FORT COLLINS — Jay Norvell did one thing better than almost anyone in college football when he arrived in Fort Collins.
Lose to rivals, you say? Bite your tongue.
Before coming to CSU, Norvell passed the football better than most teams. At Nevada, he had quarterback Carson Strong and receiver Romeo Doubs. What they did for the Wolfpack was mind-boggling.
Tory Horton followed Norvell to CSU and inflated the Nevada numbers. Then something awful happened. On his way to becoming an early-round draft pick, Horton got hurt.
Suddenly, Norvell returned to his roots. CSU advanced to a bowl game for the first time since 2017 because of a grimy run game and gutsy defense. It wasn’t Iowa, where Norvell starred as a player and launched his coaching career. But it was closer than anyone ever imagined when he was hired to reboot CSU’s program.
Norvell showed he was humble. And nimble.
But as he enters his fourth season with some wondering if he is worthy of a contract extension, the importance of what happens next cannot be overstated.
Can Norvell win over Rams Nation with a Mountain West conference title that he openly discusses as the goal?
Can CSU show that last year’s bowl-worthiness was not the byproduct of a flimsy conference?
Can the coach do it without giving fans, who can only be counted on to sell out the opener and homecoming, an aerial show?
There is a huge opportunity for CSU to take center stage in the state with quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter no longer sucking all the oxygen out of the room. Given that chance when going head-to-head last season, the Rams fizzled at home.
The Buffs remain the bigger deal because of coach Deion Sanders, but the Rams should have the better season. Norvell believes his team can win the conference.
Is that a deal breaker for a new deal? Unlikely. But a 6-6 record and berth in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl won’t cut it. Rams Nation wants better, and deserves it, too.
This is a chance for Norvell to show he is more modern than we think. He has already won in a different way. Now, he needs to prove he can win with different players, that he can turn over his roster in the transfer portal and remain competitive and interesting.
He’s not Hayden Fry. Maybe, Air Fryer?
“The principles don’t change, but the ability for us to be flexible and find answers does,” Norvell told The Post recently.
“That is so important in football. There’s a way to play games to win. The continuity, even from three years ago, is different. I had NFL receivers running all over the place at Nevada. But I don’t think that would have been the case with NIL now. We have lost eight starting receivers in the portal in the last three years. They keep plucking them. It’s hard to rely only on the passing game if you can’t keep playmakers. But we are doing better at that.”
Norvell has no choice but to adapt. CSU is not unlike CU from two seasons ago.
Nobody, by Norvell’s count, added more experience through the transfer portal in the Mountain West. He is a coach who prides himself on developing players. Still does. But he has to do it a lot faster. Especially with a date Saturday at Washington looming in what we can only hope is the end of money grab openers for the Rams.
“There is a sense of urgency,” Norvell admitted with his team a 20-point underdog. “We have to play our best against the best teams on our schedule.”
Therein lies the rub when examining Norvell’s future. The Pac-12, where the Rams begin play next season, will punish mediocrity. If 7-5 is the ceiling for Norvell, with all due respect, what is CSU doing?
President John Weber agreed with Norvell when he told The Post, “We all expect to win championships. All the tools are there.” Weber has done a terrific job keeping CSU relevant and navigating NIL, while seeking future sponsorships.
Conversations with big-pocketed advertisers and boosters go nowhere if the football team isn’t good. In that way, last season helped. But nobody is going to be handing over money without believing it was the start, not the best it’s going to get.
Nobody believes CSU will become Boise State. But Rams Nation should be able to believe they can beat Boise State.
This year, CSU is hard to figure. They have intriguing wide receivers, two pass-catching tight ends, and a pair of good running backs. But the onus is on quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi to take the next step. He threw only 14 touchdowns last season, while “proving that we can learn on the fly.”
Norvell knows that won’t work this season, especially given the questions surrounding the defense.
“We have an experienced quarterback. We were intentional about playing Brayden as a freshman. We were big boys and knew we would have growing pains,” Norvell said. “We rode that out with him. Now is the payoff.”
Norvell took a huge risk by replacing defensive coordinator Freddie Banks with Tyson Summers. He wanted Summers’ rush-driven, man-coverage heavy scheme. Sounds great. Except for this: The Rams have one starter returning on defense.
“The biggest thing you are going to see is the physicality. We practice very hard. We get after it,” said Iowa State transfer linebacker Jacob Ellis.
You can feel the excitement around the CSU program. The Rams are confident.
But it is time to raise the bar for this school and this coach. CSU cannot be OK with just being OK.
“Our challenge is like every team. We are trying to take all these new players and fuse them together in a hurry,” Norvell said. “But our goal has not changed. It is to win a championship. It’s that simple.”
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