Craig Bohl, Wyoming Cowboys Head Coach

We continue this exact Yelp show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. How about Wyoming this past weekend getting a big victory in double overtime up against Texas Tech and now joining us is head coach of the Wyoming Cowboys and that of course is coach Craig Ball. Coach, congratulations, appreciate the time.

Thanks for doing this. You know what, I appreciate this relationship with CBS Sports. We've had a great partnership several years. Well, we appreciate you saying that. Let me start you off with your quarterback though, coach, because when I'm watching you guys on Saturday, Andrew Peasley is one tough quarterback. What do you see, especially the performance he was able to give? Well, you know, if you'd use the word gritty, I think that would be an understatement. I mean, he competed. There's certainly some things that he needs to improve on from the first game to the second game, but grit and determination is not one of them. You know, he was resourceful. He made several plays.

He took a lot of hits. Matter of fact, one time I went out and saw him in between timeouts and he didn't know how much more he could go. And so he reached down and certainly the last pass he threw was exceptional. We cut a through blitz right up the A gap and he delivered the strike to with John Mike for a touchdown. Yeah, that fourth and seven play.

That just defines who he is because you're absolutely right. The amount of hits he took in that game. I know that's not sustainable, but he was not afraid there, knew the game was on the line and he had to take some of the contact to go make the play.

He certainly did. I talked to him at halftime and we talked about trying to reshape our game plan a little bit and he convinced me, because coach keep on running me and I'm going to keep on taking off and he made a lot of plays. I thought our offensive line, by and large, did a good job protecting him, but you know, some good scrambles and things like that.

And then we did miss a blitz pick up when she took a heck of a shot. But he was out there practicing yesterday and he'll get himself ready to go for this week's game against Portland State. You've been around so many different kids throughout your stops in college football. His leadership skills, take me through those a little bit because you hear him taking the contact.

You hear the conversations that he's had with you. It seems like this kid is just a top-notch leader. You know, he certainly is and here's one of the, I guess, positive things about the transfer portal because we were in need of a quarterback. He was had finished up his school at the last school and even though it was in the conference, we sat down and we had a chance to get to know one another. You know, his family comes from a ranching background. He's from a smaller town.

Great work ethic. I knew the head coach who had recruited him and had had an extensive conversation and so I think the meshing of the cultures was exceptional. Last year was his first year in our system. He's certainly grown exponentially. He's a bright football geek.

I mean, he lives in a film room. We put a lot of pressure on the quarterback mentally and he's answered the bell. Coach Craig Ball here with us. So some coaches, right, it's new waters with the transfer portal and it always takes time to really adapt.

You've seen college football from so many different types of versions. Was it all tough to adapt to the transfer portal? Do you feel comfortable where you guys are at on that front or is it still a lot of work to do to kind of get the program where they need through the transfer portal?

I would not say I'm comfortable. I'm certainly maybe more adaptable than what I was, you know, the first year. I mean, it was like a bomb went off in our place and we're a developmental program. We have developed our players and so as far as going out and basically acquiring them through transfer portals was a little something outside of my wheelhouse and I can still remember like it was yesterday when Andrew and his father were sitting in my office and I felt like I was an NFL GM doing some kind of transactional agreement. You know, it was a leap of faith by both of us but our program has grown.

I think we have, you know, some real good examples of guys that we have added but the whole key for us has been to make sure that, you know, we have a great character reference. We know people that will stand on the table for these guys that we've invited in our program because I'm convinced probably the biggest reason why we beat Texas Tech was our team chemistry and our resiliency and how those guys have had each other's back. It's never easy to beat a program like Texas Tech and I have a lot of respect for Joey Maguire, what he's done in his short time there, but it's, you know, you guys were down by 17. Now when it's down 17-nothing, not many people thinking you're coming back to win that game. What does it say about the toughness really of your team and the resilience of your team to be able to beat a team like that, especially being down 17-nothing out of the gate? Well, you know what, it's interesting because at the pregame meal I gave a message on what things we were going to need to do to win the game and at the end of the first quarter I said I don't think these guys listen to me at all. We were doing everything just the opposite and, you know, through a number of years you kind of have a barometer on okay and you keep on with the same type of game plan and move forward and we were still within the margins, but at 17-down I knew that we were getting close to maybe a term inflection point that we needed to get something going and we certainly did and then we clawed our way back. Our whole goal was to take Texas Tech into the fourth quarter at home and, you know, usually when you're at home and you take an opponent on the road here at 7,200 feet, you know, we're going to come out ahead and so, but it took us to the mat. It says a lot about this football team. I'm personally excited about this team and I think the future looks bright. Yeah, what do you think this team can accomplish this year?

Because you know how it works. Before the year you get ranked where you're ranked and now you get a big victory like that and everyone's going to be talking about Wyoming and what this football team did and how they could carry throughout the rest of the season. You know, we're going to take one game at a time.

We have a mantra here called 1-0 and, you know, it was interesting a couple years ago, one of our players, I put up there 1-0 and he goes, what do you mean, coach? We've already played four games. You know, we're very focused on the next opponent and continual improvement, but we have a great the Mountain West Conference, you know, it's not by chance. Fresno is playing really well.

