Cowboy Football Opens Spring Practice on Tuesday
UW will have 15 practices this spring
LARAMIE, Wyo. (March 21, 2025) – The Cowboy Football team will return to the field next Tuesday, March 25 for the start of spring practice. Wyoming will practice 15 times this spring with the Spring Game set for April 26 inside War Memorial Stadium.
Wyoming will have open practices to the public on Saturday's this spring with times and more information to be released later. The Cowboys will host a youth football clinic after practice on April 5 with additional information available in the coming days.
Sawvel on Spring Practice
We are excited to get started and is time to get started. Our players did well this offseason. We have hit some markers and I see a lot of leadership from the veterans in terms of how they operate day to day. I have been very pleased with the new guys that we added from a physical and maturity standpoint. We have a lot of things to get done with the two biggest things for me is to increase the number of winnable offensive lineman and that is a development thing. On the defensive side, we have a lot of new players, and we have to get them play the way we need them to play to be successful.
About the Cowboys
Second-year head coach
Jay Sawvel returns some key veterans on both sides of the ball with numerous All-Mountain West performers back. Sawvel also added 40 players during the signing period with 16 of those being transfers from all levels of college football.
The Cowboys return a solid foundation on offense, including quarterback
Kaden Anderson, All-MW tight end
John Michael Gyllenborg, with a mix of veteran and young running backs led by
Sam Scott
. Also back are wide receivers
Jaylen Sargent, an Honorable Mention All-MW selection, and
Chris Durr Jr., along nine offensive linemen from the 2024 two-deep that includes Al-MW selection
Jack Walsh.
Defensive end
Tyce Westland, nose tackle
Ben Florentine, defensive tackle
Jayden Williams, cornerback
Keany Parks and nickel back
Wrook Brown return for a solid defensive core. Brown earned Honorable Mention All-MW honors a season ago. Sawvel brought in 10 transfers on the defensive side of the football to compete with talented returners and redshirts that saw Wyoming lead the nation in third down defense last season.
Read more on winter workouts with the Cowboys on Pokes Insider by
clicking here.
New Faces on the Sidelines
Sawvel announced the addition of three new coaches to the staff earlier this offseason. Former Cowboy wide receiver and UW Athletics Hall of Famer
Jovon Bouknight
takes over the wide receiver's group after serving as an analyst last season.
Deonte Gibson comes to UW from Air Force and will coach the defensive tackles.
Donnell Kirkwood, Jr., who played for Sawvel at Minnesota is coaching running backs for the Brown and Gold.
Wyoming also added a trio of graduate assistants to the staff in former Cowboys
Mason Schultz and
Cameron Murray. Schultz spent time at Colorado Mesa with Murray coming to UW after spending last season at New Mexico Highlands.
Bryce Missey also joined the staff and served as offensive coordinator at Whitworth University last season.
Former graduate assistant and assistant director of player development
Austin Maus
moves into the role of Director of Player Personnel. A pair of Cheyenne natives in
Jamison Brown and
Brandon Haselbeck
joined the staff. Both served as interns, Brown is now the assistant director of player personnel after spending last season at North Dakota State. Haselbeck is the video coordinator and comes back to Wyoming after time at Kansas State.
The Cowboy sports performance staff for football led by
Eric Donoval
welcomes four coaches.
Andrew Espinoza comes to Wyoming from Central Florida, as he spent three seasons with the Knights.
Victor Evans comes to Wyoming after three seasons at Florida Atlantic.
Gaines Jordan comes to Wyoming after working at Auburn last season.
Robert Marco comes to Wyoming after time at Florida Atlantic along with Liberty and Kansas.
2025 Schedule
Home Schedule
- After opening the season on the road, the Pokes will host back-to-back home games inside War Memorial Stadium hosting Northern Iowa and longtime rival Utah.
- The Utes will make their first trip to Laramie since the 2010 season.
- Wyoming opens the conference slate hosting UNLV and first-year head coach Dan Mullen
- The Cowboys will open the conference slate with back-to-back home games hosting San Jose State on October 11
- The Border War is slated for Saturday, October 25. The two teams have played in the month of November in five-straight seasons.
- Wyoming closes the home portion of the schedule hosting Nevada on November 22.
Road Schedule
- The Pokes will open at Akron for the first ever meeting against the Zips. Sawvel a native of Ohio, will lead the Cowboys to their first trip to the state since facing Bowling Green in 2011.
- The Cowboys will face regional rival Colorado on the road on September 30 for the first meeting since 2009 and the 28th meeting all-time.
- Wyoming opens the road portion of the Mountain West schedule with a trip to Air Force on October 18. The Pokes will play within the Rocky Mountain Region in September and October.
- The Cowboys will make their first trip to San Diego State since 2019 and the first time in Snap Dragon Stadium.
- - Wyoming will play at Fresno State on November 15
- The Pokes will play for the Paniolo Trophy at Hawai'i to close the regular season on November 29 for the first November meeting in Hawai'i since the 1994 season.
