Entering his third season with the Colorado State Rams, head coach Jay Norvell is in the midst of building a successful program. After several stints at Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona State, Norvell was announced as Colorado State’s 24th head coach in early December 2021.
Before starting his coaching career, Norvell was an All-Big 10 defensive back for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1982 to 1985, followed by a short season as a linebacker with the Chicago Bears. After his playing days ended, he started coaching as a graduate assistant under legendary Iowa head coach Hayden Fry before moving onto the rest of the college football world.
He also coached in the NFL for six seasons and most notably coached future two-time Super Bowl winner Peyton Manning in Indianapolis.
Norvell returned to the college game as an offensive coordinator for the University of Nebraska, where he guided quarterback Zac Taylor to break several school passing records before spending another season as offensive coordinator at UCLA. After UCLA, Norvell kept the same position at Oklahoma until he was fired in January 2015 and moved to the University of Texas, working with wide receivers and calling plays under Charlie Strong. After a season at Arizona State, he finally landed his first head coaching job with Nevada in 2017.
Norvell’s work with the Nevada Wolf Pack solidified his name in the coaching world. In five seasons, he led the team to four bowl games, pulling the program out of a long drought of wins. During his first season as head coach, the Wolf Pack went 3–9, putting the team nowhere close to bowl game contention. After 2017, Nevada made its way to bowl games until Norvell moved on to Colorado State in 2021.
Now, Norvell is looking to do the same thing that he did with Nevada to Colorado. Although he has not seen the same success within the past few years, the difference since his arrival is noticeable.
During his first season with the Rams, Norvell started three different quarterbacks, all freshmen or redshirt freshmen. Although the team faced a difficult schedule, including College Football Playoff semifinalist Michigan, the Rams showed definite progress, going from an average of 247.3 yards of offense to 324.1. There was also defensive improvement, with the total yards allowed cut down from an average 400.8 at the beginning to 309.1 at the end of the season.
Additionally, Norvell has put in the work to improve Colorado State’s recruiting. Ahead of the Rams’ 2023 season, Norvell built the highest-rated recruiting class in Colorado program history, according to 247 Sports’ composite.
Although the 2023 season resulted in a 5–7 run, almost every category showed remarkable improvements. Scoring doubled from the 2022 season, going from an average of 13.17 points per game to 26.08. His team’s air-raid offense is a dangerous one and has potential to score points against top-ranked teams.
Still in the midst of building his program, Norvell looks to make a successful trip to a bowl game this year. Proven by his stint at Nevada, he is fully capable of leading Colorado’s program to postseason success.
