To discuss conference membership.

Linebacker from Lincoln, Nebraska has committed to Wyoming football.

Mountain West schools are "united" to keep league together and idea was dead on arrival with a combo of G5 schools from P12, MW, and AAC. An inside TV source said the combo doesn't make sense regarding money payout and ESPN and Fox … have already spent their money.

Hirta and Cup, were right, there was a "Judas Iscariot" inside the MW.

Let’s say things work out and in 2025 Wyoming is playing in a new Pac 12. What once seemed impossible now appears likely.

Terrific! Now what?

Oregon State spent $22 million on football a year ago.

Washington State spent $23 million on football.

Boise’s football budget is about $15 million. SDSU has been trying to get ready for a step up, so they spent about $17 million on football.

Wyoming? We spend about $12 million on football against a $39 million annual athletics budget.

You don’t even want to know the numbers on the overall athletics budgets. OSU’s annual overall budget is almost exactly double Wyoming. WSU spends about $68 million on athletics.

Budget isn’t everything. And I remember well when our basketball team rolled into Corvallis in 2020 and won. I’m not saying we won’t or can’t be competitive now and then.

But let’s not kid ourselves about what is happening here. If we pull off this merger, we may have dodged the planet killing comet, but only at the expense of layering more competitive teams over the top of us.

I’m glad our conference is surviving in some form and that it looks like we’ll still have traditional rivalry games with CSU and AFA. But it also feels like this is our last dodged bullet. Whenever the next big round of alignment comes, and it will come, we may find it hard to get lucky twice.

Wyoming has spent more than a BILLION dollars on facilities at UW since 2020. It’s not that we can’t provide the budget to be competitive nationally in athletics. It’s that we’ve chosen not to.

Tight end prospect from Kerkhoven (Minn.). 2024 class.

Laramie, Wyo. (Aug. 7, 2023) -- As the Wyoming Cowboy football team wrapped up its fifth practice of the fall on Monday morning, the first thing that head coach Craig Bohl mentioned to media in his post-practice press conference was the high level of competition he has seen from his team this fall.



“We are making good progress and I think are players are doing a good job of competing against one another,” said Bohl. “I thought our defense was really moving around well today. We started out practice with some pass-under-pressure situations and I thought our defense was really pressing the quarterback.



Bohl did have one injury update on Monday. “We are staying fairly healthy, but Sabastian Harsh -- they’re going to remove some of the wire in his knee and he hasn’t been practicing lately. We are anticipating him being back though.”



Bohl has mentioned the interior defensive line as a strength on this year’s Cowboy defense, with three talented returners back in starting nose tackle Cole Godbout, starting defensive tackle Jordan Bertagnole and key contributor Gavin Meyer. When asked about some of the other Cowboys competing for playing time at those sports, specifically Caleb Robinson and Ben Florentine, Bohl responded, “It is good competition right now between those guys. Ben is probably a little bit ahead, but nothing brings out the best in someone like competition. Caleb had a car accident this summer that put him behind with his conditioning, and he’s just starting to catch up. Oscar (Giles, defensive tackle coach) is continuing to look at that. That is one thing that has been helpful for us is we’ve been able to develop more depth.”



Sophomore Caden Barnett is being looked to fill the right tackle position on the Cowboy offense this fall. Barnett saw his first game action as a redshirt freshman in 2022, playing in all 13 games for the Pokes and starting at right tackle for an injured Frank Crum in the win over Air Force. With Crum moving from right tackle to left tackle for this coming season, Barnett is now the heir apparent on the right side.



“He (Caden Barnett) is a really intense guy and he practices really hard,” said Bohl. “Football is important to him. He continues to improve.”



Another key returner on the offensive side of the ball is wide receiver Wyatt Wieland, who is entering his sixth year in the Wyoming Football program. Wieland is the Cowboys’ leading returning receiver in terms of catches. He caught 23 passes last season. His 299 yards is second best among all Cowboy returners -- second only to tight end Treyton Welch’s 308 yards a year ago.



“Wyatt (Wieland) has been really valuable,” said Bohl. “He’s continued to grow and mature. He’s a six-year guy. He’s one of our fastest players and he is very, very competent.”



Another member of the receiving corps that the Cowboy coaching staff is looking forward to seeing develop is tight end John Michael Gyllenborg. The now sophomore had an outstanding spring practice and because of his skill set is projected to be much more involved in the offense this coming season.



