.png){kind=logo}
A Players-Only Meeting, No Phones and a New Standard for Wyoming
Updated: Sep 28
LARAMIE, Wyo. - Wyoming spent the first three weeks of the season searching for consistency and answers. The last seven days have been spent in self-reflection across the team.
What changed?
Connection.
The week following a 24-10 loss at Central Michigan included challenges from head coach Jay Sawvel, conversations between coaches and players, a players-only meeting, and changes to Wyoming's pregame routine.
Article Continues Below
Article Continues Below
“We weren't connected enough. We weren't playing for the love of playing with our teammates. We found that today,” Sawvel said.
The difference showed up on the field. Wyoming finished with 387 yards of offense, rushed for 183, didn't turn the ball over, and held Hawai‘i to 10 points. The Cowboys also came up with a fourth-down stop near their own goal line in the third quarter before answering with a 99-yard touchdown drive.
You could also see the changes visually. No more “fair catches.” On running plays, they put in extra effort to gain more yardage. The team wasn’t lethargic when heading onto the field. The team did everything with intent on Saturday.
The players had a players-only meeting earlier in the week.
“I feel like it just brought the team closer together and made us feel more connected and want to go out there and play for each other and do it for the guy next to us,” safety Jones Thomas said.
Jones said the team also used the players' meeting to set a new standard amongst themselves. Players spoke up and established what they wanted to see.
“Before this week, there wasn't a clear defined standard for this year,” Jones said. “We touched on that, and from that day on - everybody just played to that standard and held that.”
Linebacker Steven Perez also said the emphasis throughout the week was playing for each other.
“We had [a] players meeting, and we all just came together as one, as a family, as a unit,” Perez said. “I'd say the biggest emphasis on today's game was we played for each other every play.”
Another change came in the locker room. Players approached Sawvel about eliminating cell phones before games. Instead of sitting with headphones and scrolling through social media, the Cowboys played music over a “giant” speaker and spent the time together.
Quarterback Tyler Hughes said putting the phones away helped Wyoming focus on itself rather than everything being said outside the program.
“When you're on your phones, it's easy to let the outside noise creep in,” Hughes said. “Just play for your brother and don't worry about everything else because opinions you can't satisfy everybody. Just go play your game and play for your brother and Cowboy football.”
Sawvel said the changes were noticeable all week.
“There was a completely different feel,” Sawvel said. “I could tell you on Wednesday after practice that this was a completely different football team. I could have told you on Thursday that this was a completely different football team. I could have told you this morning that these guys couldn't wait to play.”
Running back Samuel “Tote” Harris also felt the change.
“Everything was just very energized today,” Harris said. “I feel like we did great in that area, just kind of connecting with each other more before the game and kind of building that brotherhood a little more.”
For the offense, the difference was consistency versus not firing on all cylinders. There were flashes over the last three weeks, but they couldn’t be sustained.
“We felt like the past three weeks we would do two good things and a bad thing,” Hughes said. “Today we just put it together and we played a consistent football game.”
Sawvel isn't declaring that one victory means Wyoming has everything figured out.
“I'm not sitting here saying, oh yeah, we're turning some big corner,” Sawvel said. “We'll go back to work tomorrow. Try to get better.”
The team will be busy preparing to face a strong North Dakota State University Bison football team on October 3rd in Fargo. A team that is currently 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play. The Bison will be well-rested, coming off their bye week.
But today is a day to see achievement and connection. “Everybody knows on the team [that] we have a lot of talent and we just hadn't put it all together - and went out and played a complete game yet on both sides of the ball,” Jones said. “I think we did that today.”
Editor's Note: This article has been updated for clarity. The sentence, “Jones said Wyoming also used the week to set a new standard,” was revised to: “Jones said the team also used the players' meeting to set a new standard amongst themselves. Players spoke up and established what they wanted to see.”
Don't forget to sign up for our email list, and follow us on our socials!
Subscribe to receive our newsletter here (no spam, we promise): Subscribe
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pokesnews
X (formerly known as Twitter): https://x.com/Pokes_News
