Cowboys drop Monroe, add New Mexico St.
By AUSTIN WARD
Star-Tribune staff writer
Thursday, December 6, 2007 2:04 AM MST
At least one hole is filled.
While the search for an offensive coordinator continues, Wyoming has reached an agreement to clear up its scheduling woes and the void left by Syracuse's buyout of its trip to Laramie.
The Cowboys could finalize a home-and-home series starting at New Mexico State next fall as early as Friday, dropping a trip to Louisiana-Monroe without sacrificing any host dates or forking over any extra cash.
"The biggest thing is I needed to get a game in 2009 to replace Syracuse," UW athletic director Tom Burman said. "The easiest way to do that is to start on the road, so that's why I had to clear up that 2008 date with Louisiana-Monroe so I could get on the road next year to bring somebody back here in '09.
"We're basically on the same page (with New Mexico State) and just settling the financial issues, but until we sign the contract there's always a chance that somebody's going to call them and say do you want to get paid and go to Texas. Then they'd go to Texas, and I'm still scrambling."
The Cowboys are also reportedly closing in on former Florida A&M assistant Bob Cole to replace fired offensive coordinator Bill Cockhill, but the Syracuse scramble is over for all intents and purposes. Aggies program coordinator Greg Harrod confirmed that the deal is essentially signed if not sealed and delivered.
New Mexico State had been searching for a I-A opponent to complete its schedule next fall, though there weren't many takers willing to sign up to start on the road.
"I think it's a done deal," Harrod said. "Just the usual signing here and doing this and doing that. We had to do some clarifications, but (Burman) agreed to sign and I'm pretty sure that (New Mexico State athletic director) Dr. McKinley Boston agreed to as well.
"We'd actually been looking for quite a while, and we had a few nibbles, but most schools wouldn't agree to come to us first. Wyoming really helped us out a lot by saying they would."
The Cowboys didn't really have much choice, though the deal hardly could have worked out much better.
They didn't have to exchange any money to get out of the Louisiana-Monroe game since neither team wanted to play the other and the schools made a "mutual decision to just go away," according to Burman.
And they cleaned up the Syracuse mess and allowed Burman to put the phone down for a while.
"This was our best-case scenario," he said. "You're talking about a handful of teams across the country that met the hole in my schedule in '08 and would come back here.
"It took hundreds of phone calls. I've called everybody. It's really difficult when you're talking about something that's just a year away, and it's just very difficult to get somebody to come to Laramie. More than anything, it's just logistics."
The teams were also logical partners geographically and based on the frequent partnerships between the Western Athletic and Mountain West Conference, and everybody's set to get what they want out of this deal.
"It's good to get a solid, quality I-A school early," Harrod said. "We've been playing a lot of I-AAs.
"I think coach (Hal) Mumme just likes the idea of bringing in a good I-A school and maybe having a little more familiarity with this area, and Wyoming might be a little better draw than some I-AA school that nobody's ever heard of. Wyoming has a pretty good following, so we're hoping they'll bring some fans and all our fans will recognize Wyoming."
Which might fill yet another void.
Contact sports reporter Austin Ward at (307) 266-0634 or
[email protected]
UW Tracker
ONE DOWN: Wyoming addressed one offseason issue, reaching an agreement for a home-and-home series with New Mexico State beginning next fall in Las Cruces. The Aggies would fill the 2009 vacancy in Laramie left by Syracuse.
ONE TO GO: The Cowboys are also reportedly closer to filling their other need, targeting former Florida A&M offensive coordinator Bob Cole to replace Bill Cockhill in the same capacity.
SCHEDULE SHAKEDOWN: UW had to drop its scheduled trip to Louisiana-Monroe next fall to accommodate the series, but both parties were willing to cancel the game.
2008 Non-conference schedule
Aug. 30 Ohio
Sept. 13 at New Mexico State
Sept. 20 Bowling Green
Nov. 8 at Tennessee
2009 Non-conference schedule
Sept. 5 Weber State
Sept. 12 New Mexico State
Sept. 19 at Colorado
Oct. 3 at Bowling Green
