Laramie, Wyo. (March 30, 2023) -- Wyoming Football is back in action, kicking off Spring Football this week. The 2023 Cowboys return a team full of veterans from a squad that finished second in the Mountain West Mountain Division in 2022 and earned its fifth bowl-game appearance in the past seven seasons.
Entering 2023 Spring Drills is far from where the Cowboys were a year ago when Wyoming was the fourth least experienced team in the country but exceeded all expectations. Wyoming was the surprise team of the Mountain West, being picked fifth in the Mountain Division in the preseason media poll before finishing second.
A year ago, the Wyoming Cowboys entered Spring Football returning only 10 of 24 starters . A year later, UW enters the first week of spring practice returninig 18 of 24 starters.
“It’s a fun time. It’s great to be out at practice,” said head coach
Craig Bohl. “Our football team made some really good gains in the offseason. It’s always interesting when we have a debriefing with our strength and conditioning staff and go through the gains from winter conditioning. But a lot of times there is a difference between what has gone on in the weight room and how our guys translate when they get on the grass.
“I was encouraged by some of the things we saw this week. We’re a little bit thin at some spots. We’re probably not as deep at the offensive line right now because of some off-season surgeries. But we were able to rotate with three quarterbacks working on Tuesday.
“We’re taking a hard look at
Evan Svoboda (sophomore, quarterback). I thought he did some good things today. Our transfer,
Harrison (Waylee, junior, running back) from NIU has also showed some good things. Overall, it was a good first day, but we’ve got a whole lot more to go.”
When asked what areas of his team he was most focused on this spring, Bohl said, “First of all at the quarterback position, we’ve got to have continual progress there. We want to see
Andrew (Peasley, graduate, quarterback) take another step forward as far as mastering our offense. Last year, a lot of things were new for him. He’s a bright guy, but it was his first year in our system. I think we’ve really got to zero in on who our back-up will be (at quarterback). Certainly the running back position is going to be important, and then some of our linebackers are injured right now so it’s an opportunity for some younger guys to show what they can do. And then that corner position is really important for us. I was encouraged by some things
Kolbey (Taylor, sophomore, cornerback) did today. He is a long angular guy. I think we have good competition there.”
Bohl was asked what he specifically saw from Svoboda in Tuesday’s first practice of spring.
“Today, I saw him be much more sure of himself with his throws. His accuracy has improved. I thought he was better handling the huddle today, and he was more decisive.”
Another young quarterback who signed with the Wyoming Football program in the 2023 signing class and enrolled early at UW this January was true freshman
Kaden Anderson. Anderson suffered a season-ending injury his senior year of high school at Southlake Carroll High School in Southlake, Texas, and is still rehabbing that injury at Wyoming. Southlake Carroll has produced several successful Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) quarterbacks in recent history, including: current Texas Longhorn starter
Quinn Ewers, who was Anderson’s predecessor and was the No. 1 recruit in the nation.
Chase Daniel (University of Missouri),
Craig McElroy (University of Alabama) and
Kenny Hill (Texas A&M and TCU) were all former Southlake QBs who went on to successful college careers.
“He (Kaden Anderson) is a very mature young man. I had a really transparent conversation with him and his mother, said Bohl. “We felt that it was best for him to get here, go through an offseason and spend time with our sports medicine staff. The other thought was to not have him come now, delay his enrollment, which could save him a year, but we felt like his healing is going to be really important this year. Also, this system we have, with complex terminology and all the moving parts, we felt like it was important for him to be in those meetings this year. But make no mistake about it, you’re not going to see him running around during next fall camp doing activities at the beginning.”
At running back, the Cowboys return two experienced and talented backs in junior
Dawaiian McNeely and sophomore
D.Q. James plus they’ve added an experienced transfer in junior
Harrison Waylee from Northern Illinois and sophomore
Jordon Vaughn returns after playing well in last season’s Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl, giving the Pokes a wealth of talent.
“If you look at our track record in the past, we’ve ideally liked to have a 1-2 punch,” said Bohl. “Sometimes during the course of the year because of the number of hits those guys take, the depth at that position is really important. That position is going to be heavily looked at. Dawaiian (McNeely, junior, running back) was able to practice today, but I think he is going to miss some practices this spring. They are going to take a plate out, but we were in non-contact drills today and it was good to see him move around. He’s put on some lean muscle mass. I think he’s up to about 210 pounds. He’s always been a powerful guy, but he’s been a little undersized. That position in our offense, as you know, is a critical position. We’ve got to be able to move the sticks. It will be fun to see those guys progress this spring.”
The Cowboys have only one change on their coaching staff from the end of last season. Long-time coach
Marty English decided to retire after 37 years as a college coach -- 12 of those years spent coaching at Wyoming. His role as Wyoming’s defensive ends coach has been filled by former Cowboy great
Brian Hendricks, who was a former player of English’s during his playing career from 2008-11. Hendricks will be entering his 11th season as a college coach in 2023. He most recently was the defensive line coach at Illinois State.
“It’s been a really good transtion,” said Bohl. “I love Marty (English) and applaud him for being transparent with me and saying, ‘It’s time. I know it’s time.’ “We started looking to see where we wanted to go from here, and of course Brian had played here for Coach English and was a two-time captain here. Anytime we have an opportunity to bring back a skilled coach who understands the culture here, we’re going to do that. Coach English and Brian had a chance to spend some time together during the transition, and opposed to some other changeovers where maybe the young guy doesn’t want to hear a thing from the old guy, with those two it has been seamless.”
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