Base Camp: Looking for Layers of Improvement
Depth and competition is more than a numbers game as Norvell enters Year 2
Mike Brohard
Even in a tough season – especially a tough one – head coaches are still pushing to move forward, to build for the future.
In many ways, Colorado State leader Jay Norvell couldn’t have what he wanted. A roster of 100-plus players when the season began was whittled down to 57 healthy players at the end, the byproduct of roster transformation via defections and injury. What pushed a team forward is competition. What’s required is depth.
Norvell knew he didn’t have the necessary foundation on hand.
“One of the issues we had last year is we had starters who had no competition, and their level of play diminished over the year. When you have a really good program, everybody has to fight to get better all the time,” Norvell said with his second fall camp set to begin Friday. “We grade our players. Some guys we grade as solid starters. Some guys we grade as inconsistent starters, some guys are all-conference, some guys we think our NFL players. Well, you want your inconsistent starters to be solid starters, you want your solid starters to be all-conference, you want your all-conference guys to be NFL guys. Everybody has to feel that pressure to get better.
“Tory Horton, we expect him to be better. Mo Kamara, we expect him to be better, but all of our guys who are competing and playing need to feel pressure from the guys behind them. If you have a good program, that’s the way it is. If you don’t have a healthy roster, you don’t have backups who can push your starters. I think that’s as important as anything. We’ve tried to build a roster from the bottom up and tried to add as many playmakers as possible. We’ve done that. Many of our transfer players have been very productive players for other schools. They’re not just transfers, they’re transfers who have started who have had key roles for their teams. We’re hoping to plug that production into our roster. Now, it doesn’t always correlate the way that you want it to, but that’s the plan.”
The Rams enter camp with a full roster and optimism. Some of it stems from spring, where the first wave of replacements entered the program and jumpstarted the process, including a base of offensive linemen, the top priority in the rebuilding project. More arrived this summer, additional transfers and freshmen who were given a crash course on the Rams’ systems in player-led practices.
Spring camp still wasn’t a full house due to graduation and a few more transferring out, but the locker room was a bit more crowded, and the players and coaches could see the desired effect. From their vantage point, the building process received a vital injection.
In the summer, it ramped up another tick. The key is amping it up even more in August as the reality of the approaching season takes hold.
“I think spring is definitely a time when those new guys come in and learn the defense, get a grasp on things. Now everybody is locked in and dialed in, and the vets can teach the transfers or the freshmen tricks to the playbook they need to know,” All-Mountain West safety Jack Howell said. “It’s a new elevation from spring. There’s a whole new layer, and we know Wazzu comes up really quick.
“Competition is huge, and it’s contagious. You see it on the field. If a guy makes a tackle and is flying around with energy, then the whole defense is going to be that way. It’s pushing to be the best in competition and that brings us out in us.”
I’m excited. That wasn’t the way it was last year. Guys are going to be pushed extra hard to be at the level we want.Jacob Gardner
The offensive line was under the microscope when Norvell pointed out the two issues and the cause and effect. The Rams used four different centers in 2022 due to injuries, relying on a few youngsters who in all fairness had not had the chance to fully develop. This was an issue Norvell and offensive line coach Bill Best inherited – the last time the team recruited a prep offensive lineman who went on to earn all-conference recognition was 2013.
It was addressed in spring camp when a trio of transfers – Oliver Jervis, Saveyon Henderson and Drew Moss – were immediately thrust into the starting lineup. Teivis Tuioti moved from defense to offense, and he progressed so much, he will remain in the offensive room. Then even more reinforcements were added.
Veteran Jacob Gardner immediately felt a difference. A welcome one.
“No doubt with Drew, Saveyon and Oliver coming in, and we had a whole bunch of guys come in after spring ball. We had transfers, guys who were developed,” he said. “We just have to teach them the technique. I’m excited for fall camp because it’s guys pushing guys who were starting in the spring. You don’t know how good anybody is at football until you see them play it, and that’s why I’m excited about fall camp. You get to see the new guys out there and watch them play some ball.
“Last year our reputation wasn’t great, and I want to change that. And I think we can. We brought in new guys, and we’ll get Brian Crespo-Jaquez back, guys who are capable of starting and earning a role. I’m excited. That wasn’t the way it was last year. Guys are going to be pushed extra hard to be at the level we want.”
The offensive line wasn't the only room to get a makeover. It happened at running back and tight end, key positions where there are plenty of new faces and relatively few familiar ones. Howell likes all the new teammates he has in the secondary and what they've added to the mix. Sprinkle in some linebackers and wide outs and the result is a locker room which not only looks different, but one which emits a refreshingly enhanced vibe.
Ideally, every position coach wants a player behind a starter who is making him at least think, if not constantly looking over his shoulder. Job security is a great motivator. Yet Howell and Gardner both said competition is best when it’s not born only from the depth chart, but when it comes in a linear fashion across the board. The guy lining up next to you. Definitely the one across from you.
Gardner said he and defensive lineman Grady Kelly spent the entire spring not only expecting the other to push them to be better, but they spent time in the locker room after practice talking about their mindset in their personal daily battles.
Howell credits his rise in the system to the existence of Henry Blackburn when he arrived, as well as the addition of Ayden Hector to the backend. All are starters in the backend of Freddie Banks’ defensive system, but they drive one another each day.
“I know Henry and I have talked about loving to play with each other because we’ve both elevated each other’s game,” Howell said. “We were immediately competing for a spot, and it was back and forth. Sophomore year, summer and fall we competed, and we ended up winning different spots, but every day we take that with us. Ayden Hector as well. We always compete -- who is the fastest and the strongest. It intensifies all around.”
This isn’t just a Colorado State goal. Every program in the nation is striving to reach the pinnacle of depth, where the certain injuries which await during the season will alter the starting lineup. It will be the next man up, but the difference between good teams and great ones are the readiness of those players stepping into the void.
Last year, Norvell knew they didn’t have the depth. The aftershock was not having somebody ready to go. At no point and time will a coach ever feel every base is covered.
Having players helps, but no matter how many are around, it starts individually with an inner drive. It’s not always easy when clear path to the field isn’t seen, but Garder has already talked to a few new teammates in his room about making themselves available when the chance arrives.
When it comes to the subject, he’s exhibit A.
“My first year, I was the third-string center coming in. One guy quit, another guy got hurt and another one never got cleared. Four guys in front of me go down and that’s when I got my opportunity,” he said. “Things happen during the season. This was all before the season started. Things happen so fast, and it happened last year, too. Guys went down and I ended up going back out to left tackle. Hey, even if you are a third-string center … you never know when opportunity is going to rise and show itself.”
Because it will.
As much as anything – from learning the playbook to polishing techniques and finding the next wave of playmakers – Norvell and his staff will be looking for the additional edge. When the two-deep isn’t just a necessity, but a solid fact. And then beyond. Because if depth is just numbers, it won’t add up in the standings.
“I think it’s a constant evolution of creating competition,” Norvell said.