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There’s a familiar, even comforting, rhythm to a college football coaching tenure. The first year is often when a coach acclimates to and meshes with his new surroundings. The second year is an opportunity to build on that, to make tangible strides and provide precious evidence that the vision boldly laid out during the hiring process is not only being implemented, but working.
By the third year, though, progress often isn’t enough. A program is no longer the woebegone entity a coach inherited, or at least enough time has passed that it shouldn’t be. Three years into a stint, it’s fair to wonder that if a winning product hasn’t yet been placed on the field, will it ever be?
This is the position in which Jay Norvell currently finds himself. The veteran football coach was brought to Colorado State University in December 2021 with the hopes of revitalizing a once proud, potential-laden program that had suffered through four consecutive losing seasons and had just fired its most recent coach after two tumultuous years. Entering his third season at the helm, Norvell has brought some semblance of stability and optimism to Fort Collins. After an awkward first season defined by a transition from Steve Addazio’s smash-mouth offensive system to Norvell’s Air Raid attack, the Rams improved by two wins last season and had the look of a much more competent outfit.
Still, it’s reasonable for Rams fans to want—and perhaps even expect—more. For all the steps CSU has taken, the squad has gone 8-16 in two seasons under Norvell. With one more win in 2023, the Rams could have made a bowl for the first time since 2017. But the Rams lost a close one to University of Colorado Boulder early in the season and then dropped its final game to a 4-8 University of Hawaii team in particularly cruel fashion when the Rainbow Warriors drained a 51-yard field goal as time expired.
Could this be the year that the Rams break through? It’s quite possible. Norvell has shown he can win in the Mountain West Conference, having done so from 2017 through 2021 at the University of Nevada—a much more cash-strapped program than CSU. In his second year in Reno, the head coach won eight games. Perhaps such a leap with CSU has just been delayed by a year, particularly since five of the team’s seven losses last season were decided by a combined 13 points. The Rams’ schedule is favorable enough, with Boise State University and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the two preseason favorites to win the Mountain West, nowhere to be found.
Maybe most impressively, Norvell managed to keep many of his most talented underclassmen, like Tory Horton and Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, out of the transfer portal, despite spirited efforts from larger, more prestigious programs to lure them away. “It’s really frustrating for me as a guy that’s been in this business for over 30 years to really see the misinformation that kids are getting and really the poor decision-making that’s coming of it,” Norvell told the Coloradoan last December.
CSU fans are justified in wanting more from their team. The Rams were a regional and sometimes national power under head coach Sonny Lubick in the late 1990s and 2000s—so it can be done here. They play in a sparkling, eight-year-old on-campus stadium that’s nicer than a number of venues at the Power Four level (and, at $220 million, more expensive). Fort Collins is routinely ranked as one of the country’s most alluring college towns. And, most notably for its football aspirations, the school is financially committed to the sport, spending nearly 50 percent more on its football program than its next-closest conference mate (Boise State University), according to the most recent U.S. Department of Education data.
But after an embarrassing season opener—a 52-0 drubbing by the University of Texas Longhorns—the Rams need to get it together, especially if Norvell wants to keep his job. For the head coach and so many other Rams fans, this would be as good of a season as any for them to do so.
5280 Record Prediction: 7-5
Can’t-Miss Matchup
vs. University of Colorado Boulder, September 14: Although it’s a matchup that has no bearing on the Rams’ path to a Mountain West championship, there’s not an opponent more symbolically important on CSU’s schedule than its in-state rival. The Rams very nearly derailed Colorado’s early-season hype train last year in Boulder before squandering an 11-point fourth-quarter lead and falling in double overtime. After memorably chiding Deion Sanders earlier in the week for his sartorial choices, Norvell had a couple of questionable late-game decisions that prevented his team from closing out the massive upset. This year, the Rocky Mountain Showdown heads to Fort Collins, where CSU, which is 1-1 now, will seek redemption after 12 months.
3 Players to Watch
Tory Horton, wide receiver: Horton enters the 2024 season as one of the best wideouts not only in the Mountain West, but nationally. The 6-foot-3 California native, who followed Norvell from Nevada after the 2021 season, has been a difference-maker from the moment he suited up in green and gold. In two seasons with the Rams, he has logged 2,267 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns. Rams fans hope there’s much more in store for his fifth and final college season.
Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, quarterback: While Horton reportedly had his fair share of potential Power Four suitors in the off-season, Fowler-Nicolosi’s recruitment came with a stated dollar figure—$600,000—which both Norvell and his quarterback have publicly referenced. It’s easy to see why he’s coveted: Fowler-Nicolosi has the build of a stereotypically successful quarterback and finished last season among the top 20 players nationally in passing yards. To become more effective, though, he’ll need to cut down on turnovers: He tossed 16 interceptions last season, tied for the second-most in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Jack Howell, defensive back: Howell is the son of CSU royalty; his father, John, starred at the school under Lubick at the turn of the century before embarking on a six-year NFL career. The younger Howell (and Fort Collins native), however, is forging his own legacy. Last season, he led the Rams in tackles and pass break-ups, and as a senior in 2024, he’ll have the opportunity to earn first-team All-Mountain West honors for the third consecutive season.
