Respectable rivals: The unique relationship between Jay Norvell and Craig Bohl

LAS VEGAS — When Colorado State and Wyoming play there is never any love lost between the two sides. 

If you wear CSU colors north of the state line, there is a good chance that a burly individual wearing a Pokes shirt will remind you that despite trailing in the all-time series, the Cowboys have a winning record against the Rams since the introduction of the Bronze Boot. That is if they don’t curse you out, or pour a beer on your head. (Yes, these things all actually happened.)

With a rivalry that predates the assembly line, it makes sense that there is occasionally a bit of animosity. When you play as often as the Rams and Cowboys do, with bragging rights on the line every single time, there is bound to be friction. These schools are roughly 70 miles apart. It’s close enough that ROTC cadets run the Bronze Boot from one campus to the other. And it’s close enough where fans from both sides all know people that root for the “wrong team”. That’s what makes it fun when your team wins and you get to rub it in, but what makes it absolutely miserable when they lose. The day-to-day interactions are key to stoking the coals and keeping the flame going. 

From a recruiting perspective, geography factors into the hate equation as well. Over the years there have been many high school prospects from Colorado that went on to star for the Cowboys and those guys certainly made it a priority to beat the Rams. During the Sonny Lubick years though, there were great prospects that CSU was able to sway away from Cowboy country. Clint Oldenburg (Gillette), Bob Vomhof (Gillette), Mike Vomhof (Gillette) and Ben Stratton (Cheyenne) are a few examples of Wyoming high school players that went on to play at CSU. 

Regional rivalries are what make college football unique. The history, the hatred, the pageantry, they’re all part of what made so many of us fall in love with the game in the first place. At the 2022 Mountain West Media Days at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, both Jay Norvell and Craig Bohl talked about exactly this. 

Norvell compared CFB to European soccer and said that we need to “pump the brakes” with some of the rapid change occurring right now. “The sport can end up looking very different than what we’ve always known it to be,” he said. 

Bohl talked about his alma mater Nebraska losing its annual matchup with Oklahoma and how gut wrenching it is for him. “There’s a loss of some really special things.”

In addition to giving some insight into their perspective on conference realignment, the coaches also talked a little bit about their unique relationship, which goes back to the 1980’s when Bohl coached Jay’s brother Aaron at Wisconsin.

“I’ve always had a good relationship with coach Bohl,” Norvell said, before talking about how despite never working on the same staff, they’ve been at some of the same places and have interacted frequently over the last couple of decades. 

“I’ve just always had a lot of respect for his career, the kind of coach he is and what he represents,” Norvell continued. “His teams are always well-prepared and play hard. We’ve always had battles when we’ve played against each other. We’re a little bit closer now, obviously, but I have a lot of respect for Craig and his teams.”

In October, 2020, Jay’s father Dr. Merritt J. Norvell passed away shortly before Nevada was scheduled to play Wyoming in the delayed season opener. Following the matchup, Bohl, whose team had just lost a tight 37-34 game, began his postgame media session not by talking about how hard it was for his team, but instead by expressing his condolences for the Norvell family. 

“I knew his dad. He was a great man,” Bohl told Wyoming’s reporters. “He was an athletic director at Michigan State and did so many things for college athletics. So, it’s always tough to lose a game, but if there is ever a game (it’s this one), I’m happy for Jay Norvell and the Norvell family.” 

The humanity that Bohl displayed that night is an example of what Norvell meant when he talked about respecting how the Wyoming coach carries himself and what he represents. They may be competitors, but they hold each other in high regard, both on and off the field. In fact, Bohl even told DNVR that he’s recommended the two meet for a cold one. 

“I told Jay that there’s a place halfway between Fort Collins and Laramie, it’s called the Fort. There’s a bar upstairs, why don’t you and I meet there sometime and have a couple of beers?”

It may surprise folks to hear that these two get along so well, particularly considering how differently they approach the game. As far as clashing styles go, I’m not sure there is a more perfect example than Norvell’s Air Raid and Bohl’s run-heavy offenses. But as Bohl explained, you don’t have to view the game through the same lens to be able to appreciate the other’s perspective. 

Bohl talked about being a young coach at Nebraska under Tom Osborne and how despite being very different from Oklahoma’s Barry Switzer and having intense battles on the field, the two were great friends. “We played and it was an all-out blood bath, but you walked across the field and shook each other’s hand,” he said. 

Bohl expressed that the Border War is as intense as a rivalry gets. He said that he does not even buy gas in Fort Collins and joked that his wife taking their horses to the CSU Veterinary hospital is probably what pays half of Norvell’s salary. “But that doesn’t mean that I don’t gotta like the guy.”

Norvell and Bohl will face each other for the first time in a Border War when the Pokes come to Canvas Stadium on November 12. So far in their history the coaches are 1-1 against each other, with Bohl’s Cowboys beating the Wolf Pack in 2019 and Norvell’s squad taking the 2020 game. While both coaches will be looking to take the upper hand in their individual series, particularly now that it’s in the context of a rivalry, it’s clear that there is a deep respect between the two. 

“You’ve got a great leader there,” Bohl said of Norvell. “He has a plan, a vision, and he knows how to do that. You don’t have a rookie guy, I think you have a guy that really understands the culture to be successful. That’s important.”

“He’s just a good guy,” Norvell said of Bohl. “In this profession you play against a lot of people that you have respect for. And really, some of the people that you play against the most, you find out the most about them and you have more respect for them. You just appreciate the type of competitors they are.”

CSU vs. Wyoming is slated to kick off at 5:00 p.m. MT at Canvas Stadium this fall. The last time the Pokes came to Fort Collins the Rams were able to reclaim the Bronze Boot for the first time since 2015. We’ll see if the Green & Gold can bring it home once again in Norvell’s first attempt.