Jay Norvell is the most accessible Division I football coach in the state, but during all of his community and media appearances, he hears the whispers. He is entering his third season and is seeking his first winning record and first wins over rivals Colorado, Wyoming and Air Force.
Patience is not something he can count on. There is only one way to solidify his standing in FoCo: Prove it.
“I haven’t coached one season where it hasn’t been a ‘prove-it’ season. Not one. It always feels like that. What I do feel is that when you have a bunch of good players who have been through some tough stuff it’s good to see them through it. They bring a little bit more to it,” Norvell said over a recent lunch in downtown Denver. “These kids are hungry, they are ready to win and they are ready.”
In Norvell’s first season, inheriting a mess left behind by Steve Addazio, he went 3-9. Last year set him up for redemption, but the team failed to finish in one-score games, most notably at CU and Hawaii. It led to a disappointing 5-7 record and no bowl.
A year later, and more importantly, a year older, everything is similar but different. The Rams believe they are faster, stronger and tougher. A Detroit Lions scout compared their physicality to an NFL team with the way the pads popped at a recent scrimmage.
“You can just feel it everywhere you go. Throughout the admin building, throughout the coaching staff, listening to all of them talk,” CSU athletic director John Weber said. “And when you get to practice, you can see it.”
But are they better? This is the year for Norvell and the Rams to silence the critics.
“You know, of course, those first two years we had the excuse, ‘That’s a young team rebuilding.’ But we’re not rebuilding anymore. I’m really confident in the guys that we picked up and the guys that we have playing for us right now, and I think, heading into the season, everybody’s expecting to win,” stalwart center Jacob Gardner said.
“It’s not, ‘We’re gonna give it our best try, because, you know, we’re a young team.’ It’s like, ‘This is the team like we need to trust each other, and when we go out there, we need to expect to win, right?’ And that’s kind of been the attitude that I think all the leaders of the team have really had.”
The reasons for optimism are easy to see beyond their experience, which includes 17 players who have started at least 10 games, according to Norvell. This is a talented group that appears poised for a breakthrough.
It begins at quarterback, where Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi returns for his second season as a starter. As a redshirt freshman, the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder was thrown into the ocean without scuba gear, taking over for the benched Clay Millen. Fowler-Nicolosi showed no fear in his first start at CU, completing 34 of 47 passes for 367 yards and three touchdowns.
While the Rams lost in overtime — “It’s a game we should have won. We were in control,” Norvell said — they found their quarterback. Fowler-Nicolosi finished with 22 passing touchdowns, some of the spectacular variety. But he countered with 16 interceptions, including four games with at least two apiece.
This season the Rams need Fowler-Nicolosi to find the sweet spot between taking care of the ball and taking chances. He knows it.
“It’s having that understanding that all the guys around me are talented, so I have to trust them. I need to mature in that area of my game,” Fowler-Nicolosi said. “And I have to get the ball out on time; that will help me avoid those mistakes that we cannot afford.”
Fowler-Nicolosi is developing into a leader, earning respect daily with his competitiveness at practice and hours in the film room. Offensive balance should accelerate his growth. The Rams are much better suited to run the ball than a year ago.
“People need to remember that we played with a walk-on running back. That’s not a good combination with a freshman quarterback,” Norvell said. “The kid didn’t have any running game to take the pressure off him.”
Redshirt freshman Justin Marshall offers burst and will get the first opportunity to anchor the ground game. He showed potential last season, starting the final three games and rushing for 319 yards in 2023. The ability to keep opponents off-balance should only inflate the statistics of an intriguing wide-receiving corps led by Tory Horton. He is set to become the Mountain West Conference’s all-time leading receiver after catching 96 passes for 1,136 yards last season.
Horton, like Fowler-Nicolosi, was pursued by Power 4 teams with $600,000 NIL offers. They are both examples of players who valued loyalty over money.
“Tory, until the sixth game of the season, had more touches than any wide receiver in America,” Norvell said. “Opportunity still matters.”
So does the ability to finish. The Rams went 3-3 in one-score games last season. Their defense struggled, allowing 29.6 points per game. But they bolstered their defensive line through the transfer portal and return all-conference-level performers in linebacker Chase Wilson and strong safety Jack Howell.
“Defensively, we have the most experienced secondary in the conference. We don’t have a Mo Kamara (on the defensive line). By committee, we need to have a disciplined, relentless pass rush and I think we can be really effective,” Norvell said. “We have to play with more discipline, especially in those end-of-game situations. We have guys who have played a lot and done a lot. We have to expect to be good. I really like our defense.”
The schedule sets up for a rebound. The Rams play seven home games. They host CU and Wyoming. If CSU is to turn the corner, the on-campus matchups must become bonanzas with the changing landscape of college sports, where NIL dollars and connecting with donors matter more than ever.
“We are really, really bullish on coach Norvell and his team. That drives fan and alumni engagement in a way that nothing else does,” Weber said. “I think you all are going to be surprised how we do. I think we are going to get a lot of butts in the seats.”
Norvell is not hiding from the scrutiny of him specifically and his program in general. He began his coaching career in 1986, working under Hayden Fry in Iowa. He spent memorable years with the Oakland Raiders as a position coach for owner Al Davis.
You want pressure? Pressure is sitting in a room for two weeks with the scouts leading up to the draft and waiting to be randomly called on by Davis, knowing the answer could cost your employment.
“That’s where I really learned what you really look for in a linebacker, a defensive lineman, hand size, arm length, all that. He had been to court so many times. He would run those meetings like Perry Mason,” Norvell said. “You had to be ready.”
Which brings us back to 2024. The Rams open at Texas, a game nobody expects them to win. Then the real schedule begins with CU on Sept. 14, followed by touchstone games at Air Force on Oct. 19 and home against Wyoming on Nov. 15.
The Rams believe they are capable of climbing and pulling up the ladder behind them. Now is the time. Don’t talk about it. Be about it.
“Of course, there’s always gonna be pressure at this level. I think that needs to be one of those things that when it comes to (big-picture stuff), if I’m focused on the game, then that’s what’s important. The next play is the most important play, not getting caught up with how many people are looking or all these people who express their opinions on social media and stuff,” Gardner said. “At the end of the day, it’s about us. It’s about these guys in this locker room. And when it’s time to go out and play, we need to focus on that next play, have that next-play mentality. It’s on us.”
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Originally Published: August 27, 2024 at 1:00 p.m.
