Weber State football confident this spring


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OGDEN — For Weber State football, familiarity means something.

The Wildcats have only known change for the past half-decade, and saw a once high-achieving program fall into disrepair.

In December 2013, the Wildcats hired Utah assistant coach Jay Hill to turn the program around. Obviously, the long-term goal was winning more, but in order to get the wins Weber fans are looking for on the field, Hill had to change the culture within the program.

After a first year that ended on a positive note, Hill and the Wildcats opened spring practice earlier this week with enthusiasm and excitement.

Hill, who is taking more of a role in the defensive schemes this upcoming season, said the opening of spring practice has been dramatically different from a year ago.

“I know the players view (the program) differently already,” he said. “They see the coaches are disciplined, and we’re structured. We hold (players) accountable; they miss class, they’re going to get punished.”

For Hill, who played and coached in a successful Utah program, the culture at Weber was far from where he wanted it. In his opening season, comments about confidence and execution were never far from his mind. After the opening practices, Hill said it’s apparent players have an understanding of the program’s expectations.

“Last season, I talked about how confidence needed to improve, and players needed to run around understanding where they are going. I never really felt like it got perfect last season,” he said. “We’re so much further ahead this spring with the confidence of the players understanding what the coaches’ expectations are, what the schemes are. They just look so much more confident in where they’re going and what they’re doing.”

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For Hill, who played and coached under coaches who valued physicality and toughness, like Ron McBride and Kyle Whittingham, the Wildcats’ physical strength had to improve in the offseason, and has within a year of understanding the expectations.

“We’re stronger right now than we were,” he said. “We’re stronger; we’re faster. Will that correlate to making plays on the field? It should, but we’ll see for sure once we get pads on, and as we continue through spring.”

Spring football is an interesting period in the year as teams get offseason work with players who may or may not be on the roster once camp starts in the fall. To the Wildcats, the spring provides another opportunity for the players to get repetitions, but its hidden value is the time coaches get to evaluate players.

“First and foremost, (we’re looking at) who has enough talent to help, and who’s going to be the playmakers,” he said. “We ran (40-yard dashes) about three weeks ago, and we were testing our speed, and 13 of our fastest 15 guys weren’t even with us last spring. The team is considerably different, and that’s what we’re trying to figure out — can these guys really make plays, or are they just fast guys that don’t have a clue.”

Competition is fierce with the Wildcats after a strong recruiting class in 2014, and will be even tougher in fall camp once this season’s recruits arrive.

However, competition will still be plenty strong in the spring, as Hill gave Wildcats fans a clue on position battles to watch.

“There’s four or five linebackers who can really play,” he said. “That’s a big battle where there’s four or five guys who played a lot. The defensive line’s much more solidified. I like the battle for the third and fourth wide receiver spots … all those guys are looking to be top contributors.

“The one everyone wants to know about is quarterback, and that’s a big deal. You’ve got Billy Green, Jadrian Clark, Riley Bradshaw is doing a good job, Chad Leckington did some things last spring. Last year, there were two guys who had a shot; we’ve got seven quarterbacks in camp this year, so the whole team dynamic is completely different.”

The quarterback battle figures to remain heated into the final days of fall camp.

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Jon Oglesby

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