LARAMIE – Jay Sawvel's defenses have done most of the heavy lifting during his six seasons at Wyoming.
 
When the Cowboys won nine games in 2023, a memorable campaign started with an upset of Texas Tech and ended with Craig Bohl retiring with a 16-15 victory over Toledo in the Arizona Bowl, the offense ranked 80^th in the FBS in scoring (25.3 ppg) and 105^th in total yards (327.0 ypg).
 
Since Sawvel was elevated from defensive coordinator to head coach, UW averaged 19.3 points (123^rd) and 327.3 yards (119^th) in 2024 and 16.0 points (131^st) and 314.7 yards (122^nd) in 2025.
 
Shortly after last season's finale in sunny Honolulu, Sawvel was on the long snowy journey to Buffalo, N.Y., determined to land a new offensive coordinator to provide the program with the balance necessary to compete for a Mountain West championship.
 
Christian Taylor, an offensive advisor and defensive assistant for the Buffalo Bills the last two seasons, will be calling the plays when UW opens spring practice on Tuesday.
 
"Based on what I see on a day-by-day basis, (fans) are going to like this football team," Sawvel said. "This is going to be a substantially better offense than what they've seen here the last several years, which is a big deal."
 
Taylor, who has Josh Allen's stamp of approval, understands turning UW's offense around begins with consistent, dynamic quarterback play. But that doesn't mean the Pokes won't have a physical running attack.
 
Allen was the NFL's most valuable player in 2024. Taylor also watched No. 17 benefit from the league's top rushing attack in 2025.
 
"When people go against us, and people watch us, they're going to feel us play," Taylor said of his plan for UW's offense. "I want people to see and feel the physicality, the toughness and grit that we're going to play with. We've got to be a two-dimensional offense. We have to be elite in the run and in the pass game. Once you're a one-dimensional offense, it's too easy to defend."
 
Graduate transfer Tyler Hughes, who was recruited to William & Mary by Taylor, will compete with Mason Drube for the starting quarterback spot this spring.
 
Landon Sims is still recovering from a knee injury and is expected to be back on the field for fall camp. Gage Brook, a 6-foot-4, 231-pound junior quarterback, will be getting a look at tight end this spring. Incoming freshman Taylor Hasselbeck, whose father Tim and uncle Matt were longtime NFL quarterbacks, will arrive on campus this summer.
 
"Everybody is excited to see this play out in the spring. Tyler is very mature; Tyler is very invested," Sawvel said. "You have to run the guy out of the building. I left here a few weeks ago on a Friday night at 7 o'clock and the lights were on in the stadium and there's Tyler Hughes out there with people on the field.
 
"I think there's a leadership component that he's going to make everybody else step up to from that standpoint. There's obviously a talent component that he has that is different than anybody else that we've had. He's very fast and he completed 67% of his passes last year."
 
Hughes provides UW with a dangerous dual-threat game that has been missing at the position in recent years. The 6-0, 200-pound senior passed for 2,330 yards with 20 touchdowns and three interceptions and rushed for 670 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.
 
Drube, the 6-3, 218-pound redshirt freshman from Gillette, appeared in three games last season, passing for 187 yards with no touchdowns and one interception in limited action.
 
Sims, who was only 6-for-8 passing for 38 yards and a touchdown but rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, appeared to be on the verge of supplanting Kaden Anderson as the starter before getting injured at San Diego State.
 
"We know quarterback is the most important position on the field," Sawvel said of the search for an elite signal caller. "We've got to get to the point where we go into games where you can look at it and say the checkmark at that position goes to us."
 
UW's quarterbacks will be working with some skill players who check off a lot of boxes.
 
Samuel "Tote" Harris, the team's top returning rusher, headlines the revamped running backs room. Transfers Markell Holman (Western Illinois) and Diore Hubbard (West Virginia) add experienced depth.
 
Deion DeBlanc, Jackson Holman, Eric Richardson and Charlie Coenen are the top returning wide receivers. Redshirt freshman Ke'Lyn Washom and Division II transfer Justin Popovich (Lock Haven) are expected to have a big impact this season.
 
Sawvel said standout cornerback Tyson Shamsid-Deen will also be in some packages as a receiver again in the fall.
 
The tight end group has its own versatile chess pieces for Taylor to attack with, including 6-5, 260-pound senior Isaac Schoenfeld and talented youngsters Kyle Frendt (6-5, 222), Jake Wilson (6-5, 245) and Landon Pace (6-3, 248).
 
"It's really hard to tackle in space," Taylor said. "I was part of hours and hours of defensive conversations (with the Bills) of, 'How do you tackle guys in space?' It's hard. So, whatever we can do, however many ways we have to do it to get those athletes in space, that'll help us as an offense."
 
Sawvel credited a more robust revenue sharing pot for allowing UW to bolster the offensive line by signing Jason Maciejczak (Nebraska), Chandler Donaway (East Texas A&M) and Jeremiah Katt (Northern Arizona) out of the portal.
 
Starting tackles Rex Johnsen (left) and Braylon Jenkins (right) are back to anchor the unit. Giovanni Panozzo, Johnathan Bush, Caleb Hall and Quinn Grovesteen-Matchey are among the developing offensive linemen ready to push to start or for key roles in the rotation.
 
"This is the best offensive line competition that we will have had since I've been here," Sawvel said. "Now with that there's got to be leadership emerge."
 
Sawvel, who already has an emerging coaching star in defensive coordinator Aaron Bohl, is confident Taylor will provide a spark on the other side of the ball.
 
UW's defense ranked 30^th in points allowed (20.5 ppg) and 45^th in yards allowed (344.3 ypg) despite the offense finishing 114^th in time of possession (28:21) last season.
 
If the Cowboys take the next step this fall, it won't be because the formula changed entirely. It will be because the offense does its part. For a program built on defense and toughness, the next evolution isn't abandoning that identity, it's complementing it with an attack that can keep pace when it matters most.
 
"Trying to manage my time based on trying to be present to all three phases of the game, it took away some of the things that I do best. Now with Christian Taylor and that situation (on offense) I can focus on things that I do best," Sawvel said. "There's a resolve in this program that we've got to be much better than what we've been. That's with everything from a coaching standpoint, that's how we've operated this entire offseason."
 
UW will have 14 spring practices before the annual Brown & Gold Game April 25 at War Memorial Stadium.
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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