, there’s going to be peaks and valleys throughout a practice, especially the first one,” Mental said Tuesday. “I was very, very pleased with how the whole entire offense handled the tempo, handled the chaos, and executed the play as fast as possible and as efficient as possible.

“We only put the ball to the other team twice today, which is a goal, which is what you want to see. If you run 80 plays, you probably turn it over once. So I was very pleased with that aspect of things.”

At quarterback, sophomore Bronson Barron, junior Kylan Weisser and sophomore Creyton Cooper all return after each getting playing time last season. Barron hurt a knee and Weisser suffered a broken bone in his leg last season.

“Kylan looks good, Bronson’s good right now. Creyton’s back. All three of those guys got pretty dinged up in the fall last year but they’re healthy right now and took the reps today,” Hill said.

Randall Johnson and Chayce Akaka have both left the program. Junior college transfer Brian Harper is the only other known quarterback on the roster.

Hill said he loved to see how aggressive his group of cornerbacks were Tuesday, considering their bank of experience. Marque Collins, Eddie Heckard, Maxwell Anderson and Kam Garrett lead that group.

At safety, Woods Cross native Braxton Gunther was able to obtain another year of eligibility and returns as a senior with Desmond Williams. They and junior Naseme Colvin top the depth chart at safety positions in a group needing to replace the consistency of the graduated Preston Smith.

Similarly experienced are the running backs and tight ends groups. Hill said spring camp will be crucial to develop his linebacker group, as well as backup defensive linemen and a couple key offensive linemen.

Overall, Hill and Mental were positive about where the team stood and what lies ahead.

“The great thing about coming here and working with a tremendous staff is that these kids love football. There’s not a substitute for that, and that’s one of the things that really attracted me to this job is how much they care about football here,” Mental said.

FIEFIA JOINS THE STAFF

Receivers coach Jared Ursua was recently hired to coach the same position at Hawaii, his native state.

Replacing his spot on the offensive staff is David Fiefia, a seven-year Idaho State assistant who was at Tuesday’s practice. His hire has not yet been announced, pending the university’s process.

Fiefia is a native of West Valley City and played collegiately at Utah State. He has coached running backs, with a couple seasons of coaching tight ends, at Idaho State. His position group and other possible assignment changes on the offensive side of the ball should be known when his hire is officially announced.

Bojay Filimoeatu, defensive line coach for the last two seasons at Weber State, has also left the staff for a to-be-announced job with a Mountain West school. Hill said Filimoeatu’s replacement will come internally but is not yet finalized.

It’s likely that James Cowser — Davis High alum, FCS defensive player of the year at Southern Utah and former NFL player — takes over the defensive line. He’s been on the staff for two seasons in a graduate-assistant-type role.