FORT COLLINS — The rising sun was met with the sounds of pads cracking Thursday morning as the Colorado State football team opened spring workouts on the practice field adjacent to Canvas Stadium.
For CSU head coach Jay Norvell, the first action of the spring was a welcome sight, and something he said he has been looking forward to for weeks. The spring practices are also the third for Norvell as he and the Rams begin preparation for his third season in the fall.
The Rams, who were mere points away from qualifying for a bowl game last season after going 5-7 overall and 3-5 in the Mountain West Conference, are looking to take another step forward in 2024.
CSU will practice 15 times over the next five weeks, and the spring practices will culminate with its annual Green and Gold spring game on April 20.
“It’s great to be back on the practice field,” Norvell said. “I’m like a kid in a candy store. I’ve been ready to start practicing for about three weeks. If you’ve never done anything before, you’ve got to do things differently to get there and that’s been kind of our motto as a team this offseason. We’re definitely different. Our coaching staff is different. Our players are different. We’ve got a little different approach to what we’re doing, and I think we are going to see a big difference on the field.”
Norvell has laid out three main priorities this spring. The first of which is having no excuses for getting your job done. The second is loving up your teammates, and the third is having an attack mentality.
With 15 starters returning, and more that made significant contributions last fall, the Rams have experience. That experience, combined with the familiarity of the process, make the transition from fall to spring more comfortable.
“A big part of that is the characteristics that we want from our guys already instilled in this team and leaders hold that accountable to everybody, so there’s no reformation of culture that we have to do,” CSU senior linebacker Chase Wilson said. “We can just come in, work out, play football and do the things we need to do to be better.”
For a defense that features Wilson, a seasoned secondary with players like seniors Jack Howell, Ayden Hector and graduate student Henry Blackburn, and up-and-comers like junior defensive lineman Nuer Gatkuoth, the Rams expect to be good, if not better. than last season on that side of the ball.
A year ago, the Rams boasted about possibly being the best defense in the conference. They weren’t, but they feel like they still have the ability to be. That starts with paying attention to details, something Wilson said the team will focus on in the spring.
“I don’t think any of that mindset has changed,” Wilson said. “I think we can be the best unit in the conference. It’s just going to take attention to detail, coming out here every day with the mindset to work and get better.”
Offensively, the Rams return key players at almost every position. Graduate transfer Kobe Johnson returns at running back after taking a redshirt season last year. Graduate Avery Morrow was taking reps in practice Thursday, and contributors in redshirt freshman Justin Marshall and junior Vann Schield are also back to provide depth in the offensive backfield.
At receiver, Tory Horton is back for his final season, while Justus Ross-Simmons and Mekhi Fox also return. The Rams added more depth to that room with Washington State transfer Donovan Ollie and four-star recruit Jordan Ross, who will be with the team in the summer.
CSU also returns key pieces of its offensive line.
One player on offense who knows how crucial this spring will be is sophomore quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi. Fowler-Nicolosi took over at quarterback in the second game of the season last year and commanded the Rams’ offense for the remainder of the campaign.
“It’s incredibly important,” Fowler-Nicolosi said. “It’s huge. This is the offseason where I’m going to make that real jump from kind of being that young, immature kid to a leader on the team and a leader on the field and being able to be a general out there and kind of command the game. So, this offseason is huge for me in film study and then out here on the field.”
With a more mature quarterback, a defense looking for something to prove and a load of returnees looking to take the next step, the Rams are eager to move forward with spring practices and see how much they can accomplish in their 15 practices over a five-week period.
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