Tuesday, January 27, 2026 |
Photo – Helmet and football – Bigfoot99 file photo
Wyoming Head football Coach Jay Sawvel is taking a big salary cut and rolling the money into a revenue fund to help boost player recruitment.
Sawvel made the announcement over the weekend announcing the hiring of new Offensive Coordinator Christian Taylor.
Sawvel said he gives his own money to the program because he wants UW to succeed, and Cowboy Football is the engine that makes all the departments run.
Sawvel’s $125,000 gift to the university will be allocated to revenue sharing efforts. The football coach also handed over a portion of his annual retention bonus, another roughly $100,000, to ensure he could retain certain staffers as Wyoming’s budget-crunch tightens in Laramie.
Sawvel is entering the third season of his five-year, $5.8 million contract. His base salary is roughly $1.1 million, excluding bonuses.
Longtime UW athletics director Tom Burman said that Sawvel’s gift to the university was the coach’s idea. “He cares about his staff and his players,” Burman said
