Setting the Stage: Senior Day

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Before Friday's game, Colorado State will honor 17 seniors, many of them players Jay Norvell inherited and came to know in just one season.

That doesn't lessen the impact they've made on the program to the first-year coach.

"I'm just very proud of them. I think we've gotten really great honest work from those guys and great dedication to the program," Norvell said. "I was just talking to Dequan Jackson on the field. Dequan is an excellent student, a guy who's really taken advantage of his education and he's also taken advantage of his football playing here at CSU. He's tried really hard to be a great example to the younger players, and I feel like you need to acknowledge that. The guy has really been a great example in tough times, and he's committed to this university and this program.

"I told our younger players they have a responsibility to guys like Dequan. Really the greatest gift you can give them is great attention and great preparation this week and play well on Friday."

Colorado State will honor Jackson, David Aggrey, Chigozie Anusiem, Dante Bivens, Michael Boyle, Cam'Ron Carter, Gray Davis, Troy Golden, Brandon Hickerson-Rooks, Mohamed Kamara, Henry Katleman, Dontae Keys, Greg Laday, Justice McCoy, C.J. Onyechi, Jacob Raab and Gary Williams.

A handful of them were here for just one season, while Jackson and Carter have been on a ride together, playing as freshmen and working their way through numerous coaching changes and a global pandemic. They all have different stories. Gray has played at two schools but for just one coach; Jackson and Carter have played at one school for three different coaches.

"There's going to be part of me who feels like do I deserve to be honored in the same event with dudes who have been here six years only at this program, but also I think about how we're leaving, the O-line, the seniors are leaving a legacy behind," said Davis, who went through the ceremony at Nevada last season. "I'll be a Colorado State fan probably for life. I played here, so it's always going to mean something to me. I'm not going to not have any feelings toward it just because I've been here for one year only."

Jackson's time at Colorado State definitely means something to him. He's been a captain for each of the coaches he's played for and has consistently been a voice of reason in the locker room, no matter the situation.

He's seen just about everything, but he has no idea how the day of his final collegiate game will hit him.

"For me personally, I think I know my clock's ticking, so I've been paying attention and trying to make the most of every moment," Jackson said. "I know it's my last game. I've been reflecting a little bit already, but just focusing on finishing out, finishing strong and the rest will hit me afterwards. I'm not really too concerned with it yet. I just know it's one of those things you can't control, so I don't even know how I'm going to feel. I may be emotional; I may not be. I may just be happy, I may cry, I may not cry. I don't know. Just finish this out and look forward to having another opportunity to suit up."

Norvell, noting 12 of the 17 have already graduated with some working on graduate degrees, reiterated the sacrifice they made being student-athletes often goes unseen.

Whether they continue to play football or not, his appreciation stems from what they did with their time, be it all at Colorado State or split up at other schools.

"We have one man, it's probably the first time in my career, Michael Boyle, who is going to be completing his doctorate in the spring in computer science," Norvell said. "These kids, they really need to be recognized and we want to do that on Friday and really acknowledge their hard work and their sacrifice and their dedication. Where there's so many examples of guys who aren't following through, who are quitting, who arent' doing what they're supposed to do, I just think we need to acknowledge these kids who have really sacrificed and worked hard to finish their careers and to graduate."

Immediate Recruiting

Not all 17 seniors have to say goodbye, a fact Norvell is very much aware of, so he's already started putting the bug in the ear of some players.

"I've started some of those already. I think one of the things with covid and some of the transfer stuff, players have choices; they have a lot of choices, and some of these guys have been in school a long time," Norvell said. "Some of them have families, some of them have kids and wives. They have decisions to make: Do they want to stay, do they want to take their opportunity in the NFL, do they want to go work – a lot of them already have their degrees.

"There's some we'd definitely love to have come back. They can make a real contribution to our program with their experience, and those conversations have already started. I've already started working. Some of the best recruits you can get are the guys that are already on your team. We want to retain all those guys."

Norvell said there is no timeline on those decisions, with exit meetings with position coaches beginning next week, where those conversations will start to extend.

Looks Familiar

Davis redshirted his first season at Nevada when Norvell first was hired, so he's had a front-row seat at two places where his coach has started to change a program.

What he's seen this season with Colorado State looks reflective to him.

"The similarities are really the same. Kind of at Nevada, the roster, there was a huge turnover when Coach Norvell got there; there really wasn't much depth," Davis said. "It's kind of the same way here, the same guys had to play no matter how banged up or bruised they were because that was all we had. That's how it has been here. Once there was another year with the young guys learning and building off what they learned the past year, then a whole new recruiting class coming in, there's a lot of similarities. It definitely is the same record going into this last game."

That first year at Nevada, the Wolf Pack beat a UNLV team trying to become bowl eligible, picking up the third win of the season. Colorado State at 2-9 is hoping to grab that third win against New Mexico squad it has beaten 11 consecutive times.

A win the final week can serve as a stepping stone to the next season, which Gray has witnessed.

"I think if we pull out a win here, especially in a good whole-team fashion where everyone is finally working together, all 11 guys doing their job consistently, I think it will be a big step forward to making that leap next year that happened at Nevada," he said. "I think we went from three wins my first year at Nevada, and we had eight wins the next year. That's a pretty big leap, and I think a win here would help that happen next year."

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David Aggrey

Chigozie Anusiem

Dante Bivens

Michael Boyle

Cam'Ron Carter

Gray Davis

Troy Golden

Brandon Hickerson-Rooks

Dequan Jackson

Mohamed Kamara

Henry Katleman

Dontae Keys

Greg Laday

Justice McCoy

Jacob Raab

Gary Williams

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