Colorado State is a team entering a new era with Steve Addazio having been fired and Jay Norvell being the new man in Fort Collins. Norvell comes aboard from inter-conference foe Nevada and brought a slew of players with him to the Rams.
On Saturday, when CSU travels to Michigan, we’ll get our first look at what Norvell brings to the table.
On offense, he deploys an air raid scheme, at least he did last year, though he can run a West Coast offense, the pistol, and spread. While he won’t have Carson Strong at his disposal, he did bring Clay Millen from Nevada as his quarterback of the future. Millen has zero starts to his name, however, and will be getting his first real taste of action (he played sparingly last year with two pass attempts and one run) in the biggest stadium in the country. His offensive coordinator is Matt Mumme, who was a quarterback at Kentucky and was the OC under Norvell at Nevada.
Norvell has an impressive cadre of receivers, with two starters having more receiving yards than anyone in Ann Arbor last year. There’s intermediate experience across the offense, including on the offensive line, but a lot of that side of the ball is new to the team.
The same could be said of the personnel on teh defensive side of the ball, which will be led by Freddie Banks. Banks oversaw the No. 6 scoring defense in the FCS last year overseeing Montana State. They were 18th in red zone defense a year ago. He has history with Norvell, having coached cornerbacks at Nevada in 2020. He is deploying a 4-2-5 defense in Fort Collins, which will see a heavy emphasis on a nickel back, who just happens to be one of CSU’s most prolific returning players.
For more on personnel, we’ve compiled their experience and stats below, with some help from The Coloradoan. Though CSU was not a good team last year and may take some time to jell, this is mostly an experienced group that likely won’t enter The Big House overwhelmed by the environment.