LARAMIE – Michael Jordan played every night with something like road rage.

That's how Pulitzer Prize winning journalist J.R. Moehringer once described the six-time NBA champion's ability to use anger as motivation throughout his legendary run with the Chicago Bulls.

There has been a similar vibe inside the High Altitude Performance Center since players reconvened six weeks ago for Wyoming's winter strength and conditioning program.

The Cowboys are focused on making every second count on the journey to the 2025 season, but last year's 3-9 finish added a river of gasoline to the fire.

 

"Listen, all of us are pissed," said Eric Donoval, UW football's director of sports performance. "There's not a person in this building that isn't pissed off. Now, that was 2024 and we can use that to our advantage this year to learn where we made some mistakes, where we need to get better – that bad taste in their mouth can be a good thing moving forward and we can use it.

"Nobody wants to be 3-9, don't get me wrong. But that's what it was, and we need to use that as fuel to get that bad taste out of our mouth on a daily basis. And (players) come in with a business-like approach, they work their tails off, they're doing an incredible job so far. They are hungry."

Donoval sets the standard with each team be reemphasizing the "non-negotiables" that form the roots of his program – ownership and accountability, relentless effort and toughness, pursuit of improvement, detailed and disciplined, consistency and process oriented.

UW returns a list of key veteran players who have the Cowboy tough culture ingrained in them.

Head coach Jay Sawvel announced the signing of 40 new players – 16 transfers and 24 high school prospects – during the recruiting cycle to improve the competition and depth at every position.

All the transfers and two early enrollees from the prep ranks have been getting acclimated to life at 7,220 feet since the start of the spring semester.

 

Donoval laid out the non-negotiables at a team meeting and has been pleased with the new collection of Cowboys.

"They have seamlessly fit into the Wyoming culture, embraced it, conformed to it immediately and have added value to our culture and standards," Donoval said. "All of them across the board, it's a really good group."

Linebackers Brayden Johnson (Oklahoma Baptist) and Ethan Stuhlsatz (Lindenwood), despite transferring up from the Division II and FCS levels, respectively, have made strong impressions with the staff.

Johnson, who was listed at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds when he signed, is already up to 243 pounds and benching 315 pounds 10 reps at a time. The 6-4 Stuhlsatz is up from 222 to 239 pounds and ran a 0.96-second fly 10 sprint this week.

"The two linebackers came in ready to roll," Donoval said.

The offensive line, coached by respected assistant Joe Tripodi, has been setting the tone this winter as expected. Jack Walsh, who will move to center during spring practice, has elite leadership skills. Caden Barnett remains a vocal leader and is also leading by example during workouts.

Donoval has also been impressed with junior guards Rex Johnsen and Wes King, as well as redshirt freshmen Giovanni Panozzo and Braylon Jenkins.

"Gio is 301 pounds now. I think he was 260 last year. Rex Johnsen, who got some decent playing time last fall, was playing at 288, 290 and is now 307. Caden Barnett is 321 and he is running better than he has ever run," Donoval said. "Braylon Jenkins is having an incredible offseason, a level of maturity and consistency we haven't seen out of him. He's 307. Wes King is absolutely destroying everything in front of him right now. …

"That's to be expected when you have leaders like Caden Barnett, Jack Walsh, Wes King. You've got some seasoned vets that are holding a standard within their room as well. I think the world of Coach Tripodi and the job he does as well – he is a big reason the offensive line upholds the standard and works the way they work."

Two players in a position to have big seasons, senior Jaylen Sargent and sophomore Chris Durr Jr., are leading the wide receivers. Bricen Brantley, a 6-3 sophomore, has added eight pounds to his frame since last season.

Deion DeBlanc, who enrolled early after a spectacular prep career at North Shore High in Houston, is not acting like a teenager who could be thinking about senior prom.

"He's just a professional already," Donoval said. "I mean, he goes to bed at 8:30 every night, he eats when he's supposed to eat, he has put on about 10 to 12 pounds already and he was our fastest guy on the team in (Thursday's) morning workout already. He comes in with an attitude to get better every single day."

