The new coaching staff for Weber State University’s football team has been finalized. This past week, new football Head Coach John Smith announced the hiring of Ted Stanley as an assistant football coach to fill the final position on his coach staff roster.

Stanley, who will be coaching tight ends at WSU, joins the team after spending the past seasons as head coach at Kenyon College, a Division III school in Ohio. Stanley has also served as the director of football operations at the University of Utah in 1996-97, under former Head Coach Ron McBride.

“We are very fortunate to have Ted join us at Weber State,” Smith said. “He is a Utah guy and has connections here, but also brings a lot of experience to us that will really help us, particularly experience as a head coach.”

Many of the athletes said they are excited for the new coaching staff.

“The new coaching staff has us fired up and excited for the upcoming season,” said Jordan Adamczyk, a quarterback. “Everyone is focused and determined and wanting to work hard to win a national championship next year.

Shortly after McBride announced his retirement from WSU football, Smith was announced as the new leader of the Wildcats. Smith has been slowly rebuilding, adjusting and creating a coaching staff that fits to the team and its needs.

“I am proud of the new coaching staff we have,” said cornerback Robbie Diamond. “All of the coaches have that winning mentality. I don’t really like to lose, and all the coaches we have are good competitors.”

With both returning and new players and coaches, the team is meshing well together, and all have a single goal in mind for next year: to win.

“So far, everyone has mixed pretty well,” Adamczyk said. “The coaches are good at getting us ready and are very encouraging and excited about what’s going on here. Everyone is so focused and determined to win. A lot of people like what Smith has done to the program, and we are excited to see what happens.”

There are some similarities between Smith and McBride. They are both old-school, according to Diamond.

“They are both old-school and old-fashioned,” he said. “Their main mentality is to win and to keep us focused and in the books and our academics.”

Despite similarities when it comes to the books, Adamczyk said that they do have different field coaching styles.

“Coach Smith is a lot harder on us,” Adamczyk said. “He is stricter, which is what I think we need as team. Coach Mac was more lenient and relaxed. In order to win, we are going to need a coach like Smith.”

Diamond agreed that there are some differences between McBride and Smith.

“Coach Mac, it was more of repetitious stuff that helped us stay on top of our game,” Diamond said. “Coach Smith focuses more on our mental reps.”

The football team has started its spring practices. This week the team has been back in full pads and has been working on getting the offense together.

“We have been installing the offense little by little,” Adamczyk said. “We are trying to get some of the new players to understand what we are trying to do and our goals for the offense. By the end of spring, we should have things rolling.”

In the 2012 season, WSU will play Brigham Young University. Also, the Big Sky Conference will welcome Southern Utah University.

“I predict going all the way next year,” Diamond said. “We had a lot of young players last year, and we are coming together as a family and as a team. We are always hanging out with each other. If we keep hard work in sight, we could have it all.”