Thanks for continuing this convo....
I understand that the "AFA WR problem" is a feature of thier program but it applies here because Wyoming, as you have pointed out, became as one-dimensional as AFA even while not really having much success.
You mention UNM as "..the perfect example of a program Wyoming could be with the right leadership". I want to ask about that specifically. In your opinion, would this represent the ceiling of what Wyoming could achieve going forward? I ask because this does seem achievable but it fills me with depression. It doesn't get me pumped up to be a fiesty upstart whose best players (and let's be honest, coaches) leave every year. For one...It just doesn't seem sustainable. Time will tell, but I think the fraction of players who are truly difference makers that will stay when the $$ elsewhere is just so much better is tiny.....Like guys from Wyoming would be the only ones I can imagine staying.
I think I've come to the place where I do believe that the best that can be done at Wyo, is a version of what you describe....and I don't think you have to squint too hard to see that was what we had with Bohl. I know he's not everybody's cup of tea...and I definitely don't want him on the mount Rushmore of Wyoming coaches. He wasn't perfect but he did create talent and there was a reputation of toughness where his players were held to account. Sorry to go wide with a discussion that was supposed to be mostly about WR and the lack of talent there....
More than anything it is hard for me as an old timer to completely grasp how college ball has morphed into an uncontrolled free agency market. The way it was until the past few years created an opportunity for a program like Wyoming a certain level of access to equality. That was then but this is now. I can get depressed thinking about what could be if we ever had a long term tenure of a Fred Akers/Pat Dye/ Dennis Erickson type under the old rules. Those guys knew how to sell a program to a prospect and brought immediate improvement with a single recruiting class. But it’s a new world so let’s figure out how to maximize playing the new recruiting game with our resources.
In my opinion Sawful is a can’t do better glass half empty type resistant to try anything different. He is a stick with the concept that might work if this was 1999 and the program could wait 2-3 years to see if the desired results occur. Our AD is also in this mode. They fear the portal!
Yes - I do believe acceptance of a rotating door of the best available players may bring a cycle of great seasons followed by disappointing seasons is the future world a program like Wyoming lives in. We can put enough money on the table with the right leadership to play the yearly recruiting game with the majority of the G level conference programs.
I no longer subscribe to the “development” mode at UW. There are some players that will fit into the development model and used wisely it can pay dividends. It just can’t be the primary model. If a program like Wyoming can get 24 starter level players (by starter I mean starter at a winning G conference program level) and then have as the 2-3 deep players who have been in the system who aren’t weak but maybe just not at the level that makes other winning G conference level programs as interested and to a lesser extent a P level program.
What I am saying is that I feel UNM is doing exactly what I am trying to describe. UNLV is definitely doing it and has substantial resources to do it better than UNM. Hawaii has better resources $$ wise but despite being a tropical island they have facilities and travel challenges. AFA has the allure of a career for guys that are pretty good athletes who are realistic enough to accept they are not NFL material. I really can’t think of too many resounding positives SJSU, UTEP, NIU and Nevada bring. Even NDSU has limitations but at least they have been committed to every attempt possible to win. The last NDSU coach that I have heard the Bison fans I know glad to depart with was named Craig Bohl because they felt he was on the verge of holding the program back with an ultra conservative (not political) approach.
Wyoming needs to focus primarily on a variation of AFA type long term players and get as many players that could be P4 caliber but fell through the cracks along with the outstanding not recruited player with a chip on their shoulder and an axe to grind. If we can get a combination of these type of players to make up a 2 deep roster and coach them properly we can be a solid G level winner.
If Wyoming is an NIL revolving door of success as a good farm team then so be it. If I can’t keep up with the names because they are gone as soon as they are here but the end result is 7-10 wins consistently I will be excited for my chosen team.
If every 3 years we have a new head coach big whoopie doo! I believe the don’t let anything change model is more detrimental for Wyoming than the stepping stone farm team revolving door would be. The don’t change a thing mindset is what has the state of Wyoming and many of the municipalities have a pull the drawbridge up approach which keeps them in flyover country mode.
How sustainable acceptance of a revolving door is difficult to answer. All I can say is the don’t change a thing if at all possible approach currently in use at UW is definitely not sustainable. 2026 is the first year of a more significant use of the portal at UW forced by the changing landscape. It was used IMO - reluctantly - making it difficult for me to think the Wyoming program is adapting to the environment in a way to position for improvement.
