New Wyoming football coach Craig Bohl has shown himself to be a very relaxed, yet intense individual during his recent public appearances in the Cowboy State.
However, Littleton (Colo.) defensive tackle Conner Cain did find one way to get the new Cowboy Coach fired up - commit to his program. Cain did exactly that Saturday in Bohl's office, which led to an excited reaction from the Pokes' head man.
"The meeting started off with Bohl explaining how the program will work and what the expectations are for me," Cain said. "Then it went into how much the previous staff had made a mistake in not offering me. Hearing that was pretty awesome. He told me to go home, talk to my parents and family and call me with a decision. I decided the time was right and I committed in front of my parents and Coach Bohl.
"He was pretty laid back during that meeting, but he jumped out of his chair when I committed. He was excited, pumped and ready to go. He got out of that chair pretty quickly to shake my hands and give me a hug.
Cain said the decision was a hybrid of his time with staff from the Exercise Science department as well as the opportunity he had to walk the field with his mother earlier in the day.
"I want to go in an undeclared major, but one of the majors I am considering is exercise science. Meeting with the people from that staff, their energy and attitude towards the university is what sold me that day.
"My dad was pretty surprised that I committed in Coach Bohl's office, but my mom wasn't. We were walking on the field earlier that day and I was walking with my mom about the 50-yard line and I told her, this is the right place and this is the place I want to be. She was an Eastern Washington graduate, but she thought Wyoming offered me more room to develop as a football player and a person."
Cain is a 6-foot-4, 250-pounder from Heritage High School in the Denver-area. This season he accounted for 50 tackles, 15 for a loss, six sacks. He was an All-Conference and All-State honoree for his efforts. He claims a list of scholarship offers including Eastern Washington, Northern Colorado, Montana and others.
The previous staff at the University of Wyoming failed to offer Cain a scholarship and for that reason, he chose to commit to Eastern Washington. When the new staff offered, Cain listened. On Sunday, Cain said he made the toughest phone call of his life to Eastern Washington to tell their coaching staff he wouldn't be coming to the Cheney-area in the fall.
"Actually I got off the phone with Coach Baldwin, and his reaction was more reasonable and accepting than I thought he would be," Cain said. "He is a classy guy."
Cain said his recruiting contact throughout the process with Wyoming has been Pete Kaligas, who will now be his defensive line coach at Wyoming. Kaligas has told Cain that he will likely redshirt as a freshman as they try to beef him up to 290 and play a 3 technique defensive tackle.
Conner Cain
However, Littleton (Colo.) defensive tackle Conner Cain did find one way to get the new Cowboy Coach fired up - commit to his program. Cain did exactly that Saturday in Bohl's office, which led to an excited reaction from the Pokes' head man.
"The meeting started off with Bohl explaining how the program will work and what the expectations are for me," Cain said. "Then it went into how much the previous staff had made a mistake in not offering me. Hearing that was pretty awesome. He told me to go home, talk to my parents and family and call me with a decision. I decided the time was right and I committed in front of my parents and Coach Bohl.
"He was pretty laid back during that meeting, but he jumped out of his chair when I committed. He was excited, pumped and ready to go. He got out of that chair pretty quickly to shake my hands and give me a hug.
Cain said the decision was a hybrid of his time with staff from the Exercise Science department as well as the opportunity he had to walk the field with his mother earlier in the day.
"I want to go in an undeclared major, but one of the majors I am considering is exercise science. Meeting with the people from that staff, their energy and attitude towards the university is what sold me that day.
"My dad was pretty surprised that I committed in Coach Bohl's office, but my mom wasn't. We were walking on the field earlier that day and I was walking with my mom about the 50-yard line and I told her, this is the right place and this is the place I want to be. She was an Eastern Washington graduate, but she thought Wyoming offered me more room to develop as a football player and a person."
Cain is a 6-foot-4, 250-pounder from Heritage High School in the Denver-area. This season he accounted for 50 tackles, 15 for a loss, six sacks. He was an All-Conference and All-State honoree for his efforts. He claims a list of scholarship offers including Eastern Washington, Northern Colorado, Montana and others.
The previous staff at the University of Wyoming failed to offer Cain a scholarship and for that reason, he chose to commit to Eastern Washington. When the new staff offered, Cain listened. On Sunday, Cain said he made the toughest phone call of his life to Eastern Washington to tell their coaching staff he wouldn't be coming to the Cheney-area in the fall.
"Actually I got off the phone with Coach Baldwin, and his reaction was more reasonable and accepting than I thought he would be," Cain said. "He is a classy guy."
Cain said his recruiting contact throughout the process with Wyoming has been Pete Kaligas, who will now be his defensive line coach at Wyoming. Kaligas has told Cain that he will likely redshirt as a freshman as they try to beef him up to 290 and play a 3 technique defensive tackle.
Conner Cain
