•
Mike Dirks (born 1946), defensive tackle; part of one of college football's best defenses in
1966 and
1967. He was selected as an All-American and All-Western Athletic Conference performer. He co-captained Wyoming's 1967 WAC Championship football team that finished fifth in the nation. Led the Cowboys to a 10–1 record and berth in the
1968 Sugar Bowl. He was part of the Cowboys line that was the nation's best rushing defense for two consecutive seasons. No team in the nation has since allowed fewer rushing yards than the 1966 and 1967 Wyoming defenses. Dirks produced 71 tackles, 30 unassisted tackles, and 26 tackles for a loss. He was inducted into the Wyoming Cowboys Athletic Hall of Fame on October 29, 1993. •
Adam Goldberg (born 1980), NFL offensive tackle. He became only the third junior in University of Wyoming football history to be elected a team captain when he was voted a captain by his teammates in the spring of 2001. He was Honorable Mention
All-America and two-time First-team All-
Mountain West Conference. He started 44 of 45 career games. •
Jerry Hill (born 1939), running back - was selected as Wyoming's Football Player of the Century during fan balloting in 1992. He was selected as an All-Skyline Conference running back in 1959 and 1960. In those two seasons, Hill was Wyoming's leading rusher. During his career, the Cowboys posted a 25–6 record. Hill was a member of the club that won the 1958
Sun Bowl. His career would finish with 1,374 rushing yards on 288 carries. He was inducted in the Wyoming Cowboys Athletic Hall of Fame on October 29, 1993. •
Jim Kiick (1946–2020), running back - Wyoming's leading rusher for each of his three seasons,
1965-
67. He totalled 1,714 yards and ten touchdowns on 431 carries, and 561 yards and five touchdowns on 52 pass receptions. He was the first player ever to earn first-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors three times. Kiick was co-captain of the team as a senior. He was named the
Most Valuable Player in the 1966
Sun Bowl victory over
Florida State, rushing 25 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns, and catching four passes for 42 yards. He also played in the
1968 Sugar Bowl against
LSU, rushing 19 times for 75 yards and a touchdown, and catching five passes for 48 yards. Kiick played in the 1968
Senior Bowl, and was selected to play in the 1968 College All-Star Game. •
Marv Levy (born 1925), defensive back - Levy attended Wyoming for a single semester following his stint as a meteorologist in World War II. The coach who had originally recruited him, Bunny Oakes, had left prior to the season;
Bowden Wyatt, who succeeded Oakes, imposed a round-the-clock training regimen that did not allow Levy enough time to devote to his academic studies. Levy transferred to
Coe College and established a long coaching career that led to a
Grey Cup win with the
Montreal Alouettes and four consecutive
AFC Championships with the
Buffalo Bills; these achievements earned Levy induction into the
Canadian Football Hall of Fame and
Pro Football Hall of Fame, respectively. •
Jay Novacek (born 1962), tight end - was a two sport All-American at Wyoming, also excelling in track. He was the Wyoming record holder in the
decathlon and
pole vault. As a football player, he was selected to the Kodak All-American football team in
1984. The selection was attributed to setting an NCAA record for receiving yards per receptions by a tight end. Novacek finished his Cowboys career with 83 career receptions for 1,536 yards and 10 touchdowns as a tight end. He was inducted in the Wyoming Cowboys Athletic Hall of Fame on October 29, 1993. He was also inducted to the
College Football Hall of Fame on July 19, 2009. •
Josh Allen (born 1996), quarterback - a late recruit in 2015, Allen led the team to its first appearance in the Mountain-West Conference championship game in
2016 and two bowl games, receiving All-Mountain West honors. He finished his Wyoming career with 5,066 passing yards, 44 passing touchdowns, and 56 overall touchdowns, which rank in the top five for Wyoming Cowboys passing statistics. He was drafted 7th overall by the
Buffalo Bills in 2018, becoming the
highest drafted player in Wyoming Cowboys history. He is also the only player in Wyoming Cowboys history to win
AP NFL MVP. Allen's jersey number 17 was
retired on November 22, 2025, the first Cowboys alumnus to receive that honor. ==Honors and awards==