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Show 18 | MyWeberMedia.com| April 18, 2019 Jake Constantine looking to hand off the ball. The Signpost Archives A WILDCAT TURNAROUND By JOE TRAUB Investigative Reporter Weber State quarterback Jake Constantine dropped back to pass on 4th and 12 and appeared doomed to be sacked. He fought away from three defenders, threw up a HailMary-type pass hauled in by Devon Cooley in the back of the end zone but was insta ntly ripped from his grasp by a Maine Black Bears defender. For five minutes, a national ESPN2 audience anxiously waited to see if the play would be called a Weber State touchdown or a Maine interception. It was December 7, 2018 and the Wildcats were playing in a quarterfinal playoff game at home. “Walking down the sideline, I knew that ball was mine. I went up and got it,” Cooley said. “I knew I came down with it.” Five years ago, this would have been unimaginable. Weber State football on na- tional television in the FCS Playoffs? Getting past two wins was an accomplishment in the early 2010s. Yes, the Wildcats would go on to lose this game to the Black Bears despite the play being called a touchdown. But WSU has been through seemingly all the ebbs and flows of college football in the last decade and this served as a microcosm of what the team is on the cusp of achieving. Weber State was sitting pretty with Ron McBride as head coach in the mid to late 2000s. The well respected McBride held the reins at the University of Utah for over a decade before coming to Ogden in 2005. He helped a struggling program get on its feet, reaching the FCS Playoffs in 2008 and 2009. McBride eventually retired at age 72 after the 2011 season. WSU finished a respectable 5–6 in McBride’s final year and he felt confident that the team would be on the upswing even after his departure. “The team I left was really good,” McBride said. “They were young but in good shape. I was hoping everyone would stay together without any transferring.” What happened next was unimaginable. After the 2011 season, WSU hired John L. Smith, who played both linebacker and quarterback in Ogden, to be the team’s next head coach. The Smith era lasted all of four and a half months. Unforeseen circumstances at the University of Arkansas created a situation in which the Razorbacks were in need of a head coach. They swooped Smith away from Weber State, leaving the Wildcats to turn to Jody Sears as its new leader. Sears had been hired by Smith as defensive coordinator only three months prior and was now in charge of a full-blown rebuild. The ‘Cats lost their identity under Sears. Weber State went 4–19 two years with him at the helm, and the results were as ugly as they looked on paper. WSU gave up an average of 37 points per game while being outscored 849–429. “It was horrible to watch,” McBride said. “It was very disappointing because we spent seven years building the program only to have it go to ground zero in two years. It was just tragic.” Director of Athletic Communications Paul Grua, who has worked at Weber State since 2004, said he felt the program was thrown into disarray following Smith’s sudden departure but also due to a challenging schedule. “When (Smith) left, it kind of spiraled a lot of things. In Sears’ defense, he was kind of handed the reigns in a tough situation,” |