Wyoming Names New Coach

Vic Koenning said Monday that recruiting formidable coaches and players will be among his first duties as Wyoming's head football coach.

"People are going to be pleasantly surprised, if not shocked, by the people we're going to attract here," the former defensive coordinator said.

While Dana Dimel has left to coach Houston, defensive line coach Matt Wallerstedt has committed to stay with the Cowboys.

"He, too, was offered a great opportunity at Houston, but he wanted to remain here. So we have won our first recruiting battle," Koenning said. "We hope to have the remainder of our staff in place by the end of the week."

As for players, Koenning, 39, said he would extend recruiting into Colorado. He also planned to place a high priority on motivating his athletes.

"We're going to be the class act, not only in our conference, but we're going to attempt to be the class act in the country," he said.

Koenning is a 1982 graduate of Kansas State, where he was a two-time All-Big Eight Conference selection at linebacker.

His coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Memphis, where over 10 seasons he also was a strength and conditioning coach and an assistant.

After six seasons as a defensive secondary coach at Memphis, Koenning came to Wyoming in 1996.

"I didn't have an aspiration to be a head coach by a certain time, I didn't have a time frame. I just did the best I could as defensive coordinator for coach Dimel," he said.

Koenning signed a five-year contract that will net him $100,200 a year, or $240,000 counting incentives, according to athletic director William Lee Moon.

Moon appointed Koenning the morning after Dimel announced his resignation. Moon said his li3t Nf candidates was short, and he typically hires coaches outside the university.

"I'm always evaluating coaches whether they're on our staff or across the country," he said. "I have a certain thing I look for, certain qualities I look for."

©1999 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed