Old stomping grounds

LARAMIE – In the fall of 1985, a gallon of gas might cost
you roughly $1.12.

Dire Strait’s hit song “Money for nothing” might have been blaring
out of the tape deck of your Ford Escort.

The drive-in movie was most likely playing Back to the
Future, the Goonies or The Breakfast Club.

That same September, a 26-year-old linebackers coach named Craig Bohl was starting his first season at the University of Tulsa.

He had hair, too.

Well, sort of.

Bohl will roam the sidelines of what was once known as
Skelly Field for the first time in more than 34 years Saturday when Wyoming
travels south to take on the Golden Hurricane.

The trip brings back memories for the Cowboys’ head coach.

“I can date myself a little bit, I can tell you this, it was
no video tape, it was 16 mm film,” Bohl joked Monday during his weekly press
conference. “The guy who filmed it was a daytime plumber. They are probably in
a much better position right now. I am looking forward to coming back.”

Bohl coached two seasons in Tulsa under head coach, Don Morton. The Golden Hurricane won a Missouri Valley Conference title in their first season. The following year, Tulsa left the conference and went independent. They finished the season 7-4.

Bohl was on staff with another young coach named Lovie Smith. You might have heard of him. He coached the Chicago Bears and is now the head man at the University of Illinois.

Tulsa's basketball program had a young assistant named Tom Izzo, too, though he was only there for seven weeks before returning to Michigan State.

Bohl smiled when he thought about how different those days
were.

“We painted the steps and we hung ceiling tile in the
players’ locker room,” he said. “The stadium changed and has really been
updated since that time.”

After the 1986 season, Bohl once again followed Morton, this
time to the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Bohl has been back in the Tulsa area since.

“I’ve had the pleasure and gone down a couple of times
recruiting,” Bohl said. “It was interesting. I walked across campus and went
through their stadium.

“It was a great two years there.”