For six weeks, the fallout from Jay Norvell’s firing at Colorado State simmered behind the scenes. The program hired Jim Mora from UConn, and that paid off on the recruitment front. However, now Norvell’s son has turned up the heat with a public tirade against the program he once called home.
“CSU is no longer relevant. The U is canceled. It’s not popping to come here anymore. I know I’ll put y’all in front of the map in front of 10 million representatives, made it cool. It’s not cool to come here. They don’t care about the culture. Just wanna drink beer and lose games, man, trust me,” Jaden posted on Instagram. But he didn’t stop there.
“Unless you’re just a mediocre Big Sky-type player, then yeah it’s perfect snow and bad football lol,” reads Jaden’s next IG story.
Jaden was the student assistant for his father, Jay, and is venting his frustration on key figures like the program’s OC. He slammed Grant Chestnut for not incorporating his “concepts” into the plays. As a result, Colorado was mostly on the losing side.
Jay Norvell was fired after he started the season with a 2-5 record. Reports mentioned that CSU held a staff meeting right after the Hawaii loss, and the program inclined towards moving in a direction with a new leadership. It was also highlighted as crucial by the University’s Athletic Director, John Weber, since the Rams are moving to the newly constituted Pac-12 and are looking for a fresh start.
“As we prepare to join the Pac-12 Conference next year, we need to position our program to compete at the highest level. While we’ve seen progress, a change in leadership is necessary to achieve the sustained excellence our program requires,” said AD John Weber. Colorado State had undoubtedly lagged behind under Jay Norvell, a trend also observed with other head coaches.
Teams on the rise .
Each of these teams won more games in 2024 than they did in 2023 and won more games in 2023 than they did in 2022! https://t.co/4Qzwo8gHRN pic.twitter.com/sC1gGSoBsH
— College Football Zone (@CollegeFBonX) January 24, 2025
Norvell compiled an 18-26 record since joining in December 2021 as the program’s 24th head coach. In that period, the Rams made just one bowl game in 2024, which was also in a season with a relatively weak schedule. CSU avoided both MWC powerhouses, Boise State and UNLV; moreover, the team had just one win over a team with a winning record. Not to mention, after Jay Norvell was fired, the program drowned even deeper.
Jay Norvell’s son outlines unfair treatment from CSU staff
Jaden alleges that the program didn’t allow him to continue as a student assistant. To prevent that from happening, the team under the interim head coach and former DC Tyson Summers had removed Jaden’s concepts and barred him from running any plays. He also outlines how the OC didn’t even comply with his demand to incorporate a single play.
“As a coach, I’ve never had to beg an offensive coordinator to Script a SINGLE PLAY from undercenter like it’s just part of the game, like a first down, a very weird experience. I don’t think anybody else had to go through that this season. But that’s the competency level I’ve had to deal with over the last year and a half,” wrote Jaden.
CSU has managed to win just two games this season and is in its seventh consecutive losing season. The problems for CSU run deeper than just a head coaching change. The program has a higher budget (almost $23 million higher) and NIL resources than its MWC counterparts, like Nevada. Yet, the Wolfpacks have a better 63-29 record compared to CSU’s 54-64 since 2012. CSU has spent far more money on its coaches, players, and facilities during this period. Not to mention, CSU paid $1.5 million as buyout money to Jay Norvell.
During this period, the program had no division titles, five bowl games (two fewer than Nevada), and no conference championships. Something needs to change and fast.