FARGO - The Craig Bohl coaching era at North Dakota State ended abruptly, if not shockingly. The 11th-year head coach will be introduced today as the next head coach at the University of Wyoming.
NDSU players through social media on Saturday night were stunned and surprised that CBS Sports reported Bohl is taking the head coaching position with the Cowboys. At the heart of the matter: Who will coach the team for the FCS quarterfinal game next Saturday at 10 a.m. against Coastal Carolina?
Bohl and NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor did not return text messages Saturday night.
Bruce Feldman, senior college football analyst from CBS Sports, first broke the story that Bohl will be introduced tonight as the next head coach of the Cowboys. NDSU called a 9 a.m. team meeting for today, which is unusual.
Wyoming has called a news conference for 6 p.m. (CDT) today to announce a new coach.
It left everybody surprised, including the players after the 38-7 FCS second-round victory over Furman University at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome.
On their Twitter accounts, cornerback Marcus Williams wrote “Tell me this isn’t true.”
Said quarterback Brock Jensen: “Please say this is a joke.” Later, Jensen tweeted he was happy for the head coach and was “sad it had to get leaked like this.”
Nate Moody, a receiver, tweeted “this is a little weird.”
Bohl, as has been his customary response, did not comment about the speculation after the game. Taylor said he had not heard anything regarding the Wyoming job with Bohl.
Footballscoop.com, a coaching website, backed up Feldman’s report saying “we’ve been hearing this all day.”
Bohl would replace Dave Christensen, who was 27-34 in five seasons at Wyoming.
It would be a considerable bump in pay for Bohl to at least $1.2 million per season if not more. Christensen made $1.2 million and reports from Laramie media indicate the next coach would be paid higher, perhaps as high as $1.5 million. Bohl made around $350,000 including bonuses last year.
Bohl has a contract with NDSU through 2016 with a two-year rollover. It stipulates he would owe NDSU a $100,000 buyout if he takes another NCAA head coaching position. In a Forum story in late September, Taylor said, “I don’t see coach looking at any opportunities, I really don’t. I feel the reason he wanted to (sign an extension) so he didn’t have to worry about that stuff.”