Some of our other clubs are playing really well and it's going to be very competitive. Our non-conference schedule is competitive as well. I mean, we opened up with Texas Tech. We have Portland State and then we play the University of Texas and then we play Appalachian State. So, quite a bit to bite off there, but I like where our team is at. And now, Coach Craig Bowl, you kind of get the double whammy because when you get a big win like that, people wonder, is there going to be a letdown?

And then you also have Texas coming up in two weeks, like you said, so then there's that fear of the look ahead. I know what you just said about 1-0, but do you kind of re-emphasize that a little bit extra this week going into Portland State after such a big victory? Well, our players know our coaching staff very well and this is not something new that that I've introduced. However, you're dealing with young men that are 18 to 22 and many times some players will start to maybe read some of their press clippings and some of the accolades that people are saying and I told them the other day it's not very far from the penthouse to the outhouse and you better be ready to go every Saturday. So, when we look at your team, clearly a great win over the weekend.

Craig Bowl head coach of Wyoming who joins us right now. Some seen as well after the game. I know it's just a frenzy with all the fan storm in the field. What's going through your mind once the game is over? You guys went in that crazy fashion in double overtime making your way to the locker room and just seeing all that unfold. Yeah, you know it's interesting because one of the referees was asking me, are you kind of nervous? And this was about three minutes left to go in the game. I said, well, no, not really.

I've done this. I mean, these are some things why you coach. I guess more than anything else, like you said, I think the rule of coach McGuire and I wanted to get across the field and shake his hand. I've been on that side when you maybe haven't played like you wanted to and there's a disappointing loss but I wanted to say hello to him and, you know, wish him the very best and then, you know, it's heartwarming to see the people in Wyoming. We only have one school in the whole state so the whole state rallies around the Cowboys and then to see the fans enjoy themselves and they're singing out there on the field. I made it into the end zone and kind of took it all in and then what was really fun though was when our players came in the locker room, we sang our school song. What did you say to your players after a game like that in the locker room?

Because that's always such a special moment coach addressing the team right after a big win like that. Well, you know what, I talked to them at halftime and I said there's two things that have kept us in this game. Our pride and our conditioning and so that kept us in that game and then I said there's going to be two things that are going to allow us to win this game. Our toughness and our togetherness and I reiterated that at the end and I think those words resonated with our players.

I was really proud of them and it was great to see them enjoy a big win. Coach, you know the moving landscape in college football. It's crazy. It's all over the place with conference realignment. When you get a game like that, a power five school up against a non-power five school, I know you always want to play your best brand of football but just not knowing what the sport's going to look like, what schools are going to be changing over the next few years, do you kind of sense a little extra pressure going into a game of that magnitude just to prove what this program Wyoming can accomplish? You know what and I appreciate you bringing up power five and whatever term. Right now there's 10 leagues and I don't know how many are going to where they're all going to go. I did know for us to play on CBS on a national stage Saturday night against a ranked opponent was going to be a great window of opportunity for us to showcase what kind of program we have and it was neat.

You know the place is sold out. Our players there's drama in the game. I knew that you know as in a baseball term I think you're a baseball guy the Ducks are on the bond and we needed to deliver and we did. Coach before we let you run just want to talk about one of your former players that I know he was enjoying the victory Josh Allen. I saw Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes were tweeting about the game back and forth so that that was fun to see. I always love stories like this right unexpected greatness and a guy that got under recruited. Take me back to the recruiting process of Josh Allen landing him to Wyoming. Yeah we had just arrived here and the head coach at Montana State now is our offensive coordinator and we had identified Josh as a junior college player outside of Fresno and watched him on tape saw an unbelievably competitive player and we we vetted who he was being recruited by. I know that Fresno State was not recruiting him and so I was flying all over the country and actually I was on a private jet trying to get out to Fresno and there was an emergency. People don't know this.

I don't know if Josh knows this. There was an emergency. We had to land in Wichita. Wow. And worked on the plane all night long and I was able to get out there the next day and walked into his home and I said listen I've traveled all around the country.

You're the one that we want. We're gonna build our program on you and mom began to break down and cry and dad was there. They're a neat family that comes from the farm and he was he was a cowboy through and through and and loves us and you know I'm sure he still rides for the brand out there and I know he was doing a lot of tweeting Saturday night. If you don't mind me asking what was the emergency trying to recruit him on the plane? Oh that there was a bear something with a pressurized cabin and so we were up real high and we had to get down and what made it a little bit more comfortable though in my previous school I was a pilot and I used to fly myself around on a small single engine so I kind of knew we were going to be okay but I don't know if Josh ever knew I said I told those guys I said we got to get out there the next day and like I said they worked on the plane all night long.

That's unbelievable. Last thing I'll ask you clearly you had confidence that Josh was going to be a really good player and you saw him before a lot of other people but when did you know that he could go on to accomplish some of the things that he already has in his young NFL career? Yeah you know I began to see some things the year before he came out. His arm strength was off the chart his competitive nature. You know I had coached against some great quarterbacks like Peyton Manning and I can go down the whole list but his arm strength was spectacular and then his ability to make plays. Now what he did the next year where some quarterbacks have chosen to come out early he came and spent another year with us and had another year in our pro style system and that really helped hone his skills. Did I think he would be great? I did. He might he's ahead of schedule I know that and I'm really proud of him and and love him and and his family and like I said he probably did more to change the the nature of our winning attitude more than anything else here. Well coach heck of a win really do appreciate you taking some time good luck good health to all your players the rest of the season and thanks so much for doing this.