top of page
Search

Wyoming Cowboy Football Kicks Off Spring Practices Tuesday Ahead of April 25 Spring Game

Jay Sawvel. Photo by Troy Babbitt, UW Athletics
Jay Sawvel. Photo by Troy Babbitt, UW Athletics

LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Wyoming Cowboys open spring practice on Tuesday afternoon, as it is the first of 15 practices which will finish with the annual Spring Game inside War Memorial Stadium on April 25.

From The Head Coach


"We measure everything. We measure so many different metrics and outputs … and we were ahead of where we were last July in February in a number of different metrics," Sawvel said. "That's a really good sign because you're not even to summer training and that cycle yet, let alone finishing out (spring). Being ahead of that in all these different areas is a good sign right now. It won't take you long to see it will be a completely different mode of operation," Sawvel said. "Which is very needed and something I knew very early last year that the vision of what I wanted us to be and where we were was not matching up."

Head coach Jay Sawvel enters his third season with a solid mix of returners and newcomers. Wyoming returns eight total starters with four on offense, two on defense and two on special teams. Wyoming welcomes back 32 total letterwinners with many key contributors on each side of the ball. The Pokes also have 41 newcomers to the roster with 20 transfers and six true freshmen ready to make an impact in the spring.

 


New Coaches on Cowboy Staff

Head football coach Jay Sawvel welcomes a trio of new coaches to the staff for the 2026 campaign, which includes offensive coordinator Christian Taylor, cornerbacks coach JB Hall, and defensive assistant Abe Roehrich.

Taylor comes to Wyoming after spending the last two seasons on staff with the Buffalo Bills and will serve as offensive coordinator for UW. This past season, he served as an offensive advisor and defensive assistant for the Bills. He has 16 years of collegiate coaching experience and has spent two seasons in the NFL. Taylor helped lead his programs to multiple NCAA Playoff appearances, including a trip to the FCS semifinals, he mentored 11 All-Americans, four Walter Payton Award Finalists and 24 all-conference standouts highlighted by at least one first-team all-league selection every year.

Prior to his time with the Bills, Taylor was the offensive coordinator at his alma mater William & Mary from 2020 to 2023. He was named the 2023 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Assistant Coach of the Year. He was also an FCS Coordinator of the Year finalist.

Hall comes to Wyoming after pending the last two seasons at Northern Colorado. He will serve as an assistant coach and coach the cornerbacks for the Brown and Gold. He brings over 10 years of collegiate coaching experience and spent the last two seasons at Northern Colorado.

In 2025, Hall contributed to a Northern Colorado defense that showed clear, measurable improvement across multiple statistical categories. The Bears improved in nearly every defensive metric. He played a direct role in the development of safety Cam Chapa, who was as one of the top defensive backs in the FCS. Under Hall's guidance, Chapa earned FCS Football Central Freshman All-America honors and All-Big Sky honors.

Roehrich enters his first season as a defensive assistant for the Cowboys. He comes to Wyoming after spending time at Minnesota State Moorhead from 2019 to 2025 serving as defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator.


He helped lead the Dragon defense that allowed only 179 yards through the air in 2025 in one of the nation's top NCAA Division II Conferences in the Northern Sun. His 2024 special team unit ranked third in the nation in blocked punts n 2024. His unit also led the conference in kick return yards in 2022 and his punting unit ranked fourth in the NSIC in net punting in 2023.

Spring Football Clinic on April 11

Head Coach Jay Sawvel and the Cowboy Football team will host a Youth Clinic on April 11. The event is free and open to all kids ages 6-12. More information on how to register and the time of the event will be released in the coming days.

Season Tickets

Renewals for your 2026 football season tickets are now available. You may renew online by visiting www.gowyo.com/tickets and logging in to your account, or by using this link.

Quick Notes

• Third-year head coach Jay Sawvel returns some key veterans on both sides of the ball. Sawvel also added 41 players during the signing period, with 20 of those being transfers from all levels of college football.

• The Cowboys return four starters on the offensive side of the ball, with two of those being talented offensive linemen in tackles Rex Johnsen and Braylon Jenkins. Other returners include leading rusher Samuel "Tote" Harris and wide receiver Eric Richardson. Wide receiver Dion DeBlanc also returns after seeing extensive action alongside fellow true freshman Harris last season.

• Wyoming welcomes back two starters on defense, along with a host of key contributors. Safety Jones Thomas had 57 tackles a season ago, along with a pair of interceptions. Nickel Desman Hearns added 35 tackles and five pass breakups, as he also tied for the team lead with Jones in interceptions.

• The Cowboys have experience at kicker with Erik Sandvik, along with punter Bart Edmiston, who added 46.1 yards per punt last season. Deion DeBlanc earned Second Team All-MW honors at punt returner by Phil Steele.

• Sawvel and the Cowboys ranked second in the nation last season in Red Zone Defense at .688. Only Ohio State ranked higher than the Cowboys.

• The Pokes allowed only 175.5 yards passing per game, a number that ranked No. 14 in the nation.

• Wyoming also ranked in the top-20 nationally on defense, allowing only 220 first downs on the season, a number that ranked No. 17.


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



X (formerly known as Twitter): https://x.com/Pokes_News

bottom of page