LARAMIE – There was a roar and then relief on Dec. 6 inside the High Altitude Performance Center.
 
The Cowboys gathered in the team room where they learned head coach Craig Bohl was retiring after 10 seasons at Wyoming.
 
After a few nervous moments it was also announced that athletics director Tom Burman was promoting defensive coordinator Jay Sawvel to lead the program.
 
UW's safeties, the position group Sawvel coached since 2020, were the happiest players of all.
 
"With the team knowing who Jay is and what kind of personality he is, I felt like moving from Coach Bohl to Sawvel has been a huge lift," senior free safety Wyett Ekeler said of the internal hire. "Because not knowing your coach off the bat, that's a lot to handle. We've all been behind Sawvel. He has been a great influence on us, he's been hyping us up and getting us ready. It has been a great transition going from one head coach to another.
 
"He's doing a great job, too. I can't ask him to do anything better."
 
Sawvel hired Jason Petrino as the new safeties coach. The veteran assistant previously worked for Joe Glenn (2003-04 and 2008) and Dave Christensen (2009) at UW and was North Dakota State's defensive coordinator last season.
 
Petrino inherited three established starters in Ekeler, strong safety Isaac White and nickel back Wrook Brown. The back end of the Pokes' defense should be one of the strengths of the team this season.
 
"The three of those guys have played a lot of snaps, and I'm pretty honest with them that I learn just as much about the defense from them as they learn from me because they've been in it and played very well," Petrino said. "Coach Sawvel did a great job getting them prepped and ready. So, as I come in, a lot of it is learning to be with everyone else and working through some things and talking about what I see through my eyes.
 
"There's an appreciation from me for sure in terms of what I'm learning from them. Hopefully there's some things I can share to give them another perspective about the position and what to look for and finding some clues about the (opposing) offense."
 
During Saturday's practice, the fourth of fall camp, the secondary was under the microscope during several periods with Sawvel, Petrino and cornerbacks coach Benny Boyd all barking at the group from behind the play.
 
Ekeler was in constant communication with his teammates. White made a couple outstanding plays on the ball to deny tight end John Michael Gyllenborg and wide receiver Justin Stevenson catches. Brown was also locked in and receiving kudos from the coaches.
 
There is some talented depth behind the trio as well with Cheyenne's Andrew Johnson poised for more playing time.
 
"Andrew has to be a guy," Petrino said. "You go through the first half of the spring he was around the ball a lot. Second half we used him in different areas. Andrew is so smart that he understands the defense just as well as the other guys. He just hasn't had the reps those three have, but we need him to step up."
 
Sophomore safety Koa McIntyre and sophomore nickel Malique Singleton are also competing to be in the rotation this fall.
 
Jones Thomas has made impressive strides in Eric Donoval's strength and conditioning program since arriving on campus a year ago. The 6-foot-2, 197-pound redshirt freshman from Fort Collins was clocked at 22 mph by the GPS tracking device this summer.
 
"I didn't expect to come in here and be one of the top-10 fastest guys because I wasn't in high school. I wasn't as fast as I am now," Thomas said. "Just the development and what Coach E has done with his program has really helped me. I give a lot of credit to him for that."
 
Thomas said he is still "learning football" after only executing four basic coverages during his standout prep career at Poudre High School. After a mistake on Saturday, Sawvel shouted: "Prove to me that you will not give up touchdowns."
 
"He's got the measurables you like with his length and speed," Petrino said of Thomas. "For him it's just getting comfortable within the defense and transitioning from play to play, call to call, and how he handles that mental."
 
The long-term future at safety is bright. True freshman David Leonard had a pick-six on Saturday and classmate Bleyne Bryant was also impressive during summer workouts.
 
But right now, the unit is led by Ekeler, who went from 197 to 210 pounds this offseason and is preparing for what could be an all-Mountain West senior season.
 
"No. 1, he's a great athlete. It's always easy to appreciate a guy who has tremendous athletic skills," Sawvel said of Ekeler. "The other part to it is he's an easy guy to get engaged in terms of he's got a button you can push. You can get on him about certain things. He'll take coaching, he'll take hard coaching, but he likes to respond to challenges, he likes to compete and that has obviously helped him develop a lot. He has turned into a really good player and in large part an underrated player."
 
The Cowboys will be off the field Sunday before grinding through six consecutive practices next week.
 
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