Who are Weber State football’s 4 quarterbacks?
Meet the newcomers aiming to pilot the Wildcats
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- Weber State quarterbacks, from left, Kingston Tisdell (14), Dijon Jennings (10), Cash McCollum (6) and Jackson Gilkey (2) pose for a photo on Aug. 11, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden
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- Weber State quarterback Jackson Gilkey lets a pass fly during an August 2025 practice at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State quarterback Cash McCollum rears back to throw the ball during an August 2025 practice at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State quarterback Dijon Jennings throws the football during an August 2025 practice at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State quarterback Kingston Tisdell throws the football during an August 2025 practice at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State football’s quarterbacks group, from left, analyst Jamie Martin, QB Jackson Gilkey, QB Cash McCollum (6), head coach Mickey Mental, QB Dijon Jennings (10), QBs coach Zach Larson and QB Kingston Tisdell speak after practice on July 30, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State quarterbacks, from left, Kingston Tisdell (14), Dijon Jennings (10), Cash McCollum (6) and Jackson Gilkey (2) pose for a photo on Aug. 11, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden
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- Weber State quarterback Jackson Gilkey poses for a portrait in this undated photo.
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- Weber State quarterback Cash McCollum poses for a portrait in this undated photo.
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- Weber State quarterback Dijon Jennings poses for a portrait in this undated photo.
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- Weber State quarterback Kingston Tisdell pulls back to throw during an August 2025 practice at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
OGDEN — The biggest question for any football team at any level each summer is: who’s your starting quarterback?
“It goes as they go,” Weber State head coach Mickey Mental said after the final spring scrimmage.
That’s especially true, though, for a Wildcats team all but starting over at the position following the transfer of Richie Muñoz (who went to Incarnate Word before landing at Tennessee Tech) after the youngster started 17 straight games in purple.
So the names to know for Weber State are now Jackson Gilkey, Dijon Jennings, Cash McCollum and Kingston Tisdell. Jennings returns with a handful of WSU snaps under his belt and the other three are newcomers. They have a total of 11 career college passing yards.
What is Weber looking for as it identifies a pecking order?
“In a successful offense, usually the quarterback takes care of the ball, puts the ball on, accurate, doesn’t take negative yardage plays and is a great leader,” Mental said midway through fall camp. “I think they’ve done that at a high level.”
Certainly, the Wildcats will miss Muñoz from his best days (364 yards, six touchdowns at Montana) but will hope the new No. 1 will be able to open up the playbook and improve upon his not-best days (two goal-line fumbles against Northern Colorado, first two passes intercepted at Northern Arizona).
As they often are in the heat of late summer, hopes are high for the new horizon.
“They’re an extremely talented group and they’re all about ball,” quarterbacks coach Zach Larson said. “Their recall is great, they’re super intelligent so whoever was working with them before did a hell of a job. Their football IQ is off the charts. We can talk about scenarios, schemes, defenses, and don’t have to talk about anything multiple times. And having so many new guys, you create that competition that makes everybody better.
“Their approach as quarterback,” Larson said, “someone who has to lead the team — I know they’re going about business the right way.”
Here’s a look at each of Weber State’s four quarterbacks, in alphabetical order, and what each brings to the table.
JACKSON GILKEY
Hometown: Ennis, Texas
Previous: UTSA
Height: 6-foot-2
Class: Sophomore (third year)
Jersey No.: 2
High school stats: Passed for 5,725 yards and 51 touchdowns in three seasons on 64% completion and rushed for 884 yards and 12 TDs on 155 attempts. He was a two-time district MVP and a three-star prospect.
College stats: None
Gilkey came out of the spring as the frontrunner and appears to have kept his hold on the No. 1 spot, though nothing has been decided, or at least announced. He transferred after two seasons not seeing the field at UTSA.
“I’m just here to make the team better — if that’s through leadership, starting, or just helping whoever’s starting,” Gilkey said. “Just however we can get the ball into our playmakers’ hands, getting the guys who are explosive to have the ball in their hands.”
Gilkey on himself
“I think I’m a pretty good student of the game. I’ve seen a good amount of ball and I think I’m pretty good at making decisions out there on the field, on the fly, and mesh pretty well with the playbook.”
Larson on Gilkey
“Jackson is the ultimate maturity, confidence guy. His preparation is exactly how you want it. He’s always prepared for meetings, he’s always taking great notes, always asking good questions. They all are, but one of his great traits is his maturity, which is one of the most important traits in a good quarterback.”
Jennings on Gilkey
“He makes great decisions on the field and he knows how to rally guys together.”
McCollum on Gilkey
“Jackson has a really good ball and a really good arm, and he can also make plays with his legs.”
Tisdell on Gilkey
“Jackson is great at getting the ball out, he gets the ball out early.”
Outside of football
“I hang out with friends. I like to golf. I’m probably one of the best golfers on the team, not to toot my own horn, but I could probably beat a lot of these guys. I usually go with (offensive lineman) Will Way, he’s been my buddy because I knew him before I even got here. Marcus (Chretien) is supposedly pretty good but I haven’t got to go out with him yet. Kingston’s picking it up and Cash has gone a couple times — Kash Gates and Cash McCollum.”
