Bohl prepping for ‘special’ meeting with longtime assistant

LARAMIE -- When it comes to the game itself, Craig Bohl said familiarity between the coaching staffs likely won't decide the outcome.

When it comes to the first handshake inside War Memorial Stadium with longtime assistant and first-year Montana State head coach, Brent Vigen, well, that's an entirely different story.

"I think the pregame, you know -- that's hard to describe," an emotional Bohl said Thursday evening after practice in Laramie. "It's special."

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Vigen was the Cowboys' offensive coordinator for the first seven years of Bohl's tenure on the high plains. Before that, the duo helped bring three consecutive national championships to North Dakota State.

In their 11 years together in Fargo, the Bison posted a record of 104-32. At Wyoming, they introduced the world to Josh Allen and led the Cowboys to a Mountain West Championship game in 2016.

"You know, Brent Vigen is like a brother or son to me," Bohl said. "Molly (Vigen) has the same birthday that I do. I'm really happy for them, but I'm sure Brent would say the same thing -- it's about our players."

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While this relationship will dominate the headlines leading up to Wyoming's season opener Sept. 4 against the Bobcats in Laramie, Bohl reiterated this meeting will not hinge on one staff outsmarting the other.

"They're familiar with us," he said. "There's a lot of common themes ... We are familiar with them, but I mean, Brent coached Sean (Chambers) for I don't know how many years. They know all the nuances of where were at. It should be a heck of a ballgame."

Wyoming's new offensive coordinator, Tim Polasek, also coached with Vigen at NDSU from 2006-13. Gordie Haug, the Cowboys' running backs coach, also spent the 2012 and '13 seasons in Fargo with Vigen.

Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game can be seen on the Mountain West Network or on Facebook.