Worried About the Transfer Portal? Sawvel Doesn’t Seem To Be

LARAMIE -- Jay Sawvel already has his eye on the future.

While he is still in full preparation mode for Saturday's season finale at Washington State, Wyoming's rookie head coach is itching to put this two-win season in the rear-view mirror and rebuild this roster.

That's already underway.

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Sawvel said Monday 18 prep players have already given a verbal commitment to join the program. He hopes that number reaches 23 -- en route to a grand total of "35-plus" -- on Dec. 4, the beginning of the early signing period.

He's spoken publicly about restocking the secondary. He needs a pair of linebackers, too, with Connor Shay and Shae Suiaunoa exhausting their eligibility in Pullman. Seventeen seniors played their final game inside War Memorial Stadium last Saturday night. Those guys are in the process of being replaced.

Depth issues have also hurt the Cowboys this fall. Losing both starting safeties, Isaac White and Wyett Ekler, for extended periods shined a spotlight on that.

"The rent came due," Sawvel said after a lopsided loss at North Texas.

There were other holes on the offensive line, in the backfield and on the edges of the defensive front. Wyoming's interior was decimated in last Saturday's narrow 17-13 home loss to No. 12 Boise State. Sixth-year senior Jordan Bertagnole didn't play. Caleb Robinson and Lucas Samsula have been out for the year with injuries. A guy Sawvel won't even mention by name, Gavin Meyer, bolted for USC last spring.

"I'm proud of the effort that they gave," he said of young players like Jayden Williams, Ben Florentine, Dante Drake and Jaden Williams. "And, you know, the exciting thing about it, right? The defensive-tackle group that played tonight -- they're all back."

Worried about the upcoming transfer-portal window?

While he acknowledged plans can change, failing to name too many names, Sawvel doesn't seem to be.

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Running back Harrison Waylee has told the media he will be back. So has redshirt freshman quarterback Kaden Anderson. Tight end John Michael Gyllenborg said he plans to return to Laramie next fall, too.

There are plenty of others, according to the head coach.

"As we go through position by position, there's a number of the people that we need back, will be back," Sawvel said, adding development and retention are key. "So, that's a continued thing. It's a continued dialogue. I'm in tune with what's going on, and I'll be in tune with our players.

"... There's so many people that I've already talked to and worked with that I know they're going to be back. And so this isn't something where we know that there's, 'Oh, well, this guy's going to leave.' No. I mean, our team is going to be back."

Thanks to the House vs. NCAA settlement, all FBS football programs will now be limited to just 105 players per roster. That also comes with other limitations when it comes to preferred walk-on's and revenue sharing. Sawvel, though, said he welcomes this change and already thinks the number of full-ride players can rise from 85 to possibly 95 because of "academic money."

Wyoming entered this season with 118 on the roster. The retooling and reshaping of this team is a work in progress.

"This is the last damn time that we're going to be in this type of situation," Sawvel said, referring to depth and the win-loss record. "That much, I can promise you."

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