Weber State football: Munier-Bailey, Cowser aim to elevate defensive ends even higher
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- Weber State defensive end Kemari Munier-Bailey (35) looks to the sideline for a play during a scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Utah quarterback Nate Johnson runs the football as Brayden Wilson (94) and Winston Reid (6) pursue on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, in Salt Lake City.
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- Weber State’s Keahnist Thompson (90) is congratulated after making a sack by Naseme Colvin on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State defensive end Kemari Munier-Bailey, left, battles running back Colter May during a scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
OGDEN — Defensive end Brayden Wilson led the Big Sky Conference last season with 16.5 tackles for loss, and now two newcomers hope to push Weber State’s ends to higher heights in 2024.
One is Fresno State transfer Kemari Munier-Bailey and the other is coach James Cowser, a familiar face who returns to the staff after one season away.
Munier-Bailey comes to Weber State carrying plenty of familiarity with the school and the league. He played basketball at Juan Diego (Draper, Utah) with linebacker Raimoana Tinirauarii and with men’s basketball wing Dyson Koehler on an AAU summer team. The England native also already knew men’s basketball center Alex Tew through his brother, Ben, before his time at WSU.
Munier-Bailey played just one season of high school football, beginning at receiver but changing to defensive end.
“The pads … you don’t understand them, the pants, I didn’t like them. I’m like, ‘why do I have to wear these tight pants and stuff?'” Munier-Bailey said. “But once I started hitting (on defense), I understood it a bit.”
He liked the idea of the camaraderie that comes with 80-100 teammates in football so, with some push from Ron McBride to keep playing, he started his college career at Idaho. He totaled team highs in tackles for loss (eight) and sacks (five) as a sophomore in 2022, then transferred to Fresno State.
He played in all 12 games at Fresno State, totaling nine tackles, three for loss, two sacks, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.
Why Weber State after one season at Fresno? He nearly transferred to WSU from Idaho until Cowser left and picked the Wildcats for his final season after Cowser returned. Munier-Bailey thinks the pairing can get him to the NFL.
“I already had a relationship with him from being in the portal the first time … and I want people to see how great my coach is,” Munier-Bailey said. “To show my skill set and show how the people around me are helping me.”
Cowser, a Davis High alum and former All-American and Big Sky defensive MVP at Southern Utah, spent three seasons coaching at WSU after time in three NFL seasons with the Oakland Raiders. In 2023, he coached defensive line and tight ends at Utah Tech. He returned to WSU in March.
Former Utah great Luther Elliss was Munier-Bailey’s position coach at Idaho and, while there was knowledge and experience there, Elliss was a tackle by trade (he’s now the defensive tackles coach at Utah) and Munier-Bailey is an end. Enter Cowser.
“Mostly, it’s to get my mentals on a professional level,” Munier-Bailey said. “(Cowser) is getting my mind ready for it, how to train for it. He doesn’t have to take the extra time to go over all these little details but he does, even with all the freshmen … He’s very smart with the way leverage works and just his IQ.”
That’s important to Munier-Bailey (No. 35) who wants to know how to harness his talent, admitting that sometimes he makes great plays and sometimes he “messes up.”
Cowser said Utah Tech was great but coming back to coach defensive ends was the right fit for him, and was excited to return to a group of defensive ends he already knew was tough and has a “high care factor.” He said he put them all through rigorous fundamental work when he got back.
“It was hands, eyes and feet for weeks,” he smiled.
Just another perspective or, as Cowser, likes to say, more tools in the toolbox, building on what co-defensive coordinator Grant Duff (ends in 2023, tackles this season) coached last season.
Cowser knew he’d get leadership and talent from Wilson (No. 94) when he returned — “he’s played serious ball, he’s an all-conference player and he knows it” — and now Munier-Bailey has added some juice to the room.
“Strong personality in all the best ways,” Cowser said of his newcomer. “He’s a flashy, flashy player. He is smooth, he is strong … it’s just reeling in the right time to take risks. Not trying to change him, just guide him.
“He’s going to make a bunch of plays for us.”
After redshirting at Central Florida and transferring to Weber State, sophomore Keahnist Thompson (No. 90) is another potential playmaker looking to make a jump. He totaled 13 tackles, with two for loss, in 2023.
“He’s a big, strong dude and was good in the run game, but now he’s trusting himself to play fast on that edge,” Cowser said. “He’s developing that first-to-second-year confidence … he’s got something to him and you’re starting to see it show up on the field in really good ways.”
A pair of 6-foot-5 sophomores are next up, with Bronson Childs (No. 96) playing in eight games last season, totaling six tackles and one for loss. Ashden Oberg (No. 51) is looking for his first action, having played behind all of the above and Cameren Cope (who left the team) last season.
Three freshmen round out the group.
At 6-foot-5, California native Kevin Johnson (No. 56) stands an imposing figure for a true freshman, someone head coach Mickey Mental said is a “powerful kid” on signing day. Another Californian, 6-foot-3 Jon Class (No. 48), recorded 43 tackles for loss, including 23 sacks, in 12 games as a high school senior.
As a walk-on, 6-foot-3 Dante Bond joined the team before camp out of Ridgeline High in Cache Valley.
