On Dec. 7, 2022, Brigham Young University announced that it would be hiring Weber State University head football coach Jay Hill as its new defensive coordinator and associate head coach.
To understand Hill’s impact on the Weber State Football program, we have to go back to what the Wildcats looked like before he was hired.
In 2004, the Wildcats had their worst season in school history, with one win and 10 losses. Head football coach Jerry Graybeal stepped down and became the new assistant athletic director for the university.
A month later, it was announced that former University of Utah head football coach Ron McBride, who had been serving as linebackers coach for the University of Kentucky for the previous two seasons, would become Weber State football’s new head coach.
The team immediately got better under McBride, going 6–5 in the 2005 season. McBride would serve as the coach for 7 seasons, with a combined record of 43–38, finishing with the fifth-most coaching wins in Weber State history, and a Big Sky Conference title in 2008. In 2011, McBride announced that he would retire at the end of the season at 72 years old, the sixth-oldest coach in Division I football at the time.
After McBride’s retirement, the school announced that Weber alum John L. Smith, assistant coach of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, would be the next head coach. However, just a few months later, it was announced that Smith would be returning to Arkansas to become its head coach. Weber State then promoted new defensive coordinator Jody Sears to become head coach.
Sears had been the co-defensive coordinator for the Washington State University Cougars for the previous three seasons. Two years later, Sears would have a 4–19 record, the worst of any coach in Weber State history. He was fired in 2013.
“Sears inherited a difficult situation, but we didn’t see the progress we wanted,” Weber State athletic director Jerry Bovee said.
On Dec. 12, 2013, Weber State announced the hire of its 11th head football coach, Jay Hill. Hill was a cornerback for Ricks College and received All-American honors. He then transferred to the University of Utah and played under fellow Weber State head coach Ron McBride. Afterward, he served under head coaches Ron McBride, Urban Meyer and Kyle Whittingham.
Hill’s first year as coach for the Wildcats was more of the same from the Sear’s years, as the team went 2–10. However, something was brewing in Ogden.
The next year, 2015, the team went 6–5, which included a 24–21 win over the No. 12-ranked University of Montana in Missoula — the first time Weber had beaten Montana since 1987.
While Hill improved the team on the field, his strong suit was off the field in recruiting. In 2014, his first year at the helm, Hill recruited a zero-star cornerback from Sacramento named Taron Johnson.
Johnson would finish his Weber State career as a two-time All-Big Sky selection and a First-team All-American in his senior year in 2017. In the 2018 NFL Draft, Johnson would be selected in the fourth round by the Buffalo Bills, the first Weber State player to be drafted since 2010.
Hill was a master at finding diamonds in the rough in the recruiting sphere like Johnson. That recruiting finally started to pay off, after 6–5 and 7–5 records in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Weber State finally got over the hump, when in 2017 the Wildcats won their first Big Sky championship since 2008 when they posted an 11–3 record.
The Wildcats made it all the way to the semifinals when they fell to No. 1-ranked James Madison University in a 31–28 loss. The Wildcats finished the season ranked No. 5 in the nation.
The next year saw similar results, going 10–3 to win another Big Sky championship. However, the playoff push was cut short in the quarterfinals in a tough loss to Maine 23–18. The Wildcats were ranked No. 6 in the final poll.
In 2019, the Wildcats would have arguably their best season in school history. Going 11–4 and making it all the way to the semifinals, again falling to James Madison. Finishing No. 3 was the highest WSU had ever finished in the polls.
In the shortened spring 2021 season, the Wildcats would win their first outright Conference title, going undefeated in conference play. However, they were upset in the first round by Southern Illinois.
After a disappointing 2021 season, finishing 6–5, the Wildcats got back to their winning ways going 10–3 in 2022, including a 35–7 win over Utah State in Logan. The Wildcats lost in the quarterfinals to No. 3-ranked Montana State University 33–25, finishing the season ranked No. 9.
At the conclusion of the season, the Wildcats had high expectations for the future, with many starters returning. But after Hill left for BYU, a lot of changes happened. All-American cornerback Eddie Heckard followed Hill to BYU, and the year after, cornerback Marque Collins and linebacker Jack Kelly headed down to Provo as well.
After many years of BYU having below-average defenses, Jay Hill has continued his ways, by recruiting under-the-radar studs and building stout defenses.
Hill would finish his Weber career ranked first in wins and games coached, and second in winning percentage in school history. He won four Big Sky Titles and went to the FCS playoffs six times. The Wildcats won at least 10 games in four out of five years and had eight straight winning seasons. In Weber’s spring 2021 season, they became the second school to ever win four straight Big Sky Championships. His recruiting led to 10 all-conference players and seven All-American players.