“He (Gyllenborg) just came back to practice,” said Bohl. “He was violently sick with a stomach virus. He is a player who is able to stretch the field. He has really good hands, moves well, is a weapon in the passing game and is a capable blocker.”



In the Cowboy secondary, a player who the Cowboy defensive coaches are happy to see back healthy is sophomore Buck Coors. He missed the first eight games of the ‘22 season due to injury, but returned to appear in Wyoming’s final five games. Coors was moved from nickel back to safety during 2023 spring practice.



“He’s (Coors) doing well. There are some things we can continue to look at whether we play him at nickel or safety,” said Bohl. “Last fall, he was emerging and was on a fast track and then he got hurt. I know Coach (Jay) Sawvel is real excited about him and we’re taking a hard look at integrating him.”



Veteran Cowboys Have a Sense of Urgency About Performing Well in Their Final Season

There are a number of players on the 2023 Wyoming roster who have been part of the football program for five and six years, and some of those players, like sixth year offensive tackle Crum, have talked about the sense of urgency they feel now that they are nearing the end of their college careers. Bohl was asked if he saw that sense of urgency in his veteran players.



“I think all those guys have that sense of urgency,” said Bohl. “As you get to the tail end of your career, as Frank (Crum) was recognizing, this is it. There is no option. This is my last year. You’re seeing that with some other guys like Andrew (Peasley, quarterback) and Wyatt (Wieland).



“It’s been my experience that when you have special years, your oldest, most experienced players have their best years. When you underachieve, it’s typically because those guys are kind of off the mark. Thus far the needle is pointing up with this year’s group.”



Freshmen Making the Adjustment to College Football

The Cowboy coaching staff was very pleased to bring in a large group of freshmen scholarship and walk-on players in this year’s recruiting class. Bohl was asked how he felt his freshman class was adjusting through the first five practices.



“I think that whole group is a deep group,” said Bohl. “There is good length, size, speed and focus in this class. I think the future really looks bright for a lot of those guys for a long, long time. I think they’ve really messed in well and we’re well pleased.”



Next Practice

The Cowboys will practice for the first time this fall in full pads on Tuesday morning at the North 40 practice fields.



Tickets to the 2023 Season

Fans interested in purchasing tickets to the 2023 Wyoming Football season may: go online at www.GoWyo.com/tickets; email tickets@uwyo.edu; call the UW Athletics Ticket Office at (307) 766-7220; or stop by the ticket office on the west side of UW’s Arena-Auditorium. Season tickets start as low as $170 and single-game tickets start as low as $20 for adults.

Today they put out a short interview between Kevin and Bohl. Many of the comments were "coaches speak", so I am not going to get wound up about that. At the end of the interview Kevin asked about the QB's? I love it when Bohl starts off his response with, "It is somewhat of a mixed bag..."

Can the guy ever find a QB that can throw AJ (AJ = After Josh)? Considering that Wyoming didn't recruit Josh, he just fell into their lap, it sure does tell you a lot about Bohl and his Achillies heal, the QB position. Bohl would be a much better coach if they had never designed the forward pass! If all the QB had to do was hand the ball off, we would be in great shape.

PAC Commissioner has reached out to MWC Commish. I believe this is it where it will end up for now.

I think this writer nailed it down well. Especially, regarding a P4 mouth piece reporter and his tactics as a source. What I assumed about him before I read the article.

Gillette is hosting the regional tournament and as such gets their team into the tournament. Cheyenne won the auto bid for Wyoming, winning the state tournament last week. Well here we are, Washington team is out, Idaho team is out, Colorado team is out, Oregon team is out, Arkansas team is out (I don't understand Ark) and Montana team is out.

Yissiree, Cheyenne and Gillette are playing in the championship game in an hour for the bid to the National Tournament. Not sure what either team has left in the bullpen.

I know that I don't have all the options and scenarios. --certainly not scientific.

Wow--yesterday was a big day in CFB land!

I am betting that Gloria Nevarez has been in touch with the PAC 4 equivalent. It has been reported as that having occurred and she wouldn't be doing her job if she wasn't in touch with her counterpart. It is a touchy act, because George knows he is on the way out now having a P5 conference left for dead under his regime. This is versus a MWC commissioner coming thru this recent two weeks or two months with all of her teams still under the MWC Tent.

