Monday Presser: New Season Awaits Rams

What this team listed as a goal was one coach Jay Norvell has been pursuing for three years. But they were a few rows back in line from a group who has been with Colorado State's football program the entirety of their careers.

Henry Blackburn came to the Rams as a freshman intent on changing the perception. Chase Wilson was there with him. So was Dane Olson. Jack Howell joined the cause.

While Norvell said reaching the Arizona Bowl is an accomplishment the entire team should take pride in, he acknowledged the longest standing Rams for their commitment to the chase. For the team, those emotions were on display Sunday during the team banquet.

"I think the greatest thing about it was the players, the way they spoke about each other, the way they spoke about their time here at CSU," Norvell said Monday at a bowl press conference. "As you wind down the season and go through senior day, there's a lot of opportunities for players to reflect and talk about really leaving the program better. That's a goal whenever we bring in new players, we challenge them to leave this program in a better place than when they came into it. Those guys have been through a lot of hard times. They've had three different coaches, a lot of tough seasons.

"I really have to tip my hat to Jack and Henry and Chase and all the old-timers, Cam Bariteau, (James Mitchell) ... Guys that have been here for so long and haven't had success. They really taught our young players what it's like to sacrifice, what it's like to play with injuries and how to really prepare and support one another. That's what it's all about."

When Blackburn and Wilson came in with the 2020 class, it marked three years since the team had played in a bowl. Their goal was simple, to help rebuild a program which had put together five-year postseason streaks in the recent past. They also didn't anticipate playing for a trio of head coaches and the wait time, but they held firm to the original task.

This is the realization of a long-set goal.

"This is awesome to still be playing in December. That's something I haven't experienced yet personally at CSU," Blackburn said. "This is everything we worked for. We love the guys in this locker room, so it's awesome we earn another month together.

"I'm really proud for my teammates and everybody in this program. I'm happy a lot of guys get to experience this. It's good for everybody. The hard work paying off, it's good to see that."

Colorado State gets 15 additional practices for the bowl, which began Monday. This week will focus on younger players getting some reps – almost like spring camp – with the game plan for Miami (Ohio) taking shape next week. With three weeks between games, the idea is some players who have been dealing with injuries will be healthier and ready to play. Practice times will also be altered this week due to finals schedules.

New Leader

Linebackers coach Adam Pilapil will serve as the defensive coordinator for the bowl game, with Marcus Patton overseeing the entire secondary. Norvell wants the new defensive coordinator to be an extension of his identity, and the search is well underway.

"It's pretty simple really," Norvell said. "I want a kick-ass defense, I want kick-ass players, and I want a kick-ass coach. It's that simple."

Aggressive was the adjective Norvell tossed out often in reference to rushing the passer and in secondary coverage.

He said as a head coach, he wasn't going to rent out areas of his team in any of the three phrases, saying all three were part of the Rams, and as its head coach, he's ultimately responsible for what is done and how it's done. Every area should reflect who he is as a coach.

"I want them to see my fingerprints and footprints on how we play," he said. "That's more important to me than if it's an even front or an odd front. I want to make things hard for people schematically. I want the quarterback to have a long day when he plays us, and I want to play aggressive pass coverage, and I want to run and hit.

"That's my personality. That's what I believe football should look like."

New Role

The last thing Norvell wants to discuss with a player is money. That's the way college athletics is evolving with NIL and revenue sharing, so the coach is creating a new general manager position on staff to work with players and educate them on that side of the game.

He has talked to coaches from larger schools who have had success with the position and the ability to navigate the current landscape without the head coach being involved in dollar amounts.

It's a position he wants hired as soon as possible, though he'd prefer that person to have already been on staff.

"There's way more to it when you talk about NIL and now that we're moving into this rev-sharing period, it's just important you have somebody who is communicating with the players, helping them manage their way through all these challenges with NIL," Norvell said. "The general manager role in the National Football League is a little different; the general manager oversees all of football operations. For us, it will be more personnel.

"It will be overseeing recruiting, working with our recruiting department, working with our coaches to understand areas and the types of players we're bringing in, and then also communicating with players about NIL on that piece of it. There are just more things that go into personnel than we've had in the past, and there are a lot of schools who have done a good job of it, and we're really investigating and communicating with those schools and trying to bring that level of success here to CSU."

The football calendar has changed, with dates creating some odd timing for those programs still playing. Recruiting classes were signed as teams were participating in conference championship games, and the transfer portal opened Monday. When it did, five Colorado State players had entered, altering the CSU lineup.

This is the new wave, and Norvell said everybody has to be prepared.

"I would just advise all the Rams fans and Colorado State fans to relax and take a deep breath: We're going through the transfer portal," he said. "Every school in America is going to lose players. Young people are going to make decisions because that's the way the system is in place. They don't have to ask anybody's opinion; they don't have to do any research. They can just leave if they wake up that morning and feel like that's a good idea, or they have an uncle, a cousin or a trainer who tells them they should leave."

Norvell said the top 26 players on the roster have all been offered money to leave the program, some quite a bit. Some of it comes from independent agents, who Norvell says are taking a bigger cut from the process than NFLPA agents.

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Cam Bariteau

Henry Blackburn

Jack Howell

James Mitchell

Dane Olson

Chase Wilson

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