In a conference that loves its connections, Mickey Mental’s hiring as head coach at Weber State last offseason was a surprise.
Mental had been the offensive coordinator for the Wildcats for one season before being promoted to fill Jay Hill’s big shoes. Prior to that, Mental had no Big Sky ties, instead serving on the staff at Division-II Notre Dame in Ohio for the previous 13 years (and as head coach for the last two).
It was a refreshing gamble for the Wildcats, as they veered away from the grain in a conference that generally hires coaches with, at the very least, previous stops in the league. Every head coach in the Big Sky Conference, other than Mental and Montana State head coach Brent Vigen, had a previous stop in the Big Sky as either an assistant or a head coach.
What’s less clear, after a season-and-a-half full of ups and downs, is whether the gamble is paying off.
Mental leads a very young Weber State team into Missoula on Saturday afternoon, hoping for a statement win.
“They’re very well coached,” Mental said about the Griz. “You know, they play really well in front of their home crowd. They generate the energy from the home crowd, so we just have to do our best job to stay on schedule offensively and then defensively, not give up the big plays.”
That, of course, is easier said than done, particularly for a coach who’s facing Washington-Grizzly Stadium for the first time.
Last year, Mental led the Wildcats to their ninth consecutive winning season – but, at 6-5, they missed the playoffs for only the third time in that stretch.
It was a year with plenty of confusing results. Weber beat MVFC stalwart Northern Iowa and eventual quarterfinalist Idaho, but also lost to hapless Eastern Washington, was a late pick-six away from losing to winless Northern Colorado and got humiliated by Montana State in Ogden, 40-0.
“It was my second time doing this, obviously, taking over,” Mental said at the Big Sky Kickoff in preseason. “When I first became a head coach (at Notre Dame), I recruited all those guys. So last year (at Weber), it was trying to get acquainted with the defensive side more than anything, and develop relationships and trust with those guys.”
Weber State appeared to grasp something sustainable down the stretch last season, winning three straight games to close the year after the Eastern Washington loss. That run, including the Idaho win, was keyed by freshman quarterback Richie Munoz grabbing control of the starting job.
In the final five games, Munoz threw 10 touchdowns against just one interception, a good sign that Mental, a former quarterbacks coach, might have found a star pupil to develop.
“I think it just shows stability at that position,” Mental said in the offseason. “Obviously, when you play the quarterback position, you just can’t turn the ball over. He threw for 10 (touchdowns), rushed for two and only turned it over once. That’s where you want to be. We were able to play complimentary football for the first time that year.”
Munoz is back in 2024. So are stars like running back Damon Bankston, defensive lineman Brayden Wilson and defensive back Jalon Rock. But the Wildcats lost a ton of talent as well. All five of their first-team all-conference players from a year ago left, with offensive lineman Noah Atagi, linebacker Winston Reid and cornerback Maxwell Anderson graduating and linebacker Jack Kelly (BYU) and returner Abraham Williams (Idaho) transferring out.
This year, the Wildcats have just six seniors.
“With college football nowadays, you’re always constantly evolving your roster throughout the year,” Mental said. “For us, it’s what fits Weber and the culture that we want here, and this year it’s just a lot of young guys. We still believe in the development of a young person both on and off the field, and you know, we want to make sure our culture is as strong as it is first before going all in on the transfer portal.”
Weber State smoked Portland State 43-16 in Week 2 in a rare early Big Sky game, but lost to Southland Conference neighbors Lamar and McNeese – the two are less than 100 miles apart on the Gulf coast – by a combined three points. Last week, the Wildcats missed a potential tying 2-point conversion with 10 minutes left and didn’t score again in a 28-26 loss to McNeese, dropping them to 2-3.
And so, the jury remains out on Mental and the new-look Wildcats. Hill set the bar higher than any Weber State head coach before him, posting a 68-39 record that included a 50-19 mark against the Big Sky. Hill led the Wildcats to the playoffs six times after the program had qualified for the post season just twice prior to his arrival. The Wildcats advanced to the semifinals of the playoffs in 2019 and the quarterfinals two other times.
As was the case under Hill, Weber State’s defense remains stout, giving up just 19.2 points per game, second in the conference. But the offense is struggling to build off the encouraging signs from late last season, sitting eighth in the league at 25.4 points per game. That latter number certainly comes with a caveat as WSU played Washington to open the season and has not played any Morehead States or Mercyhursts like some of their Big Sky counterparts.
Munoz has continued to take care of the ball, throwing for nearly 200 yards a game with seven touchdowns against one interception. But he hasn’t made the plays that could have given the Wildcats a win against Lamar or McNeese.
“He’s done something better each and every week throughout that 10-game stretch from last year to this year, which I think is good,” Mental said. “Now he just needs to do the big one and win the game at the end of the day. Because ultimately, that’s what you’re judged on when you play quarterback, are you winning games or are you losing games?”
Midway through his second year, the same could be said for his head coach.
