Football spring training is just around the corner, starting on March 16. New head coach Mickey Mental is set to take over after former head coach Jay Hill stepped down at the end of last season.

The Wildcats have 15 practices for spring training, with the spring game scheduled for April 15.

Mental, in the 2022 season, was the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for the Wildcats. Before that, he was the head coach of Division II Notre Dame college.

Mental said that he had a hard time at Notre Dame due to COVID-19 but wants to bring the culture of a big family and play at the highest level this season.

Mental’s first hire as the new head coach is Zach Larson as a new assistant coach, who will be coaching the quarterbacks. He has been with the Wildcats since 2020, assisting with the offense. He worked as a graduate assistant coach before Mental promoted him to assistant coach.

Jaylen Johnson is another new assistant coach, who will be coaching the defensive lineman this season. This season will be his first with the Wildcats. Johnson spent the last two years coaching at the University Of Washington. He graduated there in 2018, making all Pac-12 honors his senior year.

“You take over a program, obviously, like Weber,” Mental said. “Things are in place. Obviously, you got to put your own spin on it as the head guy. Coach Hill and the rest of the staff have obviously left the cover very full.”

Weber has had four players sign a letter of intent. Six players made a hard commitment, and there is one student transferring from another team.

Keeping four of their five players who received All-American honors last season, the Wildcats will have cornerback Maxwell Anderson, linebacker Winston Reid, offensive lineman Noah Atagi and kick returner Abraham Williams returning.

“Bring energy and excitement each and every day. That’s my core values,” Mental said. “That’s one of the reasons that I came here. They had those core values in place trying to keep that ship going.”

Despite losing in the second round of the FCS Playoffs against Montana State last season, they had a 10-win season and are hoping to carry last season’s success into this one. The first step is this spring training with the new head coach, Mental.