Weber State football adds three assistant coaches

OGDEN - Weber State football head coach Jay Hill has announced the hiring of three new coaches to join the Wildcat staff. Hill has hired Bojay Filimoeatu, Andre Dyson and James Cowser. Filimoeatu will coach the defensive line, Dyson will coach the cornerbacks and Cowser will be a defensive assistant.

In addition, Hill has announced that Robert Conley will now coach the running backs.. Conley was hired in January as a new assistant coach and has moved to coaching the running backs after the departure of Quinton Ganther to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Bojay Filimoeatu comes to Weber State after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Utah State. He coached the Aggie defensive ends in 2019 and guided four players to All-Mountain West honors. In 2020, he coached the outside linebackers.

Prior to Utah State, he spent two seasons coaching the linebackers at San Jose State. He began his coaching career at Oregon State in 2016 where he worked as a quality control defensive coach under head coach Gary Andersen.

Filimoeatu was a two-year starting linebacker at Utah State in 2011 and 2012 where he helped lead the Aggies to a pair of bowl games and the 2012 Western Athletic Conference title. During his two seasons, he had 112 total tackles with 48 solo tackles, and had eight sacks and one interception.

He graduated from Utah State in 2012 with an interdisciplinary studies degree with an emphasis in sociology and physical education. He spent the 2014 season in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders where he appeared in eight games.

Prior to Utah State, he played two seasons at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.

He attended Granger High School in West Valley City, Utah where he earned all-region honors as a linebacker and fullback.

He and his wife Hailey have two sons, Johnny and Kersey.

"Bojay is one of the best defensive line coaches in the country and we are lucky to have him," Hill said. "He is a perfect fit for our program and comes highly recommended. He will be a huge addition to our program."

Andre Dyson 2021

Andre Dyson returns to Weber State where he spent three seasons as an assistant coach coaching the cornerbacks from 2009-2011 under head coach Ron McBride.

Dyson returns after spending the last seven years as the head coach at his alma mater Clearfield High School, where he coached the Falcons from 2014-20.

He was a standout player at Clearfield where he earned All-State honors and then played four seasons for coach McBride at the University of Utah. At Utah he earned All-Mountain West honors and tied for the league lead in interceptions in 1999 with six. During his time at Utah, he was a teammate with Jay Hill.

He was drafted in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans and played seven seasons in the NFL from 2001-07, appearing in 96 total games for the Titans, Seattle Seahawks and New York Jets.

He played four seasons (2001-2004) with the Titans and in 2001, became the first rookie to lead the team in interceptions since 1964. Against Tampa Bay that season, he returned an interception for a touchdown and his brother Kevin caught a touchdown pass making them the first brothers in NFL history to record an interception touchdown and a receiving touchdown in the same game.

In 2005, Dyson played with the Seattle Seahawks and helped them to their first ever Super Bowl appearance. In week 13, he scored on a 72-yard interception return and on a 25-yard fumble return at Philadelphia. He became just the sixth NFL player since 1970 to score on an interception and fumble return in the same game.

Dyson finished his NFL career in 2006 and 2007 with the New York Jets where he had four interceptions during the 2006 season. In his 96 game career in the NFL he finished with 270 total tackles and 22 interceptions, four of those returned for touchdowns.

During his three-year coaching stint with the Wildcats, Dyson helped lead the Wildcats to the FCS Playoffs in 2009 and coached several all-conference performers, including Josh Morris who earned All-American honors and first-team All-Big Sky honors in 2009.

He and his wife Heather are the parents of a son, Dontae and twin girls, Brooklyn and Avery.

"Andre brings a lot of coaching and NFL experience to us," Hill said. "He was a great player in college and the NFL and has spent a lot of time coaching in this area, between Weber State and high school. It will be great to have him back where he has coaching experience and to have his knowledge of football in the state."

James Cowser 2021

James Cowser joins the staff as a defensive assistant and will primarily focus with the defensive ends.

Cowser comes to Weber State as one of the top players in Big Sky and FCS history. The Fruit Heights, Utah native starred at Davis High School and then had a standout four-year career at Southern Utah from 2012-15.

During his career at SUU, he twice earned All-America honors and was named the Big Sky Conference Defensive MVP as a senior in 2015. He finished his career as the NCAA FCS all-time leader in career sacks and tackles for loss and now ranks second in both categories. He totaled 42.5 career sacks and 80 career tackles for loss in his 48 games with the Thunderbirds. He also holds the conference record for tackles for loss in a season with 28.5 in 2014. He was also part of the SUU team that won the Big Sky title in 2015.

After his college career, Cowser spent three seasons in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders from 2016-18. He appeared in 22 career games with the Raiders and recorded 32 tackles with 21 solo tackles. He also had one quarterback sack and one forced fumble.

"We are also really excited to have James join our staff," Hill said. "He is one of the best players to ever play in the Big Sky and in all of FCS football. His playing experience and NFL experience will be a great addition to our program."

Weber State University Athletics

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