Bohl

“It’s going to be a fun ride folks, strap it on because you’re going to like what you see.”

These were the last words from the podium new Wyoming head football coach Craig Bohl had for a full house at his introductory press conference held in the Wildcatter Suites Sunday evening. Bohl, who was previously the head coach at North Dakota State, brought a lot of emotion and energy to his speech at the press conference, he will be the 32nd head coach in Wyoming history.

Bohl, 55, was the head coach at North Dakota State where he compiled career record of 101-31. In his last three seasons he has lead the Bison to a record of 40-2, including 2 national championships and they are currently 12-0 and seem primed for their third straight title.

Bohl was visibly overcome with emotion when he spoke about his Bison team and the opportunity NDSU AD Gene Taylor gave him in 2003. He spoke directly to the Cowboy football team standing in the back and told them he is excited to work with them and looks forward to it. He will meet with the players tonight at 7:30.

The University of Wyoming and Bohl agreed to a 5 year contract over the weekend. He will be paid $750,000 his first year. The contract will escalate each successive year with incentives. UW Athletic Director Tom Burman said that they also added $160,000 to the assistant coaches budget, making it more than $1.3 million, as well as, $100,000 to the recruiting budget, which makes it about $258,00, a number Burman said needs to continue to grow. Burman said when it came down to it, there was only one guy for the job and is confidant Bohl can lead the Cowboys to success.

“I am absolutely confident we hired one of the best football coaches in the country,” said Burman. “ All you have to do is look at his record, including several wins of FBS programs.”

Some of the wins Burman is referring to include victories at Kansas (with a score of 6-3) in 2010, at Minnesota in 2011 (37-24), at Colorado State in 2012 (22-7), and at Kansas State in 2013 (24-21). He was 7-3 against FBS schools during his tenure at NDSU.

Bohl will coach NDSU through their playoff run. The FCS National Championship is salted for January 4th, so Bohl may not be in Laramie until after the new year. It will be important for Bohl to assemble his staff early this week, so they can get a jump on recruiting before the NCAA dead period hits on December 16th.

The players seem to be overwhelmingly excited with the hire of Bohl, and as Eddie Yarborough put it, “We’re all ready to buy in.”