DENVER — Jay Norvell is a breath of fresh air.
In an era of college football where access has become increasingly limited and doors have been closed both to the media and the communities in which the programs reside, Colorado State announced on Wednesday that all of its 15 practices in the spring period will be completely open to the public. Not only will scribes be welcome to attend the practices and get interviews with players and coaches but CSU fans will also be able to watch the team they love as the program transitions into an exciting new age.
CSU’s first spring practice will be on Tuesday, March 22. The first session will take place from roughly 7:00-9:00 a.m. MT, while the second session will then be from 9:00-11:00 a.m. MT. Outside of the intrasquad scrimmages that will take place on Saturdays, this will be the typical format that CSU uses for its weekly practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays between March 22 and April 23.
In addition to allowing the die-hards get a better look at the day-to-day process for the Rams this spring, CSU will also be holding its first true Green & Gold game aka spring game with fans since 2018. That event will be at Canvas Stadium on Saturday, April 23. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. MT.
First things first, for the sake of fairness it should be noted that the pandemic has made hosting a spring game for the public pretty much impossible the past couple of years, so the university has been in a difficult situation in that regard. Even prior to Covid-19, though, previous coaching staffs have not been so willing to be open with their business. None of the last three CSU coaches have hosted more than a small handful of open practices, so what Norvell and Co. are doing is substantially different from what had become standard over the last decade. And for a program that is attempting to revive itself and earn back good faith with the supporters, the move is absolutely brilliant.
Jay Norvell has coached football at the highest levels of the FBS, including but not limited to stops at Iowa, Oklahoma and Texas. He’s also spent the last half decade at a Mountain West institution and understands that you can operate in this league without acting like you’re practicing rocket science on the gridiron.
The fans are ultimately what make college football special. Their love for their team is so much deeper than just the games themselves. Giving those enthusiasts a chance to feel part of the process and letting them know that they are both welcome and wanted is such a refreshing strategy to see from an FBS head coach.
All across the country there are people complaining about the declining interest in collegiate athletics as a whole, however, as we’ve witnessed firsthand with CSU men’s basketball, when there is a product worth supporting the Fort Collins community will turn out in droves. Shoot, even the first four home football games in 2021 had awesome crowds before the season fell apart.
With the facilities CSU has, and the fact that ‘FoCo’ is an incredible college town, there is potential for CSU football to have one of the elite G5 atmospheres in all of college football. In order for that to happen the Rams will obviously need to be much more competitive than they have been since 2017 or so. That said, it’s not necessarily going to take championships for the people to buy into what Norvell is building. The fans just need to be able to believe in the process. And perhaps even more importantly, they need to believe in the man that is leading the ship.
Within the first year of Niko Medved being on campus it was evident that he was the right man to bring glory back to Moby Arena. That shift did not occur overnight, it takes time to truly rebuild a program the right way. But it was clear from year one that Medved could win on the court and win in the community, which is something Steve Addazio could never say on the football front.
Again, Norvell still has to go out and win. A couple of losing seasons will quickly sour the sweet feeling that is surrounding CSU football at the moment. There is a genuineness to him that just seems to be reassuring though. It helps that Norvell didn’t just spew out a bunch of cliches at his introductory press conference and then not act on them. He has backed it up every step of the way by welcoming back former players and now the fans as well.
It really feels like we are at the beginning of something special here. Football season can not come quick enough.
