What Feels Different About This Wyoming Football Team in ’26?

LAS VEGAS, Nev., -- The question, aimed at graduate-transfer quarterback Tyler Hughes, revolved around his leadership skills and whether or not he is the type to get on a teammate for not living up to standards set in the program.

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Left tackle Rex Johnsen all but answered for him, eyebrows raised, and a simple shake of the head in agreement.

"Absolutely," Hughes said with a grin. "I will always be a guy that will push you to be the best that you can be. That's not even just a football player, it's as a person, because I'd want you to do that for me. If you catch me slacking, call my bluff. I'd hope you want me to do that for you, too, push you to the best person that you can be.

"That was one of the things that I addressed as soon as I got here."

That, in a nutshell, his teammates say, is part of what has makes 2026 different from year's past.

Each July, Wyoming players sit behind the podium at Mountain West Media Days in their brown-and-gold polo shirts and spew the company line: "Things are the best they've ever been, the team is focused, we will win."

When pressed this year, the answers went more in-depth.

Direction and guidance within the group, especially from the most-important positions, is one of those changes. Peer-to-peer, accountability, Ethan Stuhlsatz added, has pointed everyone toward the same goal.

"We're in the summer, we get to do player-led seven-on-seven (drills) and some smaller walkthroughs, and the vibes are just completely different," said the presumed starting middle linebacker, who arrived from Lindenwood in the winter of 2025. "The competitiveness. We're getting on each other -- offense and defense -- we're not friends out there, even in the littlest of things. That really happened in spring ball, a lot. It got intense, but with that energy, it just feels different.

"... We're just trusting each other and creating bonds. We had a lot of new pieces last year -- and a few more this year -- but I feel like everyone's clicked."

Stuhlsatz was quick to dispel the notion that the culture was "broken" last fall. He said that foundation is just being built upon.

Jayden Williams, sitting directly to his left inside the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, agrees wholeheartedly.

"I just think that the camaraderie this year is just so much more welded," the 300-pound junior defensive tackle said. "It's just so different. Not to sound cliché or anything, I really truly believe that this team this year is changed."

Wyoming's defense technically returns just two starters: nickelback Desman Hearns and free safety Jones Thomas.

Jay Sawvel isn't buying that for a second, saying arguably the biggest offseason acquisitions were already on the roster. In the trenches, the team suffered two major losses in summer conditioning last season. Veterans Dante Drake and Caleb Robinson were both lost for the year with a torn Achilles tendon.

Edge rusher Esaia Bogar was on the field for 200 defensive snaps. Stuhlsatz, 268. Brooklyn Cheek got 91 snaps out of the secondary. Linebacker Gary Rutherford capped 2025 at 69.

Williams was a workhorse on the line, racking up 366 snaps.

Jack Dunkley (Duquesne), Thaddeus Gianaris (Dartmouth) and Donnie Wingate (Southern Illinois) were all starters at their previous stops, too.

"We don't have a defensive end that would trot out for us right now that plays under 250 pounds," Wyoming's third-year head coach said. "We've never had that before."

On the other side of the ball, Sawvel continued, tight end Jake Wilson is back in the fold after missing all of '25 with a freak knee ailment. He figures to be a major contributor to a new-look offense, orchestrated by new coordinator Christian Taylor.

While the defense ranked No. 45 overall in the nation when the dust settled, the offense was once again abysmal, averaging just 16 points per game, which was the worst production in the Mountain West Conference.

What is Sawvel looking forward to most from his new scheme?

"Scoring points," he said, bluntly.

Johnsen is no different. In fact, he raved about the new offense and is loving the early results. As far as an improved atmosphere, coming off a disappointing 4-8 campaign, the senior from Iowa realizes the fan base has heard it all before.

He assures you, though, this isn't the same ol' Cowboys.

"Team chemistry," he added. "This group feels way more closer. We're all hanging out a lot more. We have played paintball together, we're watching film together. It's just all the little things we're doing together now. I think just doing that has made us come so much closer.

"Practice is way more juiced up now. We're just so much more competitive. I know me and JY (Williams) will get into it all the time in practice, but then we'll love each other after. So I think that's always great. It just shows how competitive dudes are."

Wyoming is set to begin fall camp in Laramie on Aug. 5, exactly one month from the season opener at Colorado State.

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