Wyoming Overhauling Defense With ‘Winnable Players’

LARAMIE -- Jay Sawvel grinned and pointed to his left at a blank white board inside the team's meeting room.

There, Wyoming's head coach said, is our defensive depth chart this spring.

"That's what it is," he continued. "It's wide open."

Get our free mobile app

Seven full-time starters are no longer with the program. Linebackers Shae Suiaunoa and Conner Shay exhausted their eligibility. So did both safeties Isaac White and Wyett Ekeler. Defensive tackle Jordan Bertagnole and edge rusher DeVonne Harris did, too.

Cornerback Tyrecus Davis hit the open market after an NCAA ruling granted any players who began their career at the junior-college level an extra year.

Rotation guys like defensive ends Braden Siders (West Virginia) and Ethan Day (North Texas), along with nose guard Jaden Williams (Kentucky), left via the transfer portal.

Sawvel knew an offseason overhaul was on the horizon.

The Cowboys former defensive coordinator mentioned numerous times last fall that a rebuild was coming. The lack of depth was also exposed early on, during a mostly forgettable 3-9 campaign, especially on that side of the ball.

"I'll admit it right now, I did not do a good enough job a year ago of making this roster resilient enough against the full load of a season," Sawvel said. "OK, we didn't have certain depth at certain positions. We didn't have enough quality throughout."

Failed recruiting classes didn't help, either.

Between 2020 and 2022, Wyoming signed 25 defensive players. Five -- defensive ends Tyce Westland and Kevin Sjogren, as well as nickelback Wrook Brown and linebackers Nic Talich and Micah Young -- remain on the roster.

Eight entered the portal, including former starters like Cam Stone, Gavin Meyer, Oluwaseyi Omotosho and Kolbey Taylor. Others never played another snap at any level.

MORE UW FOOTBALL NEWS VIA 7220SPORTS:

* Jay Sawvel: 'We will never vote for captains again'

* Are Wyoming players being tampered with? You bet, says Sawvel

* Wyoming Football: News and Notes From Traditional Signing Day

* Wyoming football puts a bow on '25 recruiting class

* Wyoming receives commitment from 2,000-yard rusher

* Defensive tackle Gabriel Ikechukwu commits to Cowboys

* Wyoming set to ink another defensive end in 2025 class

* Need any additional reasons to dislike the Chiefs?

* Wyoming Cowboys in the NFL: Divisional Round

* Some of the University of Wyoming's best have called Buffalo home

* New Wyoming linebacker eager to 'level up' to FBS

* Cowboys sign JUCO defensive end with 23 career sacks

* Jovon Bouknight named new wide receivers coach at Wyoming

* Wyoming releases Texas prep running back from NLI

* Yarborough elected to College Football Hall of Fame

* PODCAST: Breaking down offseason for Wyoming football

Sawvel and Co. began to rectify this issue immediately this winter, inking 11 transfers on defense. He secured five new veteran members of the secondary, including four safeties: Brooklyn Cheek (Cal), Jaden DeCosta (Portland State), Desman Hearns (Southern Illinois) and Justin Taylor (Wisconsin).

BJ Inmon, a cornerback from Snow College (Utah), signed with Wyoming in December.

Gary Rutherford and Dash Bauman have earned rave reviews from this staff, but neither redshirt-freshman linebacker has played on defense yet. Sawvel snagged Brayden Johnson (Oklahoma Baptist) and Ethan Stuhlsatz (Lindenwood) out of the portal.

Wyoming also solidified the edge, bringing in seniors Brayden Wilson (Weber State) and Dawan Martin (Youngstown State), along with junior Esaia Bogar (Riverside City College). Those three have accounted for 42.5 career sacks and 78 tackles for loss.

The Cowboys, as a team, finished with only 15 quarterback takedowns in 2024.

Sawvel said one of his main offseason goals was to ink a strong high school class. He thinks he did just that with the addition of 24 rookies, including 10 on defense.

"We have to increase our number of playable, winnable players," Sawvel said. "... No. 1, if a linebacker is out on the field and he doesn't do his job on a play, and he knows that you're not taking him out, OK, well, that's an issue, right? But by the same token, you get a guy out on the field and he can play a couple series, and the next thing you know, you roll someone else in that you know can do just as good a job, then you build a bigger level of engagement of everybody on the team."

With White and Ekeler sidelined last fall, offenses took full advantage of an inexperienced back end. BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff torched the Cowboys for 318 yards through the air. Chandler Morris and North Texas matched that number the following Saturday in Denton, too.

Wyoming forced just five fumbles and intercepted six passes all season, finishing No. 102 in the FBS with a turnover margin of minus-5.

Sawvel said the weaknesses were glaring last October, but in the moment, was unable to address depth issues within the program. He said that won't happen again.

"We can't be playing 12 defensive players or 14 defensive players, we have to be playing like 20," he continued. "We weren't close to that a year ago. That's why it's a wide-open thing. It's really not a wide-open thing to find just 11 guys, It's a wide-open thing to find 22 who can really help us and help us win. That's the biggest thing that's got to happen."

Spring practice is set to begin March 25 in Laramie.

Returning defensive players in '25

S - Andrew Johnson*

S/N - Malique Singleton*

S - Bleyne Bryant

S - David Leonard

S - Lafai Purcell

S - Jones Thomas

S - Jevon Davis

N - Wrook Brown*

DT - Dante Drake*

DT - Ben Florentine*

DT - Lucas Samsula

DE - Kevin Sjogren

DE - Tyce Westland*

DE - Sabastian Harsh*

DE - Eltoum Murgus

DE - Jordan Turnbull

LB - Jack Harvey

LB - Evan Eller

LB - Gary Rutherford

LB - Dash Bauman

LB - Adrian Onyiego

CB - Keany Parks*

CB - Markie Grant

CB - Tyrese Boss

CB - Isaac Sell

CB - Charles Williams

CB - Ian Bell*

CB - Caleb Merritt

DB - Drew Jackson

DB - Joaquin Sandoval

* Have started at least one game on defense

(All players subject to change after spring practice)

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players