flyfishwyo
Well-known member
It’s time for the annual “Fire coach xxxx,” posts so I thought I’d throw this out there. Over the years I’ve been keeping a mental note of all the things fans imply they want in their Wyoming head football coach. Keep in mind this isn’t my personal list, just what I see on message boards and social media and hear from fans. I added some info on how Bohl has performed to each item. I made every attempt to be accurate, but not necessarily objective. They’re in rough order of how often I hear/see each one.
Please feel free to pick it apart or share your list.
What Wyoming fans want from a Head Ball Coach:
Win – He’s 45-49 overall, and 28-34 in conference play. 3 winning seasons and 2 .500 seasons in 8 years. Nearly the same W-L record as CSU during that time frame.
Beat CSU – 5-3 against the Sheep. A 4 year winning streak contributed to getting Mike Bobo fired as CSU’s head coach.
Likeability/Not an *hole – One a 1-10 scale, where Dave Christensen is a 1 and Joe Glenn is 10, I’d say he’s a 7 or 8. He’s always been welcoming when I’ve met him, but his press conferences are starting to be a little prickly. This one tends to be all over the board.
Compete for a conference championship every 3-4 years – Wyoming played for 1 MWC championship during his tenure.
A culture that reflects Wyoming. Hard-nosed, Cowboy tough – They run the football, hit hard on defense, and play a physical style of football. I’ve only seen one instance where I thought the team gave up at the end of a game. Generally, they play hard until the last whistle.
Respectability. Run a clean program – It’s squeaky clean. No hint of recruiting improprieties or NCAA violations. A few players have gotten in trouble, but that’s to be expected when dealing with 18 to 24 year old young adults. It seems like players are held to a high standard. No blow-ups like the Christensen Howdy Doody incident or Glenn flipping off the opposing coach. Bohl is respected by his peers and serves on the NCAA Rules Committee.
Recruit Wyoming players – He’s done that, and they can earn their way onto the field. There are 12 WY players on the roster this year (about half are walk-ons). Bertagnole, Crum, Harris, Baker, Driskill and Christensen all see significant playing time. Logan Wilson, Donte Crow, Ben Wisdorf, Josh Harshman, and Austin Fort were all contributors during their time here. Bohl seems to do a good job of keeping legacy players in the program (Muma), and recruits kids who’s parents have a history with him as a coach (Dewey). Both show that parents trust him. Critics will point out that he didn’t get Taven Bryan (Florida) or Tevis Bartlett (Washington).
Play in bowl games – Bohl has us in a bowl for the 4th time in 8 years. They were eligible another time and didn’t get selected. They won 2 of 3, losing only to BwYnerU. I’ll also note that a bunch of fans would prefer if we saved money and stayed home when we’re 6-6.
Beat Autonomous 5 opponents – He’s 1-8 against the Autonomous 5. I don’t think fans expect us to win many of those games, but we need an occasional W.
Put players in the NFL – In 2021, we started the season with more players on active rosters than anyone else in the MWC. After a few moves, Boise holds that spot. There are 10 Cowboys (I’m including Rollier even though he’s injured) playing. Bohl recruited 5 of them and coached 8 (Gipson and Purcell were already in the league when Bohl came to Wyoming). Throw in a few that played for a while or are on practice squads: Maluia, Fort, Hall, Gafford, Gentry, Hill, and Mayfield. And there are more coming (Muma…).
Stay – For some reason, I’ve seen Wyoming fans FREAK OUT if a coach is mentioned for another job. It hasn’t happened in a long time, but the few times it has we act like it’s the end of the world. We complain incessantly while they’re here and complain again when they leave (see Average Joe Tiller). Just a warning, Jeff Linder isn’t staying here long. Enjoy it now.
Please feel free to pick it apart or share your list.
What Wyoming fans want from a Head Ball Coach:
Win – He’s 45-49 overall, and 28-34 in conference play. 3 winning seasons and 2 .500 seasons in 8 years. Nearly the same W-L record as CSU during that time frame.
Beat CSU – 5-3 against the Sheep. A 4 year winning streak contributed to getting Mike Bobo fired as CSU’s head coach.
Likeability/Not an *hole – One a 1-10 scale, where Dave Christensen is a 1 and Joe Glenn is 10, I’d say he’s a 7 or 8. He’s always been welcoming when I’ve met him, but his press conferences are starting to be a little prickly. This one tends to be all over the board.
Compete for a conference championship every 3-4 years – Wyoming played for 1 MWC championship during his tenure.
A culture that reflects Wyoming. Hard-nosed, Cowboy tough – They run the football, hit hard on defense, and play a physical style of football. I’ve only seen one instance where I thought the team gave up at the end of a game. Generally, they play hard until the last whistle.
Respectability. Run a clean program – It’s squeaky clean. No hint of recruiting improprieties or NCAA violations. A few players have gotten in trouble, but that’s to be expected when dealing with 18 to 24 year old young adults. It seems like players are held to a high standard. No blow-ups like the Christensen Howdy Doody incident or Glenn flipping off the opposing coach. Bohl is respected by his peers and serves on the NCAA Rules Committee.
Recruit Wyoming players – He’s done that, and they can earn their way onto the field. There are 12 WY players on the roster this year (about half are walk-ons). Bertagnole, Crum, Harris, Baker, Driskill and Christensen all see significant playing time. Logan Wilson, Donte Crow, Ben Wisdorf, Josh Harshman, and Austin Fort were all contributors during their time here. Bohl seems to do a good job of keeping legacy players in the program (Muma), and recruits kids who’s parents have a history with him as a coach (Dewey). Both show that parents trust him. Critics will point out that he didn’t get Taven Bryan (Florida) or Tevis Bartlett (Washington).
Play in bowl games – Bohl has us in a bowl for the 4th time in 8 years. They were eligible another time and didn’t get selected. They won 2 of 3, losing only to BwYnerU. I’ll also note that a bunch of fans would prefer if we saved money and stayed home when we’re 6-6.
Beat Autonomous 5 opponents – He’s 1-8 against the Autonomous 5. I don’t think fans expect us to win many of those games, but we need an occasional W.
Put players in the NFL – In 2021, we started the season with more players on active rosters than anyone else in the MWC. After a few moves, Boise holds that spot. There are 10 Cowboys (I’m including Rollier even though he’s injured) playing. Bohl recruited 5 of them and coached 8 (Gipson and Purcell were already in the league when Bohl came to Wyoming). Throw in a few that played for a while or are on practice squads: Maluia, Fort, Hall, Gafford, Gentry, Hill, and Mayfield. And there are more coming (Muma…).
Stay – For some reason, I’ve seen Wyoming fans FREAK OUT if a coach is mentioned for another job. It hasn’t happened in a long time, but the few times it has we act like it’s the end of the world. We complain incessantly while they’re here and complain again when they leave (see Average Joe Tiller). Just a warning, Jeff Linder isn’t staying here long. Enjoy it now.