Mason Drube, the other early enrollee from Gillette, is also quickly earning the respect of the coaches and players. The touted quarterback recruit from Campbell County stopped by Donoval's office to learn more about nutrition.

"I'm really happy Mason Drube is here," Donoval said. "He's competitive, he wants to work and learn, and he has a good confidence about him."

Kaden Anderson, who will enter the spring as the favorite to win the coveted QB1 job, has improved dramatically in the weight room since limping into the program two years after suffering two torn ACLs at Texas powerhouse Southlake Carroll.

In nine appearances last season, Anderson completed 58.3% of his passes for 955 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. Life behind center figures to be a little easier this fall given the experience of the offensive line and the return of running back Sam Scott in the backfield and dynamic tight end John Michael Gyllenborg.

"I couldn't be prouder of Kaden, and I tell him every day," Donoval said. "I see him on some of the speed days and when we're jumping and sprinting, and I remember what he looked like when he first got here when he was limited, and he was restricted. He couldn't sprint and he had a brace on his knee with zero quad definition. I see him now at 230 pounds and running well and I tell him how proud I am because he's turning into a very good athlete."

In addition to working with so many new players, Donoval hired four new assistant strength coaches during the offseason – Andrew Shirek Espinoza, Victor Evans, Gaines Jordan and Robert Marco.

"Whenever I hire assistants, I want high character guys that are going to form very good relationships with the players and hold a strong line of accountability and create buy in within their 10 feet with their group that they're working with," Donoval said. "These four guys are seasoned coaches. All of them come highly recommended by people that I trust in this profession, so just like our transfers they have seamlessly transitioned into this program."

 

Sawvel was determined to reshape the roster with players who prioritized football. He called high school recruits on Sunday after their teams had lost under the Friday night lights to see what they did on Saturday.

"If I have a guy that tells me he was in the tank and he didn't want to go anywhere, I want that guy," Sawvel explained during his February signing day press conference. "If a guy tells me he went with some friends and went out that night, I don't want that guy."

Brayden Wilson, a dominant defensive end at Weber State, reached out to Sawvel and the staff to see if he could finish his career by riding for the brand. The 6-5, 255-pound graduate transfer was unfazed by a transportation issue when the temperatures in Laramie plummeted below zero shortly after his arrival.

"His car door was froze, he couldn't open it to come to a 6:30 (a.m.) run," Sawvel recalled while citing Wilson as an example of the type of football-crazed student-athletes he was seeking. "The number of guys that would have tried to call in, make an excuse … he Rocky Balboa's it across Laramie for a little over a mile to get here on time for the run."

Wilson will fit right in with a defensive ends group led by Tyce Westland, who are in the best shape of their careers. Sophomore Jordan Turnbull, who weighed 201 pounds when he first stepped on campus, is turning heads this winter at 247 pounds.

Donoval was also smiling after noticing Keany Parks, the talented running back turned cornerback, doing a yoga session with an instructor over Facetime after Wednesday's workout.

Ownership and accountability. Relentless effort and toughness. Pursuit of improvement. Detailed and disciplined. Consistency and process oriented.

"The program takes care of itself," said Donoval, who is in his sixth year in the director of sports performance position and eighth year overall at UW. "Laying down a standard of operation and then holding them to that standard on a moment-to-moment basis has been really important. …

"There are no fancy cute sayings. Here's the standards, here's the non-negotiables and we're going to uphold it every single day, every single rep. There's nothing fancy about it. Just hard work, that's all it is."

The Cowboys begin spring practice on March 25. The Saturday practices will be open to the public, including the spring game on April 26.

If you are interested in learning more about NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) or would like to support our student-athletes, please visit 1wyo.org. 1WYO was created out of Wyoming's culture of neighbor helping neighbor. The mission is to promote and strengthen local charitable organizations and develop Wyoming student athletes. 
 
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