Brian Hendricks' return to Laramie was a 'dream come true'

Apr. 8—LARAMIE — Brian Hendricks felt destined to return to Laramie.

Hendricks, who was hired as the University of Wyoming football team's defensive end coach in February, has plenty of history in the Cowboy State. A Burlington, Colorado, native, Hendricks played in 45 games at linebacker for the Cowboys and was a team captain during his playing days at UW.

Hendricks' connections to Laramie extend far beyond the football field. He proposed to his wife, Talia, on UW's campus. Talia also has ties to Wyoming, growing up in the southwest corner of the state in Green River.

Since becoming engaged less than a mile away from War Memorial Stadium, Hendricks and his wife have had three children. The couple had a discussion about naming one of their kids "Laramie," but another symbolic name ended up stamped on one of the birth certificates.

"We named our third child 'West,' and I think it was a good omen because he brought us back out West," Hendricks said. "Our heart was always back here. It's where our families are at, it's where I obviously played my college ball, so to see that the opportunity was open, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scratching and clawing for it. The stars aligned, and I'm just excited to get to work."

Hendricks took over for Marty English, who retired in February after 37 years of coaching, 12 of which were at UW. Hendricks was the defensive line coach at Illinois State when English stepped down, and unbeknownst to him, Hendricks was at the top of UW head coach Craig Bohl's list.

"I was stunned," Hendricks said. "When I called my wife, she said, 'What?' Then she just told me not to screw it up."

Hendricks was part of Brock Spack's staff at Illinois State. Spack was the Cowboys' defensive coordinator in 1995 and 1996 under former UW head coach Joe Tiller.

That connection led Bohl to pick up the phone and call Spack for a recommendation.

"(Spack) called me and said, 'You need to come to my office.' I marched into the office, and he said, 'Coach Bohl is going to call you later,'" Hendricks said. "It still hasn't really kicked in yet, but it's super exciting.

"I'm hungry. I'm really anxious to work to earn the players' trust and respect, and to recruit and continue to build what coach Bohl has done such a good job of here over the last 10 years."

Hendricks takes over a group with plenty of returning talent from a season ago. UW finished second in the conference in sacks with 37 and ranked No. 73 in the country with 153.5 rushing yards allowed per game.

UW lost Oluwayseyi Omotosho, who transferred to Oregon State in December, but will return key contributors DeVonne Harris and Braden Siders at defensive end. Sabastian Harsh and Keelan Cox both suffered season-ending injuries during the preseason last year, and both will be competing for reps as edge rushers.

"I'm really fortunate to inherit such a good, solid base," Hendricks said. "Hearing from coach Bohl and coach English of who they are, not just athletically, but how they're wired, really excited me. To me, that screams 'Wyoming.'

"That's what Wyoming football is. I'm really fortunate to be working with such an eager and hungry group."

Bringing back a former player to UW's coaching staff is always an added bonus for Bohl. The Cowboys started spring practice last week, giving Hendricks his first opportunity to interact with his group on the turf.

"It's been really encouraging to see Brian engage with our players," Bohl said. "Marty was out to practice (Thursday), he'll swing by occasionally, but that transition, you're always concerned when you have a really well-liked coach (leave).

"Brian's pretty serious. He has a high bar for excellence, and he's driving those guys, and the players have responded well to him. I think he's a great technical coach. He's got attention to detail, and he's an intense guy. It's been fun to have him on our staff. Seamless is sometimes a word that's overused too much, but I could characterize this transition as seamless."

Hendricks credits both Bohl and English for helping with the transition so far this spring. The defensive linemen in both his room and the defensive tackle room have also embraced Hendricks, despite the different coaching styles between he and English.

"Honestly, I think coach Hendricks is a great guy to add to the staff here," defensive tackle Jordan Bertagnole said. "I think he's done a great job of getting the energy in the D-ends room up, and it's carried over into the defensive tackles room."

Hendricks finished his playing career with 309 tackles for the Cowboys. Last week, he had the opportunity to walk out onto War Memorial Field for a practice for the first time in his coaching career.

"Walking out to practice for the first time, that got me hot," Hendricks said. "When you go into a game, sure, that'll be a different deal, but I'm a day-by-day guy, and I'm living in the present. Wearing the brown and gold again with the Steamboat (logo), that's what it's all about. I haven't had much time to let it soak in, but it's a dream come true."

Hendricks' primary goal for his defensive ends during the spring portion of the season is to prepare his players to build some momentum going into fall camp. With the majority of the defensive ends returning from last year, Hendricks' focus now is to focus on the fundamentals and build up his players' confidence.

"It is a young group," Hendricks said. "I think there's a lot more to tap into in terms of turning an average or a good player into a great one. Right now, coach English did a phenomenal job with them. I think their trend and their trajectory is going up.

"I want to be able to help them to learn the ins and outs of not only their assignments, but knowing how it pertains to the guy standing next to them or standing right behind them and teaching them not necessarily what to do, but why to do it."

Hendricks will have the opportunity to showcase the talent in UW's defensive end room later this month. The Cowboys will host their annual spring game at 2 p.m. April 29 at War Memorial Stadium.

Alex Taylor covers the University of Wyoming for WyoSports. He can be reached at ataylor@wyosports.net or 269-364-3560. Follow him on Twitter at @alex_m_taylor22.