Physicality, Progress and Position Battles: Fall Camp Heats Up in Laramie

Jeff Bugher
Aug 5
4 min read

Updated: Aug 6

Jay Sawvel (Spring 2025) Photo by Ian Cadena PokesNews.com Photographer

LARAMIE, Wyo. - Fall camp is in full swing. The team began practicing in full pads on Monday, marking one week into camp. The 2025 season opener in Akron is just over four weeks away. Wyoming head football coach Jay Sawvel met with the media Tuesday following practice to offer a detailed look at where the Cowboys stand.

Like we said in our last article, things are heating up.

“We have a lot of progress still to make,” Sawvel said. “But it’s been physical, and today was physical all the way through. A lot of red zone work, finished with a live goal-line set, and that part was good.”

The Cowboys are 23 days away from their Aug. 28 season opener, and Sawvel is very clear on where the team stands as of today.

“I like where we’re at on August 5th,” he said. “But we better be a lot further down the line on August 28th than where we are on August 5th.”

Defense Sorting Itself Out

In the secondary, names are beginning to emerge.

“Ian Bell has continued to be fairly steady at corner,” Sawvel said. “Tyrese [Boss] is doing a good job - physical guy, tackles well, a lot of energy. Dainsus Miller continues to show up... those would probably be the top three that would play for us right now.”

Freshman Tyson Deen is also earning praise and valuable reps.

“Tyson Deen still does a lot of good things... he’s going to get better and better and better,” Sawvel added.

But the evaluations are far from over.

“We’ve got a scrimmage on Thursday, and that’ll be big for a number of guys,” Sawvel said. “Then we scrimmage again next Thursday and after that, a lot of stuff will be set.”

He said that things can still evolve quickly, citing examples from his time at Minnesota - like NFL linebacker Blake Cashman and Antoine Winfield Jr., both of whom didn’t start early but developed rapidly into stars.

Edge Rushers: Improved Depth, Physicality

Sawvel highlighted increased depth and power along the defensive front…and that buzz word…physicality.

“Tyce Westland is doing very well. We’ll probably hold him from the scrimmage on Thursday... we know he’s going to be impactful for us,” he said.

Esaia Bogar has also stood out. “He just goes to work, doesn’t really talk... great motor, can really, really run,” said Sawvel.

Other key contributors include Peter Eyabi, Chisom Ifeanyi (transfer) and Brayden Wilson (transfer), who bring a size element “we’ve not had at that position.”

Kevin Sjogren rounds out a deep rotation. “That’s probably a pretty good place to be in when you can go that deep,” Sawvel said.

Quarterback of the Defense Emerging

Inside linebacker Ethan Stuhlsatz has started to turn a corner after a few quiet days.

“I said something to him last night — you gotta play better,” Sawvel shared. “Today, I thought he had a good day.”

Brayden Johnson, Gary Rutherford and Evan Eller, Enock Sibomana are also factoring in. “We’re talking about a room where we’ve got five guys that we feel like we could put in a game right now. I like that spot.”

Backfield Update

Sam Scott is “having a better camp than a year ago,” and Max White “shows up daily.”

True freshman Samuel "Tote" Harris is turning heads: “He made a run yesterday that we hadn’t had a guy make in five years,” Sawvel said. “Right now there would not be a plan to redshirt him.”

Special Teams and Return Game

Freshman wide receiver Deion DeBlanc will likely return punts - a surprising revelation from Sawvel.

“We will actually try to return punts at the University of Wyoming this year,” Sawvel said, half-joking. “We’ve not done that in the five years I’ve been here.”

John Michael Gyllenborg Making Noise

John Michael Gyllenborg - already on Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List” - continues to impress.

“If they happened to watch part of practice today, there would’ve been a lot of people know about him,” Sawvel said. “In about a 15-minute span he made about six catches where you’re just sitting there going, ‘OK, alright, you’re pretty good.’”

Tight Ends Bringing the Physicality

The tight end room is developing into more than just a receiving threat.

“[John Michael] Gyllenborg has gotten much better [at blocking],” Sawvel said. “Jake Wilson - I know Coach [Brian] Hendricks has said the defensive ends think he’s the best blocker of the group.”

One hit stood out: “We did a kickoff early yesterday... [Wilson] took somebody’s soul.”

No Surprise Uniform Reveals

As for uniform surprises? Don’t count on a repeat of last year’s reveal.

Sawvel said they might try to wear gold against Colorado this season… but never all-gold, too bright.

Big Picture: Sawvel’s Current Concerns

Sawvel pinpointed two primary concerns at this stage:

Defensively - overall knowledge of how to play in all situations.
How new players react when something bad happens... "You want to make sure that somebody doesn’t think they have to fix it themselves and make a bigger mistake.”

Still, Sawvel left no doubt that this team has a lot of potential if it stays on the grind.

“We’ve got work to do right now,” he said. “But I like where we’re at.”