Eric Kjar, announced Tuesday as Weber State’s new head football coach, knows that once the introductions are over, numerous items of business litter his checklist as he takes over a Wildcats program aiming to rebound from the last three seasons of 14-21 football.

“I was joking with my wife, usually high school-wise, I get a chance to slow down a little bit during this time,” Kjar said. “I’m excited, though. I’m just embracing the work and what we’re going to build here. Our program, I’m going to teach and preach to these young men how important work is — working your butt off, and really embracing that.

“I’m that way, too, so that part, it’s really not going to seem like work because I’m going to love what I’m doing. … My work’s just beginning.”

Kjar — who said in his introductory press conference that the grind of coaching multiple sports while teaching high school classes and driver’s ed prepared him to lead a college program — even seemed anxious to get lost in making Weber State his.

“That’s the part that’s great. Being idle, for me, I’ve never really liked that a ton. I get weird in those settings when I don’t have stuff to do, which my wife can tell you about,” he said. “So getting busy and engaging our staff — it’s not just me, I’m going to bring in really good people who are going to be great in this process, too.”

And that’s the top of the checklist: finalize and hire a coaching staff. While some whispers have centered on a handful of experienced, Utah-based coaches, Kjar said Tuesday he wasn’t ready to start naming names just yet.

“I’m almost there, but I’ve got so many more things I’ve got to do with that still,” Kjar said. “I’m close, though. … We’ll retain a few guys who are on staff already and bring in some new guys, for sure.”

One curiosity Kjar inherits is that, absent a head coach after the firing of Mickey Mental with two games remaining, Weber State’s staff of assistant coaches went on to sign 18 players for the class of 2026 during the early signing period from Dec. 3-5.

Interim head coach Brent Myers — a 12-year WSU assistant who has coached more than 500 college football games — said with he and the staff under contract to work until told otherwise, and with direction from athletic director Tim Crompton to continue pursuing Utahns and other players who will keep their existing commitments, that they’d keep those relationships going while being open with recruits about upcoming changes.

The 18-player class — WSU’s largest-ever early signing haul — had eight Utahns on the list, including Cache Valley gunslinging quarterback Nate Dahle and Kjar’s own offensive lineman from Corner Canyon in Will Chandler.

“We got quite a few kids that we feel really strongly about,” Myers said two weeks ago. “I think our staff did a fantastic job through the transition that’s occurring.”

Kjar said Tuesday he also felt good about the class, even though he wasn’t part of the evaluation and signing.

“I think there’s got to be a little trust in that, knowing that they’re professionals and they do a good job as college coaches and they’re going to do their best in evaluating,” Kjar said. “I’ve done a lot of homework on those kids, and I love a lot of those kids. They’re going to be good players.

“That part of it, you embrace that part. I don’t think you try to do anything else with that situation as far as trying to move out of that or get negative about that. That’s just something we’ll embrace and build off, and we’ll look to evaluate a few more kids in the next window and sign some other kids, too. I like the group as a whole and I thought they did a good job of evaluating.

“I’d like to have seen it been a little more Utah-based, but we’ll work on that,” he concluded.

Having been in the trenches with and against Utah preps, Kjar has developed his own philosophy about why to recruit Utahns.

“You see how driven these kids are and how much football means to them. That’s constant in other areas, too, but there’s not as many,” he said. “The kids here are really driven, they want to be successful, they’re high achievers, and they’re usually from families that are that way, too. They’re skilled, they’ve got a lot of talent, and there’s a lot of big, long kids.

“I’ve had so many recruiters come in and they can’t believe how many big bodies there are in Utah, big-time programs like Ohio State and Michigan. … Hearing that from those people speaks highly of what Utah is and what Utah has.”

With a coaching staff coming together, Kjar has 16 more days before the transfer portal opens (Jan. 2) for two weeks when players can officially enter their names into the database. WSU players themselves, or through other reports, who have stated interest in entering the portal include Matt Herron, Dijon Jennings, Logan Mackey, Sione Hala and others. Isaac Wilson, Kjar’s former quarterback at Corner Canyon, is said to be awaiting his chance to enter the portal out of Utah as well.

There’s a lot to manage between now and mid-March to determine what the Wildcats look like when spring camp opens. But at the start, Kjar is eager to put in the work.

“I feel really blessed to be part of Weber State and what it has to offer,” he said.