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Exclusive: Norvell talks CSU rebuild, quarterback whispering, and race in coaching

Jay Norvell
Posted at 6:34 AM, Feb 07, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-07 08:39:02-05

Jay Norvell was introduced as Colorado State University's new head football coach in December, inheriting a team that went 3-9 in 2021 and wallowing in a four year bowl drought.

Denver7 Sports had a chance to catch up with the new coach to discuss his plans for getting the Rams back on the winning track, how to develop a great quarterback, and — as CSU's first Black head football coach — the inequality that plagues coaching both in the NFL and NCAA.

Previously, Norvell was the head coach of the Nevada Wolf Pack. He went 33-26 during his time at Nevada after he was hired in 2017. He went 3-9 in his first season but posted winning records and went to bowl games in each of the past four seasons, including two second-place Mountain West finishes. Before that, he served as an assistant at schools including Iowa State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, UCLA, Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona State. He also coached for six seasons in the NFL.

“I am humbled, thankful, but most importantly excited to begin this process of building Colorado State into the championship contender we all know it can be,” Norvell said in a statement after the announcement in December. “My family and I are ecstatic and cannot wait to get to Fort Collins to get started.”

His hiring came in the wake of the firing of former coach Steve Addazio in early December.