Rams Notebook: Centeio commits to JMU, CSU offers more Mountain West players and Norvell reportedly hires Tim Cassidy

DENVER — Todd Centeio has found his next destination. Colorado State’s starting quarterback for all 12 games in 2021 previously announced that he entered the transfer portal earlier this month and he’s now posted that he will play his final season of eligibility at James Madison University. The news dropped on Twitter Wednesday evening. 

An FCS powerhouse in recent years, JMU has finished with a winning percentage of .850 or higher in each of the last three seasons. What’s more, they have three National Championship appearances (2016, 2017, 2019) and one title to their name going back to 2016 alone. It’s a solid landing spot for a veteran QB that hasn’t experienced a whole lot of winning in his career. Had he not chosen JMU, Centeio previously tweeted that he picked up an offer from the University of Montana as well. So all things considered, he had some nice options for his final season of college football. 

With my last season of eligibility, I will be playing at James Madison University! Blessings #GoDukes pic.twitter.com/dQMxjMHYHB

— M2M ❤️‍🔥 (@toddycenteio) December 29, 2021

Centeio leaves CSU with a 3-10 record as a starter. But he did throw for 3,167 yards in what was a respectable tenure as QB1 for an uninspired offense. He threw 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions over those 13 games. Centeio rushed for 529 yards and a pair of touchdowns too. It was that rushing component and his ability to improvise that often allowed CSU to keep drives alive on third down. It made him a threat to keep the ball in the Red Zone as well. 

Along with Centeio, CSU’s starting center from the Addazio era, Cam Reddy, recently posted that he will be transferring to Liberty University. And tight end Brian Polendey announced he will be going to West Virginia to finish his career. The majority of the Steve Addazio era transfers appear to still be in the transfer portal though. It will be interesting to monitor the situation as we get closer to National Signing Day on February 2. 

Here’s a couple of other brief updates on CSU Football. 

More Nevada players could be coming to CSU 

CSU has already signed nine former members of the Wolf Pack, but it seems that Jay Norvell and Co. may not be done. 

Former Nevada defensive end Daniel Grzesiak recently entered the transfer portal and has since announced he has received offers from CSU, Incarnate Word, UAB, Utah State and Western Kentucky. It’s no guarantee that he’ll end up in the Green & Gold but there’s always the possibility that he ends up joining his original coach. 

https://twitter.com/DG_RunItUp/status/1476312205364654082

Grzesiak recorded 19 total tackles (6.5 for loss) and five and a half sacks in 10 games this season, so he was an impactful player for UNR. He’d be a valuable veteran addition for a team that’s losing a ton of experience in the defensive trenches. 

Former Poke picks up offer from CSU

As of right now Nevada is the only Mountain West school that CSU has stolen talent from, however, there is a chance that the Rams could sign a former Wyoming player. Rome Weber, a 5-foot-11, 196-pound safety that’s played in 23 games over two seasons with the Cowboys, posted that he’s received an offer from CSU, in addition to Alabama A&M, Georgia Southern, James Madison, Marshall, Nevada and Western Kentucky. 

https://twitter.com/RomeWeber/status/1474473386562580480

Weber recorded 41 total tackles (34 solo) in 11 games this fall. He had a pair of tackles for loss, a trio of pass deflections and one interception too. 

The intraconference move used to be much more of a rarity, but we’ve seen quite a bit of it in recent years. Some of the former Nevada players that didn’t sign with CSU ended up going over to San Jose State. And Fresno State just picked up a commitment from one-time SJSU QB Alec Trujilo. It’s a different era, one where players move all over, even within the same league. 

Norvell reportedly hires Tim Cassidy as chief of football operations 

Norvell has yet to officially finalize his staff publicly — the guys he brought over from Nevada have all been made official via press release — but the rest will be announced at a later date. 

We know that Freddie Banks (Montana State defensive coordinator) is expected to be coming to town following the FCS National Championship Game. And James Finley, formerly of Mater Dei High School, is going to coach the running backs at CSU. He’s already updated his Twitter bio. 

The most recent news, according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenburg, is that Norvell has hired Tim Cassidy to serve as chief of football operations. Cassidy is a veteran of the football industry and has worked at Nebraska, Texas A&M and most recently Arizona State. 

According to Football Scoop, Cassidy is considered to have played key roles for the staffs that signed Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M) and Ndamukong Suh (Nebraska), respectively. He is also, according to multiple accounts, considered to be one of the most revered individuals in the industry when it comes to dealing with daily football operations.