LARAMIE – Jay Sawvel is not shy about the potential Wyoming's defense has.
 
The Cowboys' third-year head coach, who was previously Craig Bohl's defensive coordinator for four seasons, believes the pieces are in place for it to be the best unit in his seven years at UW.
 
"I think we can believe that," Sawvel said at the start of spring practice. "We've got a lot of work to do to get to that, but the pieces are there in order to do that."
 
That's quite a statement considering the Pokes ranked 30^th in points allowed (20.5 ppg) and 45^th in yards allowed (344.3 ypg) in 2025, despite limited offensive support in scoring and time of possession.
 
In 2023, Sawvel's defense led UW to nine wins while allowing only 22.3 points (37^th) and 357.8 yards (49^th) per game.
 
Current defensive coordinator Aaron Bohl sounded a lot like his father, longtime UW head coach Craig Bohl, when asked about Sawvel's excitement.
 
"I really don't know," Bohl said when asked how good the 2026 defense can be. "I have guesses at times but ask me about halfway through the first quarter at CSU. I've told our guys that. Honestly, you don't know how hard you play and if you're tough enough and all that stuff until you are about halfway through that first game.
 
"There is talent there but there is talent every year."
 
Some of Bohl's most talented players were out with injuries, held out to prevent injuries or given limited snaps during last Saturday's scrimmage at War Memorial Stadium.
 
The defense still dominated most of the session, which is understandable considering offensive coordinator Christian Taylor is only three weeks and nine practices into a new scheme.
 
"I was displeased with the tempo offensively," Sawvel said of the scrimmage. "We dropped way too many balls. That was poor at that part of it. We've got a lot we've got to get better at."
 
At defensive tackle, Dante Drake and Caleb Robinson will be held out of full-contact scrimmage settings until fall camp. Alex Haswell, Ja'Quan Redfern, Cody Crawford and Henry Rehberg were also out with injuries.
 
Jayden Williams, who is poised for an all-Mountain West caliber season, continued his outstanding play at defensive tackle. Sophomore Tegen Seeds of Douglas and true freshman Tanielu Maafala-Barbasa received the bulk of the reps.
 
"J.Y. is always a monster," center Jason Maciejczak, an impact Nebraska transfer, said of trying to block Williams. "He's a strong dude; he's got a low center of gravity and through (three) weeks I have noticed that he does not get knocked over. His athleticism and balance are really good."
 
At defensive end, the addition of Jack Dunkley (Duquesne) and Thaddeus Gianaris (Dartmouth) has added a wealth of experience to a room that returns senior Esaia Bogar and junior Kevin Sjogren.
 
Redshirt freshman Jason Handy and sophomore Eltoum Murgus have flashed some of their development this spring. Southern Illinois transfer Donnie Wingate and redshirt freshman Cade Brook will also be in the mix when they return from injuries.
 
"There's a lot of new faces in the room; there's a lot of new faces on both sides of the ball," defensive ends coach Brian Hendricks said. "The effort was there. We just have to now clean up the fundamentals, the assignments, but we'll be able to build from this scrimmage a lot."
 
UW's strength is at the linebacker and safety spots.
 
Ethan Stuhlsatz and Gary Rutherford are in position to pick up where Evan Eller and Brayden Johnson left off in 2025. Dash Bauman is starting to show why coaches compared him to Chad Muma as a prospect coming out of high school.
 
Parker Moore, who Sawvel has described as a "hammer," had an interception and a bone-crushing hit to highlight the scrimmage. USC transfer Anthony Beavers also planted a running back into the turf in pass coverage.
 
"Right now, I'm learning the 'backer position here, learning how Coach Bohl wants his defense played, learning more about the history of Wyoming 'backers," Beavers said. "I'm trying to play up to that standard of the guys who came before and being able to put my own twist and swagger on it."
 
Jones Thomas, a junior from Fort Collins, gained valuable experience at safety last season and is one of the leaders on defense, along with starting nickel back Desman Hearns.
 
The list of possible starters/rotation players at nickel, free safety and strong safety includes Jett Vincent, Brooklyn Cheek, Kaiden Kimble-Turner, Travis Franklin Jr. and Elvin Ampofo. Jaden DaCosta will also be a solid contributor when he gets completely healthy.
 
UW's depth has dramatically improved since the 2024 season when the secondary was derailed by injuries to Wyett Ekeler and Isaac White.
 
"You were trying to mix and match and make it work with the room (two years ago). Now you feel good about guys," safeties coach Jason Petrino said. "We played five (safeties) pretty much every game a year ago, but you also have some other guys that have stepped up."
 
The depth at linebacker and safety will also help improve the athleticism and tackling on UW's special team units, which are co-coordinated by Petrino and tight ends coach Shannon Moore.
 
The biggest area of concern on defense is the ongoing process of identifying cornerbacks capable of shining in the Sept. 5 spotlight at Colorado State.
 
Tyson Shamsid-Deen, the dynamic sophomore who will also be on the field at wide receiver this fall, is the headliner of the gifted but unproven cornerback group.
 
"I think the defensive tackle group could be solid, the defensive end group could be solid, the linebacker group could be deeper than what we were a year ago," Sawvel said. "The safety group has the body types and those types of things we've not had in quantity that way. I think a big part of it is how we play at corner, which we're a work in progress there."
 
The fourth week of spring practice starts Tuesday and will conclude with a major scrimmage on Saturday.
 
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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