Colorado State fired head coach Jay Norvell after Saturday’s loss against Hawaii, according to On3’s Brett McMurphy. The 62-year-old Norvell has been the Rams’ head coach since 2022, but the program is moving on without him after Colorado State fell to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the Mountain West this sason.
Norvell finishes 18-26 in three and a half seasons at Colorado State following a successful tenure at Nevada from 2017-21. With the Wolf Pack, Norvell went 33-26 and was 2-1 in bowl games while not coaching in a fourth after he took the job with the Rams.
The 2024 season was the highlight for Norvell at Colorado State, considering the career-high eight wins. However, the Rams lost the Arizona Bowl 43-17 to Miami (Ohio).
Norvell began his coaching career at Iowa as a grad assistant following his playing days in 1986. He had numerous assistant gigs over the next couple of decades at Northern Iowa, Wisconsin, Iowa State, the Indianapolis Colts, Oakland Raiders, Nebraska, UCLA, Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona State.
Norvell was a linebacker at Iowa from 1982-85 and was named First-Team All-Big Ten during his final season. He would play for the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears over the next two years as a practice squad member and replacement player before getting into coaching.
The notable news out of Norvell’s camp at Colorado State in recent seasons was his feud with Colorado head coach Deion Sanders. The two schools already have a heated rivalry, but it hit a new gear during Sanders’ tenure.
After Norvell and family allegedly had some disparaging comments about Sanders last year, Coach Prime was asked for a rebuttal. Although he didn’t give any ground and simply said he interacted with Norvell’s wife during the Big 12 Meetings.
“Well, I had the honor and the pleasure at the Big 12 meetings to meet his wife,” Sanders said. “She’s delightful. I’m not looking for an apology. I just met her. She was delightful … I don’t judge people based off what they say when they’re emotional. I can’t do that man. My heart ain’t built like that. When you show me who you are, I gotta believe you, but I hadn’t seen that. I just met his wife and she was delightful.”
Norvell explained that he didn’t really think about his rival. And there certainly doesn’t seem to be some secret friendship behind the scenes with Sanders.
“I don’t have any feelings for Deion Sanders, I really don’t,” Norvell said in July of 2024, according to the Denver Gazette. “I don’t think about Deion Sanders unless you guys ask me a question about him. No, nothing’s changed.”