DIJON JENNINGS
Hometown: Reynoldsburg, Ohio
Previous: Akron/Weber State
Height: 5-foot-11
Class: Junior (fourth season)
Jersey No.: 10
High school stats: Passed for 3,990 yards and 45 touchdowns in four seasons, adding 962 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
College stats: Passed 2 for 3 for 11 yards, and rushed for 7 yards in five carries, in 2024.
Jennings is the oldest of the group by age and by college experience, and is the only returning quarterback from 2024 after Muñoz transferred and Creyton Cooper hung it up with one year of eligibility remaining.
Jennings on himself
“I feel like my playmaking ability will allow me to extend plays for the team when needed.”
Larson on Jennings
“His ability to create stands out a lot. He can make plays outside of the scheme, which makes it really difficult on the defense. He can ad lib, does a great job extending when things don’t go exactly right. He takes care of the football and finds a play when there isn’t really one.”
Gilkey on Jennings
“Dijon’s got a creativity to his game. That’s something I see positive in his game, is just how he makes plays. It’s things that you don’t see on the whiteboard, stuff he just makes happen out (on the field) when you put on the tape.”
McCollum on Jennings
“He can make any throw, he has a super fast release and makes plays with his legs.”
Tisdell on Jennings
“Dijon is another great playmaker and he’s able to get the ball out a lot of different ways.”
Outside of football
“I go fishing a lot. I spend a lot of time with family and friends out here, I typically just chill and watch a little Netflix or Hulu. Just spend time with my guys here, playing cards and stuff like that. I haven’t found a fishing spot here, it’s so hot here. A lot different than in Ohio.”
CASH McCOLLUM
Hometown: China Spring, Texas
Previous: North Texas
Height: 6-foot-4
Class: Freshman (second year)
Jersey No.: 6
High school stats: He threw for 8,691 yards and 112 touchdowns over his high school career, adding 893 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns. McCollum led his team to a state title his junior season, threw for 3,154 yards and a school record 47 touchdowns as a senior, and was a three-star prospect.
College stats: None.
McCollum said he left North Texas to find a coaching staff that “rallied around me, believed in me, gave me a chance to compete for the starting job” and said Weber State was the place for him.
McCollum on himself
“I feel like I can make any throw on the field at all times. … I do a good job of getting out of the pocket, even though I try to stay in the pocket and deliver but when I do get out of the pocket, keeping my eyes downfield — just making plays inside and outside the pocket. I’ve been trying to get faster to get away from those big guys, outrun the D-line.”
Larson on McCollum
“The first thing that stands out is his presence and his poise, especially under pressure. When he gets blitzes, one of his best traits is finding completions under pressure, which is not easy … there’s a lot of movement at the line of scrimmage, in the secondary, that’s really difficult to do and manage.”
Gilkey on McCollum
“He’s got a cannon. He’s a young dude who’s got a lot of upside for sure. He can make every throw, probably better than the rest of us.”
Jennings on McCollum
“Cash is a gunslinger, that gunslinger mentality. I love how he plays the game, pushes the ball down the field very well.”
Tisdell on McCollum
“Cash is great at the deep ball, he has a good sense for that.”
Outside of football
“I’m from Texas, but it’s definitely different from the Utah outdoors. I love to bird hunt, love to fish, just go outside. I’ve been on a couple hikes here; I’ve enjoyed that, except when I’ve got to come all the way back down. But Utah’s a beautiful place, so you could catch me anywhere. Catch me at the river, playing pickleball with teammates.”
KINGSTON TISDELL
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Previous: Inglewood High
Height: 6-foot-1
Class: Freshman (first year)
Jersey No.: 14
High school stats: Passed for 6,898 yards and 73 touchdowns to 17 interceptions over four seasons with a 61% completion rate. After negative-1 total rushing yards in three seasons at Birmingham High, Tisdell ran for 189 yards on 7.9 per carry as a senior at Inglewood High.
College stats: None
Tisdell graduated high school early to join WSU in January and has spring and fall camp under his belt, trying to reach what many describe as a high ceiling as quickly as possible. He said he wanted to make sure his academic experience would be good and is interested in graphic design and marketing.
Several have praised his poise in the pocket as a true freshman, which he said he attributes to generally having a calm demeanor.
Tisdell on himself
“I’m a playmaker, I make things happen. I’m able to get out of the pocket and make throws on the run — referring a little bit to the art aspect of playing quarterback, I would say, is my strong suit. I’d say I’m good at seeing the defense overall, just seeing the whole field.”
Larson on Tisdell
“He has a little moxie to him. He’ll take reps and he’ll have some flashes and, I hate using the word gamer, but there’s a side to him that when it’s good, it’s really good and it’s really impressive as a young talent. So has a super high ceiling. He’s come in and been very impressive, taking advantage of the reps he has.”
Gilkey on Tisdell
“He’s got a cannon as well, and he’s just got this really good feel for the pocket. Running-lanes wise, he’s really good on his feet. He’s a true freshman so he’s still getting used to a college playbook … but you can see it’s clicking, so that’s cool to see. He’s going to be pretty good, you can see little spurts of it.”
Jennings on Tisdell
“Kingston has done a good job extending plays, he uses his legs and has a live arm as well.”
McCollum on Tisdell
“I kind of see myself in him a little bit because I was early enrolled as a freshman about a year ago. He can make plays, he makes the throws. He’s fast, he’s big, he stands in the pocket and has really good feet.”
Outside of football
Tisdell said after he gets his degree, at some point he wants to get into real estate.
