The Eric Kjar Era Begins at Weber State — and It Starts on the Road

Weber State hired the most successful high school coach in the state and pointed him at a Big Sky rebuild. Eric Kjar takes over Weber State football in 2026 as the 13th head coach in the program's Division I history, and his first season starts the hard way: three straight road games, including an early in-state trip to Big Sky neighbor Southern Utah.

Kjar is not a typical FCS hire. Named Weber State's head coach on December 16, 2025, he arrives in Ogden after posting a 112-10 record with six state championships over nine seasons at Corner Canyon High School in Draper — one of the most dominant recent runs in Utah high school football. The bet is that a program-builder who won everywhere he has been can do it at the college level too.

A first schedule that front-loads the travel

The 2026 slate does Kjar no early favors. Weber State opens on the road for the second straight year, and the Big Sky's move to a nine-game conference schedule shapes the rest of it.

The Wildcats begin August 28 at Northern Colorado — a Friday night game moved to 7 p.m. after the Bears installed lights at Nottingham Field for the first time. From there Weber State plays September 5 at Southern Utah, inside Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City, before a third straight road trip to Colorado. The home opener does not come until September 19 against Northwestern State at Stewart Stadium.

The Weber State–Southern Utah game deserves more attention

That September 5 trip to Southern Utah is quietly one of the more meaningful dates on Utah's college football calendar. Both programs are now Big Sky members after the state's FCS realignment, though the September 5 meeting was scheduled as a non-conference game before Southern Utah rejoined the league. For a new head coach, a road win over a Utah rival in its second game would be an immediate statement.

Six home games and a Utah Tech finale

Once the Wildcats get home, they stay busy. Six of the final nine games are at Stewart Stadium, including a run of Big Sky matchups: Portland State on September 26, Idaho on October 10, Idaho State on October 17, and UC Davis on October 31. The regular season closes November 21 at home against Utah Tech — the only all-Utah Big Sky game on the schedule, and a fitting bookend to a schedule that keeps running through the state's own programs.

The nine-game conference format is new. The Big Sky expanded to nine league games in 2026, which means more of Weber State's season is decided inside the conference and less of it is spent on nonconference tune-ups. For a first-year staff, that raises the degree of difficulty: fewer soft landing spots, more games that carry standings weight from the jump.

Kjar steps onto the Big Sky stage early

Kjar did not wait for kickoff to represent the program. He, along with players Brown and Tribble, spoke for Weber State at the Big Sky Kickoff media event in July — the conference's preseason gathering and, for many fans, their first look at the new coach in a league setting. It is a small thing on the calendar, but it signaled the handoff: the Corner Canyon era at Weber State is officially underway, and the rest of the Big Sky now has a face to put with the Wildcats' rebuild.

What Kjar inherits

Kjar does not start from nothing. Weber State had a quarterback story in Jackson Gilkey, whose emergence came during the coaching transition that eventually brought Kjar to Ogden. Stabilizing that quarterback room and translating a high school program-builder's culture to the FCS level are the two obvious tasks of year one.

Can a high school legend win in the Big Sky?

That is the open question, and the schedule will answer it early. Three road games to start, one of them at in-state Big Sky neighbor Southern Utah, means Kjar's Wildcats will be tested before Stewart Stadium ever fills up. Corner Canyon proved he can build a winner. The 2026 season is the first evidence of whether it carries into college football.

Key facts:

• New coach: Eric Kjar, hired December 16, 2025 — 13th head coach in Weber State's Division I history
• Résumé: 112-10 with six state titles in nine seasons at Corner Canyon High School (Draper)
• Opener: Friday, August 28 at Northern Colorado, 7 p.m. (Nottingham Field's first lights)
• Early in-state game: September 5 at Southern Utah (Eccles Coliseum, Cedar City) — a non-conference game between two Big Sky members
• Home opener: September 19 vs. Northwestern State at Stewart Stadium
• Home slate: six of the final nine games at home; regular season ends November 21 vs. Utah Tech
• Context: Big Sky expanded to a nine-game conference schedule in 2026

*Correction, Sept. 27, 2026: An earlier version of this story called the September 5 game at Southern Utah a Big Sky game. Southern Utah's recap says it was scheduled as a non-conference game before Southern Utah rejoined the league.*

*Update, Sept. 27, 2026: The three opening road games went 1-2. Weber State won 30-29 at Northern Colorado on August 28 on a blocked extra point with three seconds left, lost 47-42 at Southern Utah on September 5 in a non-conference game and lost 52-21 at Colorado on September 12. It then beat Northwestern State 49-20 in its home opener at Stewart Stadium on September 19 and lost 44-41 to Portland State there on September 26 on a field goal as time expired, according to Weber State's recaps. That left the Wildcats 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Big Sky on their schedule page. They play at Cal Poly on October 3. Jackson Gilkey, the quarterback named above, is on Tarleton State's 2026 roster, with Weber State listed as his previous school.*