DENVER — Colorado State hit a home run with the hiring of Jay Norvell.
A proven winner in the Mountain West and an experienced college coach that’s worked with some of the better FBS quarterbacks of the 21st century, Norvell is the type of hire that can come in and bring some life back to Canvas Stadium.
Over his five seasons at Nevada, Norvell led the Wolf Pack to four bowl appearances, including a pair of eight win campaigns, all despite having one of the lowest athletic budgets in the league. But what caught the attention of the country, even more so than the team’s success in Reno, was the dynamic air raid offense that UNR was able to establish its presence with.
Jay Norvell’s offense vs. CSU:
(2017) | 42 points | 564 yards | 23 1st downs
(2018) | 49 points | 639 yards | 29 1st downs
(2021) | 52 points | 528 yards | 22 1st downs
— Justin Michael (@JustinTMichael) December 6, 2021
Prior to his arrival Nevada averaged 208 passing yards and 25.4 points per game in 2016. In 2017, Norvell’s first season with the Wolf Pack, those averages improved to 270 passing yards and 28.2 points per game. It was over the last two seasons, though, when UNR really exploded. The Wolf Pack initially caught everyone’s attention in 2020 with five games where they scored 34 or more points and a season average of 30 points per game. UNR then took things to a new level in 2021, when they averaged 366 yards through the air and scored 36.7 points per game.
Obviously in order to have success in an air raid system having the right quarterback is paramount. What’s impressive about Norvell’s situation at Nevada is the fact that he established a winner without having the benefit of having four or five star talent to lean on.
In Year 1 Norvell inherited Ty Gangi at quarterback and while he ended up having a solid collegiate career, the one-time CU commit didn’t really show much prior to Norvell coming to town. Gangi’s passing yards more than doubled in his first season in the air raid system, improving by 1,400+ yards in just one year. What’s more, he threw 25 touchdown passes in 2017 after finishing with just seven in the same amount of games played the season prior. He then replicated that production in Nevada’s 8-5 finish in 2018.
With all due respect to Gangi, the big success story of Norvell’s Nevada tenure is definitely Carson Strong. After receiving just one Division 1 offer coming out of high school, Strong took the world by storm over the last three years as UNR’s starting quarterback. His 2021 campaign was especially impressive as Strong ranked top-10 nationally in completions per game (3rd; 30.4), passing yards (4th; 4,175), passing yards per game (5th; 347.9), passing touchdowns (6th; 36), completion percentage (8th; 69.9) and total offense (8th; 330.6). He was named the 2021 Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year for his impressive showing. He’s widely projected to go in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft as well.
I’m not saying that Ram Nation should expect Norvell to come in and immediately develop a first round caliber QB for the Green & Gold. Those are few and far between at the G5 level. But after watching one of the least explosive offenses in the country under Steve Addazio, the fans should at least be excited about CSU’s potential moving forward.
It’s likely going to take Norvell some time to establish recruiting roots locally. So it will be interesting to see which high school players he is able to keep committed from Addazio’s staff. It wouldn’t be shocking to see CSU try to lean on the transfer portal or JUCO talent to help fill any holes there may end up being in the recruiting class.
As of two days ago Jake McNamara reportedly reaffirmed his commitment to CSU, so CSU does currently have a quarterback for the 2022 cycle. That said, the big name for everyone to keep their eyes on is Clay Millen, a four star QB that committed to Nevada over P5 offers from Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State and Indiana. There’s always the possibility that Millen decides to follow Norvell to Fort Collins, especially if Matt Mumme (Nevada OC) also ends up coming along for the ride.
Finally, while having familiarity with the Mountain West was not necessarily a must-have prerequisite, being able to hire a coach that is already well versed with the quirkiness of the conference is a huge bonus. Norvell knows what it takes to beat a team like Air Force or to go to battle with Boise State. There’s nothing that he will experience in this league that is foreign or new to him. In fact, he already has blueprints for how to contend with those upper teams in the MW.
I know that many wanted to see Tony Alford finally get a shot at the gig. It’s honestly pretty neat to see the way the fan base has rallied behind such a successful alum over the years. But while he is undeniably a dynamite recruiter and very well may be a solid head coach at some point down the line, the reality is that on paper he would have been a much riskier choice than Novell at this point in time.
CSU was in a position where they could not afford to mess up this hire, not with the window to be a nationally relevant program closing by the year. So while there are no guarantees in this business — Norvell is going to have to come and in back up the hype with substantial results — the unbiased truth is that he’s more qualified and makes more sense than Alford would right now. Norvell is about as good of a hire as CSU could expect to pull and to the credit of the administration, they absolutely knocked it out of the park by stealing him away from a team in their own conference.
Norvell will be publicly introduced by the university on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. MT.
“I would like to thank Joe Parker, President Joyce McConnell, and the other members of the search committee for entrusting me with this incredible opportunity,” Norvell in a press release.
“I am humbled, thankful, but most importantly excited to begin this process of building Colorado State into the championship contender we all know it can be. My family and I are ecstatic and cannot wait to get to Fort Collins to get started.”
