The coaching merry-go-round at northern Utah's universities came to a halt Wednesday morning when Weber State named 42-year-old Jerry Graybeal as its new head football coach.
Graybeal, the defensive coordinator at Eastern Washington, replaces Dave Arslanian, who left to become the head coach at Utah State earlier this month after USU coach John L. Smith left to become the head coach at the University of Louisville.Graybeal has served as an assistant coach at the Cheney, Wash., school for 16 years, the last four under coach Mike Kramer. He becomes the seventh head coach at Weber State since the school attained four-year status in 1963.
"This is going to be a very exciting opportunity for me," said Graybeal. "I'm thankful to coach Arslanian for the foundation he has established here."
According to Weber State athletic director John Johnson, Graybeal was the unanimous choice of a five-person search committee out of a pool of 60 candidates from all over the country.
"I talked to a lot of people and his name kept coming up," said Johnson. "His background in the Big Sky and philosophy for developing student-athletes were big factors (in his getting the job)."
Johnson has a long history with Graybeal, serving as his boss at Eastern Washington for four years when he was athletic director before coming to Weber State. He also played wide receiver under Graybeal in 1982 when Graybeal was a graduate assistant at EWU. But Johnson downplayed his previous association with Graybeal as being a factor in the hiring.
"I was probably harder on him than all the others," said Johnson, who said it was a committee decision and not his, with approval by Weber State President Paul Thompson.
Graybeal sees a lot of similarities between Weber State and Eastern Washington, which is located near Spokane. He said he wants an offense with good balance between running and passing and an aggressive defense. "We've been very successful at Eastern Washington with a workmanlike approach to things," he said.
Graybeal has never been a head coach on any level but doesn't think that will work against him. As the defensive coordinator at EWU, he was involved in the coaching decisions along with the offensive coordinator.
Under Graybeal, the Eagles led the Big Sky Conference in total defense this season, giving up just 313.8 yards per game. They ranked fourth in Division I-AA in rushing defense (81.5 yards per game) and led the Big Sky in passing defense. Eastern Washington went 12-2 this season, losing in the I-AA semis to Youngstown State.
Graybeal graduated from Walla Walla High School in 1975 and attended Walla Walla Community College on a football scholarship and later played at Idaho State for two years.
Graybeal expects to name a staff within the next couple of weeks.