At a packed house in the Wildcatter Suites Sunday evening, University of Wyoming Athletic Director Tom Burman announced the hiring of Craig Bohl as the 32nd head football coach at UW. Bohl receives a 5-year deal, through 2018, and is guaranteed $750,000 in his first year. The contract will escalate each year with incentives.

It took only one week for Wyoming to fill its Cowboy head football coaching vacancy.

New Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl said, "This challenge and this opportunity is something that I'm personally really excited for. This seems right, now. I've always admired Wyoming football. I always feel like it's the right match. I knew also that there's only a certain number of jobs that I'm going to be the right fit for. I'm a hard-nosed midwest guy, and when I look at Cowboy football, that's what I would think the trademark would be. It just seemed like the right fit."

Wyoming AD Tom Burman acknowledged that he only talked to two coaches about the opening. Bohl was at the top of the list. Burman also went into the process with certain standards in mind.

Burman said, "During the past 6 weeks I began developing a plan and a set of goals of what I thought the University of Wyoming needed to move us forward in our football program. Those goals are a coach who has developed a culture of toughness; a coach who has recruiting ties in a geographical region where we can be successful; a coach who has been at a high level; a coach who has recruited players to that level; a coach who has managed an entire program, dealt with all the issues of being a head coach, especially in a place where football is important; but most importantly, a coach who cares about his players and embodies the culture of his university."

Burman added that only one coach met all those criteria, and it was Bohl.

Bohl comes from North Dakota State where he's spent the last 11 seasons. His record with the Bison is 101-32, and they've won the past two FCS National Championships. NDSU is presently ranked number one with a 13-0 record. His teams are 7-3 against FBS squads and that includes wins over Colorado State in 2012 (22-7) in Fort Collins, Kansas, Kansas State and Minnesota. Prior to his head coaching stint at NDSU, Bohl was an assistant coach for 22 years, which included 11 at Nebraska.

Bohl said, "It's humbling for me to be here today. I understand the awesome responsibility to lead this football team. I also understand how important football is in the fabric of this institution and around the state. I embrace that."

Bohl also spoke about the overall concept of the Cowboy football program. "We understand that the bar is high. I appreciate the vision that Tom (Burman) has. I want to thank him for having faith in me to lead this football program. He (Tom) was able to articulate to me the vision of where our football program needs to go, and the resources that are going to be given to experience success. It was amazing the connection that we had; how we saw eye-to-eye."

Bohl's new deal at Wyoming starts at $750,000. That base is $300,00 with additional guaranteed compensation that starts at $450,000 and will increase $50,000 per year for the five years of the deal.

There are several other annual incentives as part of the deal. Those include $20,000 per Mountain West Conference victory, one month base salary for Bowl Game selection or the MW Championship. Also $25K for a Top 25 BCS finish. Then there's speaker and appearance fees, ticket incentives, academic incentives and a housing allowance.

Burman added, "It's a very different contract than we've ever done before. I want to make sure the Trustees and President McGinity are acknowledged. This contract guarantees right out of the gate $750,000. It's going to change the way we operate, but it's the right way to do business in this market."

Bohl will finish out his time for this season at North Dakota State, as the Bison are in the third round of the FCS playoffs. He will balance the two head coaching positions at present time. Bohl also referenced that some of his present staff at NDSU will be coming with him, but didn't site anyone specifically.

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