Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel addressed the media last week to kick off Spring Football. The hot topic was the recent departures of running back Harrison Waylee and defensive end Sabastian Harsh as they entered the transfer portal within hours of each other on the same day. While the moves may have surprised fans, Sawvel was not caught off guard by the news.
"Number one, caught off guard—no," Sawvel stated. "I kind of got smoke signals in January about Harsh… we ended up taking three transfer defensive ends. I had a concern there, we went ahead and just went full throttle with the position and added another when we had already had two. I don't feel like I was unprepared for that."
While Harsh’s departure was somewhat sensed and or expected, Waylee’s decision wasn't as set in stone as sensed by the coaching staff.
"Waylee at the start of the spring wasn't something that was on my radar. You start to get different things, different directions. You know, so it is what it is on that. There's been an All-Conference running back each of the last two years that people have found in the spring portal. We already had a goal of obtaining another running back in the spring portal. That doesn't change our path. Now we were going to do that whether he was here or he wasn't," Sawvel stated.
Many fans expressed outrage and frustration after Waylee’s portal announcement, especially about Wyoming preserving Waylee’s redshirt last season following his injury.
Sawvell stated, "I wouldn’t have changed the outcome of what we did. First of all, the guy played when he was ready to play last year. It wasn’t like he was ready to play two weeks before that and we just truly held him out. He wasn’t ready to play until he played last year."
Sawvel also spoke about the ongoing challenges posed by the transfer portal era and third-party influences on players.
"The biggest key that we've got to do is hold on to the rest of the people that we've got. There is one other in there that I think could happen, but that is more of a family situation with an illness type of thing going on. So if that does happen, that's a completely different situation. Right now, we have a core group of people that I’m really excited about, and we’ll progress with that," Sawvel continued.
"The problem in today's world is that every day, one of the players that we need heavily in this program checks his inbox, and it's flooded with third-party crap about 'We can get you this, we can get you that,'" Sawvel said. "What we've done to college football by allowing all the third-party access is awful. I don't know where along the line we ever thought this would be a good idea," Sawve continued.
Sawvell has repeatedly mentioned that several top-performing players have been getting hammered via direct messages from agents who gloat about opportunities at other programs with promises of riches at the other end of the rainbow. For those who have stayed... even with constant offers, these players have true dedication and commitment to the Wyoming program. Sure, some players may need to move on as that's what’s best for them, but it's essential to realize that Wyoming has also gained from the transfer portal.
Sawvel and Wyoming are focused on building depth at key positions, particularly the running back position.
"We’ve been riding around here with six scholarship running backs since I’ve been here. We’re going to keep that at eight now going forward. The reason is, I don’t want ever to get short at that position. Running a football needs to be foundational to what we do," Sawvel said.
As Wyoming transitions into spring practices on March 25th, Sawvel remains focused on strengthening the team and ensuring player development stays on track. With a strong leadership group in place and a committed core of players, the Cowboys are looking to move forward despite recent departures.
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