GN's ability to reach out directly to the two NW teams may be limited by legal constraints, but common knowledge knows that she is either looking for two of the P4 teams to move or possibly trying to negotiate that her league comes into the P12. If the later is the case, the P12 moniker is saved, but alas back filled with all the MWC G5 teams, several of which may be P5 level or near P5 with a combination of many other teams with stable programs and fan bases plus AFA with a national reputation. I just cannot see a scenario that Stanford would stay, maybe Cal but if either did stay they would be always with one foot out the door.

MWC would have some warts--namely SJSU, Oregon State and Washington State will need to work to a different athletic budget, but now with the expanded playoffs in CFB they now have a legitimate chance of being that new league rep even if the auto bid is stripped away from PACWest. That was never happening, or highly infrequent, for them in the old P12. One playoff bid would certainly make them look at things differently and I suspect the payday would go far (estimated at approx $6million) to help ease some of the pain.

Given GN's history and resume ( see link below) on the west coast with the PAC 12 from 2010-2018 and with the WCC from 2018-2022 she has contacts. The 4 remaining schools were all in the league during her tenure. Connections were made and kept--it is a small world and esp in intercollegiate athletic administration. You have to appreciate the apparent close working relationship, as reported, that she has with Bohl in keeping UW on the positive side of the ledger. Not to mention her prior time at Cal as well! I just have this feeling that we have the right person at the right time.

GK with the P4 needs to go, so some type of parachute is given to him. GN is named commissioner and the MWC teams come into the fold in 2024 for the new branded PACWest conference . She is at about $800K/year and the PAC12 guy was at 1.8 million.

I don't see a scenario that they both work together, but maybe the understanding is that she takes over in a year when he parachutes away.

In the meantime for all of us, now what?

per a report this afternoon, both Arizona State and Utah have made application to the Big 12 for admission today. This gives the Big 12 sixteen members and I believe that is far as they are interested in going. Which means Wazzu and Oregon State are not part of any discussions with the Big 12. That lowering of athletic budgets will be a huge pill to swallow for these two schools. Schools that used to be getting a $30 million dollar figure each year from TV, will have to live with a lot less, period.

Laramie, Wyo. (Aug. 4, 2023) -- The Wyoming Cowboys took another step toward donning full pads early next week when they put on half pads for the first time on Friday in a morning practice on the North 40 practice fields. The addition of half pads allowed for an additional level of physicality in Friday’s practice. Wyoming will continue to practice in half pads for practices on Saturday and Monday before practicing for the first time in full pads next Tuesday, Aug. 8.



“Today was the first day of half pads and some things became really apparent to me,” said head coach Craig Bohl. “Probably not a surprise to anyone, I think we’re really strong on the defensive line. We had great push up front today and we’ve got good depth at that spot. Sabastian Harsh (defensive end) did not practice today. He’s got some soreness on the knee that had the surgery last year. We don’t think it’s anything serious, but we’re going to take a deep dive into that. I thought our defensive line, particularly the inside guys were really impressive today.”



Harsh missed the entire 2022 season after injuring his knee during fall camp a year ago. He returned healthy in the spring and was able to go through spring practices. The sophomore from Scottsbluff, Neb., is expected to strengthen a talented defensive end group that includes 2022 Honorable Mention All-Mountain West performer DeVonne Harris, who is now a junior, and sophomore Braden Siders, who was named an Honorable Mention Freshman All-American by College Football News last season.



On the offensive side of the ball, Bohl continued to praise the early play of graduate transfer wide receivers Devin Boddie Jr. from Vanderbilt and Ayir Asante from Holy Cross.



“The two transfer receivers, Devin Boddie and Ayir Asante, both of them are going to add really good value for us,” said Bohl. “We need to have more productivity on the outside, so I was pleased with that.



“It was a little bit of a mixed bag at the quarterback position today. I thought we put the ball too much in harm’s way, but I know they’re trying to push the ball downfield.”



Bohl, who is entering his 10th season leading the Cowboys making him the longest tenured head football in school history, is excited about the talent and depth on the interior of UW’s defensive line. Returning are graduate Cole Godbout at nose tackle and junior Jordan Bertagnole at defensive tackle. Both have received All-Conference recognition before and both were named 2023 Preseason All-Mountain West selections by Athlon Sports earlier this summer. Godbout returns after missing six games last year due to injury. Bertagnole returns after missing two games late in the ‘22 season. If the tandem can remain healthy they should be one of the best defensive line duos in the league.



