Weber State football: Mental promotes Larson as WSU quarterbacks coach
Photo supplied, Weber State Athletics
Then-offensive graduate assistant coach Zach Larson speaks with a player during warmups before a game against Northern Arizona on Nov. 19, 2022, in Flagstaff, Ariz.Weber State football’s staff added one coach ahead of spring camp Wednesday when WSU announced head coach Mickey Mental has promoted Zach Larson to the position of quarterbacks coach.
Larson has been on Weber State’s staff as an offensive graduate assistant for three seasons.
Larson fills a spot created by the departure of Jay Hill and Mental’s ensuing promotion to head coach. Mental is retaining offensive coordinator duties but Larson is now set to take on duties as QB coach.
A native of Orem and high school graduate at Timpanogos, Larson spent a season each at Snow College and Utah State as a quarterback. He graduated from Utah State with a degree in political science and worked in the 2018 season as a student assistant under USU offensive coordinator David Yost.
Larson joined Weber State’s staff in 2020 and has worked primarily with quarterbacks since.
His father, Ed Larson, is a longtime football coach who has previous experience as a college assistant at Weber State and BYU, and as Ogden High head coach, among many stops. Ed Larson is currently the head coach at Lehi High School where he became the winningest coach in that program’s long history during the 2022 season. Zach Larson’s brother, Chase, played at Weber State from 2015-16.
Weber State has one more assistant coach to hire before spring camp. That hire is likely to be a defensive coach to help replace James Cowser, the defensive line coach who was hired for the same role at Utah Tech.
Other than the spots opened by Jay Hill’s departure to BYU and Cowser’s hiring at Utah Tech, all other positions on the coaching staff have remained the same with Mental’s promotion to head coach.
Player turnover has been low for any year, too, let alone an offseason that saw the head coach leave. Quarterback Bronson Barron (Western Kentucky), cornerback Eddie Heckard (BYU) and defensive end Nuuletau Sellesin (BYU) are three players who have transferred to other schools.
Quarterback Kylan Weisser entered his name in the transfer portal before the departures of Hill and Barron, and later removed his name to remain at WSU.