FORT COLLINS — It’s a new day for the Colorado State football program. 

Surrounded by proud supporters of the Green & Gold, Jay Norvell stood at the podium in the east side of Canvas Stadium and addressed the crowd for the first time since being hired away from the University of Nevada. 

“As you might expect, it’s a pleasure to be here with you here in Fort Collins, Colorado, December 7, 2021. I think that’s an important date to recognize,” Norvell said. “Today I’m honored to formally accept the position of head football coach here at Colorado State University.”

A veteran of the game that’s held 10 different coaching positions over 30 years of working in the college ranks as well as the NFL, Norvell explained that the best teams he’s ever been a part of didn’t have a ton of rules but the ones they did have were the guiding principles of the locker room. And that’s the way he expects it to be at CSU. 

New CSU football coach Jay Norvell, center, is presented with a team jersey by athletic director Joe Parker and university president Joyce McConnell during a press conference, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021, at Colorado State University’s Iris and Michael Smith Alumni Center.

According to Norvell, the first rule that his players, coaches and staffers will live by is respect. “Manners matter,” Norvell said. He explained that it’s likely due to his mother’s upbringing but he believes that our society has gotten away from emphasizing the importance of treating others the right way. It’s paramount to him that everyone inside the locker room is held to a higher standard. “It’s amazing when people treat other people with respect how few problems we have.”

The second rule that Norvell laid out was living with 100 percent accountability. He explained that he’s been around many successful people over the years and the commonality between them was they understood the importance of their choices. “The most successful people understand that it’s the choices that they make that will lead to their success or failure. And so we want our players to understand that.” 

Norvell continued, explaining that he begins all of his meetings 5 minutes early and he expects his players to be there ready to go with their notebooks handy. “You don’t have to get ready if you stay ready.”

Last but not least, the third rule that Norvell will have is “good old fashioned hustle”. Whether it’s on the practice field, in the classroom, or out in the community, Norvell demands maximum effort from his players. 

“Those three things, respect, accountability and hustle are what we build our culture over. And it has served us very well,” Norvell said, before referencing a book that he recently read called the culture code. In this book it talks about how culture comes from a latin word cultus, which means to care.  “The most important thing in your environment is that the people in that environment know you care about them. It’s a safe environment. And once they understand that, boy, can they really start to gravitate and listen to the things you’re trying to say. But that has to be established first — that you do care.” 

Along with explaining the standards that he intends to hold the program to, Norvell gave some insight into his philosophies as a coach, including his love for the vertical passing game. He called himself an offensive coach and stated he believes in attacking defenses aggressively because that’s how you get them to respect you. 

As he has for the last three seasons at Nevada with Carson Strong at quarterback, Norvell will call the plays at CSU. Multiple members of his offensive staff are coming with him as well. And like they did at Nevada, CSU will now run the air raid offense in Fort Collins. At this point in time his staff members have not been made public but quarterbacks coach Matt Mumee, wide receivers coach Tim Chang and tight ends coach Chad Savage are expected to come with Norvell. The head of strength and conditioning Jordon Simmons appears to be coming too. 

The type of players that Norvell wants to operate in the system include strong-armed quarterbacks that are both intelligent and accurate. “I just think it’s the worst feeling in the world when you’re a fan and you go to a stadium and you know that your quarterback can’t throw. So we’ll work hard not to have that happen,” Norvell said.

In general Norvell wants big players to fill out the roster. Big offensive linemen, big physical running backs and definitely big wide receivers. He said that he likes his receivers to look like they belong on the basketball team. As the new Rams coach sees it, if they have receivers with height and range spread out all over the field it puts the defense in a vulnerable position. “We’ll work real hard on that. We’re doing that as we speak.”

From a defensive standpoint Norvell wants to play with a similar intensity as his offense. He wants to get after the quarterback and hit them. And he wants to play bump and run coverage, to completely take the air out of the opponent’s passing attack. “I believe that there’s not many good quarterbacks in college football. And so why would you give them room to throw? Play tight coverage, take the air out of the defense and make them earn every catch.” 

On special teams the new Rams coach wants a “fanatical” group of players. He said everyone will participate on special teams, including starters. He wants specialists that are great at their craft and ready to go in the biggest moments. 

More than any specific skill set, Norvell wants players that are willing to go the extra mile. He wants gritty individuals that are resilient enough to handle the ebbs and flows of a football season. Players that are willing to stand up and fight for all four quarters, even after a loss, or potentially even multiple losses. He wants the program to be known for fortitude and grit. The kind of guys where whenever you knock them down, they get up and respond. 

Jay Norvell is introduced as the new head coach at Colorado State

If you’re wondering why Norvell would be willing to ditch UNR for another team in the same conference, though, aside from the fact that he roughly tripled his salary overnight, it’s because Norvell sees CSU as an institution that should be in the conversation for the best G5 program in the country. 

Norvell said that what makes this a better opportunity for him is the resources available and general level of support. Norvell grew up in the heart of Big 10 country in Madison, Wisconsin. He played at the University of Iowa. And his coaching stops include the Big 10, Big 12 and Pac-12. So Norvell knows what it’s like to be in communities where football is truly valued and supported. 

“This place is committed to football,” Norvell said. “And this place wants to have a winning championship program. I looked at this place very similarly to Cincinnati, at the top group of five programs in the country. I think that’s the type of support we have here. And we have very high goals because of that.”

Nevada’s 2021 senior class features three senior bowl invitees: wide receiver Romeo Doubbs, tight end Cole Turner and quarterback Carson Strong. It’s the most invitations that any Wolf Pack team has ever received. In fact the program only had seven all-time prior to this fall. As Norvell bluntly stated, it’s going to be a whole lot easier recruiting those types of talented players to Fort Collins than it was to Reno. “I think we’re going to be turning people away at this point.”

With the early signing period coming up, naturally, Norvell and the few coaches he brought over have already begun the recruiting process. That said, while they will be aggressive on the recruiting trail, Norvell also emphasized the importance of being patient through the evaluation process.

The regions that Norvell will recruit include Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Washington. They’ll also go to Texas and Florida, or anywhere else that the staff has connections. But he added that a lot of their recruiting will be done on the west coast. 

It’s early in the process but essentially the program is going to be the exact opposite of what it was under Addazio. CSU is going to be ‘Wide Receiver U’ again but with ea new look in the pistol. Instead of an influx of players from the northeast, CSU will return to its more traditional recruiting grounds in California. And instead of an argumentative bully calling the shots, the Rams now have a guy that is seemingly beloved by everyone in the industry and has had one of the most explosive offenses in the FBS over the past few seasons. 

Most coaches win their introductory press conference. It’s a massive red flag if they don’t. I’d be lying if I said that this one didn’t feel a little different though. Between the buzz of excitement in the air and the way that CSU’s new coach carried himself, it reminded me of the way Niko Medved brought some joy back to the men’s basketball program when he was announced four years ago. It’s hard to articulate but you could just tell that things were going to improve for the better. 

Maybe we’re all getting too caught up in the moment, or maybe we’re all just relieved to go 40+ minutes in a press conference without getting yelled at. Either way I’m all in on this hire. 

The 2022 football season can’t get here soon enough.