Alex Taylor: Taylor Enjoy your much-deserved Manhattan, coach Bohl

Dec. 9—This year's Arizona Bowl will decide if Craig Bohl leaves Laramie with a record above or below .500.

Bohl sits at 60-60 overall since being hired to coach the University of Wyoming football team in 2014. The Cowboys' matchup with Toledo on Dec. 30 in Tucson will be Bohl's last game after he announced Wednesday his plans to retire after the bowl game.

Bohl will leave UW having never won a Mountain West championship, losing his only title game appearance to San Diego State at home in 2016. His road record with the Cowboys sits at 19-39 through his 10 seasons in Laramie, and 20-41 when accounting for bowl games.

Head coaches are judged and graded by numbers, and Bohl's don't exactly jump off the page. He won three Football Championship Subdivision championships in his 11 seasons at North Dakota State, but he never brought that same success to the Cowboys.

At least, not on the surface.

Bohl is the longest-tenured head football coach in UW history, and his era will come to an end later this month. It would be foolish, though, not to give Bohl the credit he deserves for building and maintaining a winning culture over the past decade in Laramie.

In 2014, Bohl took over a program that had 10 losing seasons out of 14 since the turn of the century. After building an FCS powerhouse at NDSU, Bohl struggled in his first two seasons in the MW, going a combined 6-18, including a 2-10 mark in his second season.

Athletics director Tom Burman stuck it out with Bohl through the early hardships, and Bohl rewarded him with an 8-6 season the following year. The Cowboys made it to the MW title game in Bohl's third season, and the commander-in-chief won MW coach of the year in the process.

"I think some schools are into this new flavor of the month, and they're not going to give a coach an opportunity," Bohl said last month. "If you remember, the first two years that we were here were rough. They were rough. We worked through that.

"There was a time at NDSU — there was a 3-8 year in there. You're going to have some bumps like that, but I want to say, athletic directors now are not so much like Tom Burman. Whether they're listening to outside (noise) and things like that — I think Tom looks at the comprehensive package and says, 'OK, where are we at as a program, and what are we doing?'"

Bohl never reached the MW title game again over the next seven seasons, but he did establish a sense of consistency the Cowboys hadn't experienced in decades. UW had five winning seasons over the past six years, excluding the COVID-condensed 2020 campaign. All five of those winning seasons featured at least seven wins, including this year's mark of 8-4 going into the Arizona Bowl.

The Cowboys will have the opportunity to earn their ninth win in a season for the first time since Joe Tiller's squad in 1996. How poetic is it that the feat would push Bohl's overall record at UW over .500?

"As I began to look at this team, and I look at where we're at, I think we're in a really good place — a really good place," Bohl said during Wednesday's news conference. "I also think it's time for new leadership. I think it's time for new leadership to elevate our program to a higher level.

"We play in a great conference, and there's great challenges and opportunities out there, so, I met with (Burman), and I said, 'You know what, Tom, I think my time and my tenure — I really need to ride off into the sunset after this last bowl game, and you're going to be charged with finding my replacement.'"

I've covered UW football since October of last year, and I still don't think Bohl knows my name. Surely, there were times where you could see smoke rise out of his ears after a tough question, but Bohl always fielded the question with honesty, something a lot of coaches don't do.

Bohl has changed the game of college football for the better, and not just as a coach. He took immense pride in graduating his players, which is somewhat of a lost art in today's sports culture.

"I understand that we're in a competitive arena, and we want to win every one of our games and win our conference championship," Bohl said last month. "In the midst of all the things that have transpired in college football, you're looking at a head coach that's been here 21 years as a head football coach, and my No. 1 responsibility, I feel, is to make sure that a guy graduates with a meaningful degree.

"That goes counterculture to everything you're probably hearing and seeing. I'm not going to waiver on that. ... I'm an old-school guy. I've evolved some, but when we start losing the academic mission and the scholastic model of college football, I think we are misguided."

Bohl also served as the president of the American Football Coaches Association last season and has served on the same committee's board of trustees. He was appointed to the 13-member NCAA Division I Football Competition Committee in 2017 and also served on the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee.

"We have a great game," Bohl said. "College football right now has never been more popular. The TV ratings are through the roof. You saw us break home attendance records. We are in a great state, and I've never been more optimistic on where college football is."

Bohl will leave Laramie having left a legacy centered around loyalty and a dedication to his players. While he never won the big game for the Cowboys, he deserves to be celebrated as he rides into retirement later this month.

"We damn sure want to win every game," Bohl said. "We'll think about some of the highs and lows of these wins and losses, but what we'll most cherish is the opportunity to have the chance to mentor and develop young men."

Enjoy that Manhattan, coach. You deserve it.

Alex Taylor is the assistant editor for WyoSports and covers University of Wyoming athletics. He can be reached at ataylor@wyosports.net. Follow him on X at @alex_m_taylor22.