“I think he (Cole Godbout) is in a really good place right now,” said Bohl. “That group when we look at the physical composition of how they’ve changed their bodies during the course of the summer, along with the linebackers, they had the most impressive gains. Beyond Cole, (Jordan) Bertagnole is 290 and moving well. Gavin Meyer is back. We’re looking for the fourth right now. Ben Florentine is doing some good things. Jaden Williams is doing some good things -- the older one. We’re developing more depth at that spot and if we’re strong in the heart (of the defense) I think we have a chance to make a big impact.”



Bohl made the distinction in Jaden Williams, the older one who is a redshirt freshman, due to the fact that the Cowboys have two defensive tackles with almost identical names. True freshman Jayden Williams is also a defensive tackle.



“The other guy who’s been really consistent is Kolbey Taylor (cornerback),” said Bohl. “He’s been very consistent.”



Asked if he thought the Cowboy defense could be even more effective this year with the strength of the defensive line returning combined with Wyoming’s All-Conference middle linebacker Easton Gibbs and a potential strength at cornerback with Taylor’s emergence, Bohl replied, “There is no doubt when you start to get the pieces we have in place it allows you to do more things defensively. While we’re going to be a pressure team, if you can control the front and you can play well on the perimeter at the corner position now you don’t have to pressure all the time. You can get better pass rush with your front four. We’ll see how they do as fall camp goes along, but I’m encouraged.”



In terms of whether he thinks the ability his defense showed in the spring to create interceptions has carried over into the fall, Bohl said, “A little bit. Tyrecus (Davis, cornerback) has got really good instincts and is reading routes well. It’s been good to see how he’s playing along with Kolbey (Taylor) and Jakorey (Hawkins). I think Jakorey understands better this year how to practice and what our expectations are. He can run like the wind, but now he’s putting that together with improved technique.”



A summer addition to the Wyoming roster this year was Jamari Ferrell, a running back from Saddleback Community College in Mission Viejo, Calif. When asked to describe how he and his coaching staff found Ferrell, Bohl responded, “We looked at where we were at when Harrison (Waylee) was going to have that repair (surgery) and we thought D.Q. (James) was going to be down at the beginning (of fall camp). While we felt good about where we were at with the running back position, we began to scour for more depth. What really helped us was Colin O’Brien (Cowboy tight end from Saddleback C.C.) knew him. When you take a junior-college guy, there are great finds out there but you also have to look at what type of character does he have and is he going to mesh with Wyoming. Our culture here is such now that if you’re not in tune, you’re going to stick out. He (Farrell) has been a pleasant surprise and we’re pleased to have him. I’m also encouraged by Harrison Waylee. He’s out there coaching, and I mean really coaching. He’s really into the practices.”



One of the young Wyoming natives on this year’s Cowboy team is true freshman wide receiver Kayden LaFramboise from Gillette, Wyo. When questioned about if he has seen anything good from LaFramboise early in fall camp, Bohl confirmed that the freshman has shown well in the early practices.



“He made a really good play the first day of practice,” said Bohl. “He’s tall, angular and can really run. The guy on our team from that same neck of the woods, Big Horn (Will Pelissier) has been a good, good addition to our team the last several years. It’s always encouraging for me to see guys from Wyoming have a chance to show what they can do. How he (LaFramboise) progresses is going to be important but what we’ve seen thus far has been very positive.”



Asked if he can remember back to when another Wyoming walk-on, Jordan Bertagnole, burst on the scene in his redshirt freshman season of 2020, Bohl admitted that he originally didn’t know what to expect from the young player from Casper, Wyo.



“I just knew that our strength and conditioning staff kept mentioning this Bertagnole guy,” said Bohl. “Of course he comes from a great program at Natrona County with Coach (Steve) Harshman, but all of a sudden he started showing up in practices and in games. Those are bright spots in college football. Many times as coaches we are glass half empty guys, but these types of guys give me a sense of happiness.”



Next Practice

The Cowboys will practice again on Saturday in a morning practice in half pads at the North 40 practice fields.



Tickets to the 2023 Season

Fans interested in purchasing tickets to the 2023 Wyoming Football season may: go online at www.GoWyo.com/tickets; email tickets@uwyo.edu; call the UW Athletics Ticket Office at (307) 766-7220; or stop by the ticket office on the west side of UW’s Arena-Auditorium. Season tickets start as low as $170 and single-game tickets start as low as $20 for adults.

It is officially down to 4 teams in the PAC 12. Stanford, Cal, Washington State and Oregon State.

for 4 yrs. That is awesome! I'm so happy for him.

Wyoming cross county team named MWC female scholar-athlete of the year.