Two Groups Coming Together

Awkward became familiar. Weird became the norm.

The 27 seniors Colorado State's football team will honor before Friday's game with Utah State were drawn together not just in one class but multiple. And from different schools. Jay Norvell's arrival as football coach meant he was inheriting a group of players searching for change, and with Norvell bringing a handful of players with him from Nevada – a team which had just beaten the Rams a few weeks prior – led to some odd glances from all corners of the locker room.

"When we first got here, that whole group from Nevada, that first team meeting, that first month, was awkward," tight end Peter Montini said. "They were like, what are these guys doing here? It was very weird. After a week, they brought us in with arms wide open and they're like my brothers now. It was weird at first. Very weird.

"Almost like enemies. We played the last game of the season. Now we're brothers."

That entire first year was strange in many ways. Through the first four weeks, the roster started to whittle down. Players were taking advantage of the rule which allows them to redshirt if they played four or less games.

Each day, they felt, would bring something new.

"Everyday somebody left," Jack Howell said. "You just knew something was going to happen."

Where they landed was in a place where they knew who stayed was committed. Even before then, there was a strong feeling about those in spring camp. Montini felt strong about Howell and even Henry Blackburn from the way they practiced, specifically during inside run drills.

Offseason conditioning cemented it for others.

"I think a lot of it was the strength staff. We did a whole lot of physical challenges on the weekend in the winter," Jacob Gardner said. "It kind of pulls everyone together, everyone is suffering together. I think that was the first big step we took to become a group."

Coach Jay Norvell admires the group. For every coach, every senior class produces special memories, each varied by the personalities and what they had to endure.

He recognizes this class had to come together, some familiar with the place, some familiar with the style. Along the way, they found and blended common ground.

"This is a really special group of seniors for us. We have several players who have been here their whole career," Norvell said. "We have some players who have been with us as a coaching staff since they were freshmen. This is a really special weekend for us. This is an uncommon group of seniors. When I started thinking about this group, this group has chosen courage over comfort. There are a lot of their teammates no longer on the team that were here when we first got here. This group has stuck it out. They believed in the things we've asked them to do. They're a blue collar bunch of guys. They're unselfish, they play for each other, they've played hurt. I just really would like to send this group out with a great home victory in their last game."

Some of the awkwardness is easy to laugh about now. For Howell, it seems so long ago it's no longer a thought in his mind, that they came from separate places, that many of them originally played against each other. Now all he sees is a room of people he considers brothers.

Same with Montini. He was looking out for like-minded players, guys who were willing to put in the effort and the work. He gained an admiration for those who originally committed to Colorado State and stuck it out, determined to be the ones who turned the program around.

Those are people you can bond with, grow with. Succeed with.

What the Colorado State contingent found was a collection of former Nevada players who were just as committed, but in a unique way at first. For them, it was Norvell they believed in, and to them, the where didn't matter.

What they shared was what they knew about Norvell's style and his demands.

"I think the biggest thing with Jacob coming over, Jacob is one of the most active college football players, has the most snaps, and at Nevada, and 0they knew how to win," linebacker Chase Wilson said. "Jacob bringing that over, that knowing-how-to-win mentality and how to lead, and then we had the guys at CSU who knew how to go through hardships. Being able to mesh that together I think came together to make a good team and a good leadership staff that we have."

A five-game win streak in conference play netted results the program hasn't seen in nearly a decade. A bowl game will be played. A winning record is guaranteed, and there is even more to chase.

The possibility of playing for the conference title is slim, but not gone. And when most of them exit college football – some still retain some eligibility – they will leave behind a blueprint the younger players still on roster can follow.

"I challenge these guys all the time," Norvell said. "When you're gone, will you be missed? This group of seniors definitely will be."

What was weird at first now feels normal. Like family. Norvell says deep down the two factions were not particularly different. At Nevada, they called it grit. Montini knew guys like Howell and Blackburn had it as soon as he arrived. One drill alone proved as much.

Now, the start seems so long ago. It's been three years, so the two sides feel like one.

"I was actually talking to Matt Greenwald about that a couple of days ago," Montini said. "I've been here for three years now. I was 20, now I'm 23. I was here longer than I was at Nevada. It's super weird."

The kind of weird which feels good. Even normal. One big group, one Norvell will always remember and appreciate. As for the players, after fighting to end a drought and breathe life back into the program, they'll never forget.

Not what it took. Definitely not who they accomplished. More important to all of them is who stood with them until the end.

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Henry Blackburn

Jacob Gardner

Matt Greenwald

Jack Howell

Peter Montini

Chase Wilson

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