The Wildcats gave up 41.4 points per game in 2013, the year before Hill arrived. It took a few years but, by 2017, WSU’s defense allowed 17.6 points per game. It stayed at 21 or below the rest of his tenure.

After his departure, that number bumped up to 24.1 and then 27.8 with co-defensive coordinators Grant Duff and Joe Dale remaining in their roles in Hill’s absence. Duff left to be DC at Idaho State, leaving Dale in solo charge for the 2025 season; WSU allowed 38.3 points per game last year.

Duff had been with Hill from the start, and Dale played at Utah.

Now, Weber State’s defense gets a fresh but familiar start with defensive coordinator Gavin Fowler.

Fowler is a former high school quarterback at Davis High, with cousins and uncles who played at Weber State and a mother who grew up in Ogden. He’s been at BYU for 13 years in various ways, but says this new role does feel like a homecoming.

His defensive philosophy is a direct reflection of his playing and coaching experience.

“We do a lot,” he says.

Head coach Eric Kjar said he’s loved how many different looks the defense has made the offense deal with through fall camp.

“My idea is just to keep offenses uncomfortable by not letting them sit there and know what we’re in all the time, know what fronts we’ll be in all the time; make them hit a moving target,” Fowler said. “Our players have done a phenomenal job of learning a complex defense.”

At its core, it’s still the Whittingham 4-3 defense, Fowler says. But it draws from many places.

Fowler was a safety at BYU. He played three years for Bronco Mendenhall’s 3-4 defense and three under Kalani Sitake, and that 4-3 defense with Ilaisa Tuiaki and Ed Lamb (the latter being the head coach of Northern Colorado, this week’s opponent) helping run the unit.

As a coach, Fowler spent the last few years learning from Hill — another fellow defensive back — and got to see a 4-3 defense through his eyes.

“We’ve gotten pretty creative; I’m kind of a mix,” he says. “Our core is the Kyle Whittingham Utah defense, but I’ve taken pieces from Kalani, Ed Lamb, Bronco, and what I’ve learned from Jay the last couple years. It’s kind of a blended mix of all those.

“The core principles are what Jay taught me as the core of the Utah 4-3, 4-2-5 defense, but with some other stuff that we’ve mixed in that I learned from Jay and from others.”

Kjar has praised his cornerbacks Tre Turner and Tajon Evans for the challenges they’ve provided his offense in camp, and thinks the receiver/cornerback battles have sharpened both groups. At linebacker, WSU is looking to Teni Worthen, Raimoana Tinirauarii, Da’Veon “Dada” Ross and Will Cornelson to strengthen the middle.

Those players, and a defensive line that is starting the experienced Kevin Johnson with sizable freshman Tevita Paongo in the middle, will need to have great years. Only Tinirauarii, Evans and Johnson are returning players in that list.

Will Fowler build a dominant defense overnight? Probably not. He’s concerned about the quality of depth on the defensive side, and a lot of inexperienced players, game-wise, will get their shots to shine.

But Hill didn’t build dominance overnight, either. His first-year jump took WSU’s defense from 41.4 points per game to 30.7. To have any kind of success for the 2026 season, a drop from last year’s 38.3  to around that 30-point mark would be a start.