Q&A With Wyoming Offensive Coordinator Jay Johnson

LARAMIE -- Newly installed starter Payton Thorne threw for 3,240 yards and 27 touchdowns during the 2021 season.

Kenneth Walker, the eventual Doak Walker Award recipient, added 1,636 rushing yards and 18 more scores.

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Michigan State averaged nearly 32 points per game that fall. The offense rolled up 429.3 yards per outing. Explosive plays were the norm in East Lansing. Nine touchdowns came from at least 50 yards out. Fourteen of Thorne's scoring tosses came 20-plus yards from the goal line.

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Eleven Spartans garnered All-Big Ten honors. Three of those skill players -- Jalen Nailor, Connor Heyward and Walker -- heard their name called at the NFL Draft.

Jay Johnson orchestrated all of that.

"What Jay does that I am most excited about is he's always been a coach that emphasizes balance," Wyoming's rookie head coach Jay Sawvel said about his new play caller back in February. "The year that he was a Broyles finalist (a postseason award given to the nation's top assistant coach), they had a back run for nearly 1,700 yards and they threw it for 250 a game. That is balance. That's why they won 11 games.

"You have the ability to do multiple things and, if one thing doesn't work, the whole train doesn't come off the track. That's what we have to be really good with."

7220sports.com sat down Monday with the Cowboys new offensive coordinator. Here's what we learned:

Q: Three-plus weeks in, thoughts on the offense and where do you need to see the most improvement?

A: I feel like we're progressing at a really good pace. You know, obviously, with some transitional things that occur when there's a little bit of new stuff that we worked on in the spring that we've built on that and worked on that. I guess the thing that I'm seeing now is, now we're stepping back again with installing all that. Details. Details have to improve. Just the minor things. You get to that point in camp where you have a lot in, they have a lot in, and it's really challenging. You have more than you'll ever take into a game. So it's challenging for the guys. Now we're coming down on that so I really expect that detail to improve.

Q: So, in other words, you're probably excited for Thursday when you can actually focus on an opponent?

A: Yeah, because right now you're just trying to get things looked at, installed and, you know, giving guys opportunities to do different things. That will be a good change for us.

Q: We've been hearing about maybe some inconsistencies when it comes to Evan Svoboda so far this offseason. How do you fix that and is he a guy who maybe just turns it on when the lights come on?

A: I don't really think you can turn it on when the lights come on. I think you always have to fall back to your training. You know, he works really hard at that. So, yeah, you know, he's in a different role than he's ever been in. So, sure, there's been some inconsistencies. But I'm not concerned about it because of the way he comes to work every day. It just comes by doing things over and over and over and I think we really started to make some really good progress last week. So now I'm looking forward to -- you know, we have another week-and-a-half or two weeks before we truly start playing -- can he continue to make that climb, because he's done some good things.

Q: No Harrison Waylee right now. Are you worried?

A: You know, obviously you take a young man of that caliber out, that certainly changes your dimension a little bit. But at the same token, I really feel good about that room. You know, coach Gordie (Haug) has those guys going. You know, with the addition of DJ (Jones) and Jamari (Farrell), and I know you just talked about Dawaiian (McNeely), there's some good players in there. So yeah, he'll be surely missed, but I also feel really good about the guys we have there.

Q: How good can Chris Durr Jr. be? And do I dare compare him to a young Ricky White?

A: Ricky White (current UNLV receiver who transferred from Michigan State) is pretty good. Chris is very talented. I think, you know, one of the things that will be important for him is, how does he continue to take care of himself and grow physically? I think that's one thing. And then, you know, one of the things that I appreciate about him, though, is that he has such a good moxie for the game. For a young player, you know, he just feels the game really well and that creates opportunity for him. If he can continue to build, again, like we mentioned earlier on, the details and where he's at physically, I'm excited to see where it goes in the future.

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Q: What are your thoughts on the left tackle battle? Are you confident with either Jake Davies or Nate Geiger lining up there on opening day? 

A: It's been good. You know, they're obviously young players, but you see those guys do some really positive things. I think the helpful thing there is, too, is, there's four other guys that have played a lot of football. That certainly helps when you have those guys next to you. So, yeah, I think we're in a good space there. I think that part's coming together and we're moving forward nicely.

Q: How big of a role will John Michael Gyllenborg have in this offense?

A: I hope big. I think any offense in the country, you're trying to put your physically gifted people in position to make plays and touch the ball. We certainly want to do that ...  Obviously, with his physical skill set and his tools, I mean, yeah, we want to try to put him in position to be successful. You know,  I'm working on that every day and he is, too. It's a work in progress.

Q: Jay Sawvel mentioned earlier this year that you guys were going to find the Top-10 playmakers on this team, identify them and make sure they're on the field and they're getting the ball. Have you guys already done that or is there still some homework to do?

A: I think we have a pretty good feel for that now. We kind of did after spring, and then we kind of revisited, you know, as we're going through camp. You see some guys flourishing and doing some things. So yeah, I think we're in a good space there. Then, obviously, some of that comes into play a little bit depending on the opponent, what they're presenting and what you need to do from a schematic deal to put everybody in a position to be successful. But yeah, that's definitely always a priority for us.

Q: In the five-plus years I've covered this program, we've always heard about route trees in the passing game and how complex they are. I've heard that over and over again from players and coaches. Is that still the case or, for lack of a better word, have you dumbed it down so guys can think less and play faster?

A: I guess I don't really know what the past was. You know, I'm uncertain there, but yeah, you know, we're trying to make what we're doing easily learned. But more importantly, as we talked about, you have to execute it. So, do you understand and execute your play? I think we're in a space where we have flexibility with how we communicate things, so guys can know what to do and hopefully play fast. We're continuing to work on that. Like I said, the nice thing now is we're kind of at that stage to where we're kind of bringing things back down. I think that will help everybody a little bit."

Q: So, there's old guys, young guys, unproven guys and guys who haven't done much yet. What are your overall thoughts on this group of wide receivers?

A: I think it's a really solid group. You know, like you said, it's an unbelievable mix of a little bit of everything, but what I think is really exciting is that you see different parts of that mix flash at different times. We're going to need that. I've seen every one of those guys -- in a certain setting, certain situation -- kind of do some really good things and step up and make some plays. So that part's good. Then we just have to kind of figure out what mix is best, and that's based upon what we're trying to do and what the opponent's doing.

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