Pokes' Wyett Ekeler excelling in move to safety

Oct. 7—Wyett Ekeler played just enough defense during his senior season at Windsor (Colorado) High to post seven tackles across two games.

Ekeler's primary role with the Wizards was to run the football. It was a role he played quite well, rolling up 1,435 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior. Ekeler was limited to 88 or fewer yards in just two of Windsor's 10 games. He was named Class 4A Northern Colorado player of the year, and earned All-Colorado honors from The Denver Post.

Despite what he did as a ball-carrier, Ekeler knew his future in football — especially at the NCAA Division I level — most likely was on the defensive side. That's what the University of Wyoming's coaches had told him, and he welcomed the challenge with open arms, if that meant playing at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.

"I knew from the get-go I was probably going to have a big transition in my future," Ekeler said. "I accepted it. I love challenges. I knew this was going to be a big change, and I was excited for it and ready to take it on."

The 5-foot-11, 201-pound redshirt sophomore is listed as the Cowboys' starting strong safety entering Saturday's game at New Mexico. The 31 tackles Ekeler has posted through UW's first six games rank as fourth-most on the roster. His 22 solo tackles are third-most behind sophomore linebackers Easton Gibbs and Shae Suiaunoa.

Going from not playing defense to doing it at the college level comes with a steep learning curve. Ekeler had to learn the position from the ground up and be taught fundamentals his teammates had learned years prior.

"I had some rough moments," Ekeler said. "There were times I had no clue what I was doing. I was wondering if defense really was for me, but I knew I had to stick with it because I made a commitment.

"I slowly started getting more and more confident and familiar with it. I slowly built up the skills I needed to succeed as a safety."

Ekeler's internal doubts were put at ease by the Cowboys' coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Jay Sawvel always seemed to be nearby with an encouraging word whenever Ekeler was most down on himself.

"He was always telling me to keep my head up and reminding me that the coaches knew what I was going through," Ekeler said. "He assured me everything was going to work out. That was a really big confidence booster.

"I was pretty low on myself. I had been playing in games my whole life, and (2020) was the first year I hadn't really played. Plus, I was struggling to learn my new position."

Ekeler also had a resource at his disposal other don't — an older brother playing in the NFL.

Austin Ekeler has gone from a record-setting career at NCAA Division II Western Colorado University to one of the most versatile running backs in the professional ranks. The elder Ekeler signed with the Los Angeles Chargers as an undrafted free agent, and is closing in on breaking the 3,000-yard mark in both rushing and receiving.

Wyett often picked Austin's brain when he was a high school running back. In 2019, Austin Ekeler told the Greeley Tribune his biggest contribution to Wyett's success has been setting an example for him to follow.

"It's how you go about your business," said Austin, who has a different father than Wyett. "What is my mentality in the weight room? This is work for me, and I enjoy doing it. I'm not here for fun or just to have a good time.

"That is something we don't talk about. It is the observation that is most influential."

Wyett Ekeler got additional repetitions to aid in his transition because Isaac White dealt with a nagging hamstring injury during spring practice. Ekeler capitalized on the extra opportunities to show UW's coaches what he could do. He opened the season as a backup, but has started three of the past four games.

Ekeler downplays his production this season, insisting his numbers are the result of coaches putting him in the right spots. Sawvel, however, said Ekeler is showing the skills UW's coaches knew he possessed all along.

"He's tackling a lot better than he has in the past. His open-field tackling really has become better," Sawvel said. "He's also gotten a lot better as a coverage person. He's still got to get better in some deeper zones and zone coverage stuff because we need him to help take pressure off other people.

"But he's getting there. The hope is that there's continued development."

Ekeler and Sawvel's relationship has expanded beyond X's, O's and encouraging words. The pair frequently engaged in friendly competitions in the weight room this summer. The best time in Sawvel's schedule to mix in his personal workouts was over the noon hour. That put him in the weight room on the back end of one group of players' workouts and the start of the other's.

"I got the opportunity to interact with people in their setting and make things fun," Sawvel said. "Wyett and I had some challenges going on. He's ahead right now. He should be, but I still find that unfortunate. We have to get that corrected."

It's common for football players to lose weight during the season, and Sawvel hasn't been shy about letting Ekeler know he might be lighter than what's listed on the roster.

"He's been giving me a hard time, like, 'You're looking a little small, maybe you should come work out with me today,'" Ekeler said with a wide smile. "We have a really good relationship that started over the summer with us messing with each other.

"Then it became a real competition. We did an ab workout with a 45-pound plate and seeing who could go the longest. I won that one. I want to be clear about that."

Ekeler and Sawvel's trash talk extends to the social media app Instagram, which Sawvel said he only downloaded as a way to keep up with his children.

"I've never been a big social media guy, but I'm divorced, with two teenage kids who live in Minneapolis," Sawvel said. "We're all busy, so we can see little things they're doing and little things I'm doing through social media."

Sawvel has found that Instagram also is a good way to bond with his players.

"Sometimes, as coaches, there are so many different walls and lines that are drawn to separate you from the players," he said. "You have to erase those lines and get players to see us as people and us to see them as people.

"That's the biggest thing I try to do with all our players. I want to interact as much as possible. We're all in this together."

Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on Twitter at @jjohnke.