Monday Presser: Rams Set for Rivals Amid Changes

FORT COLLINS – The news came Sunday that Jay Norvell would no longer be leading the Colorado State football program. On Monday, Director of Athletics John Weber addressed the why as well as the aspects of what comes next. The immediate answer is defensive coordinator Tyson Summers in an interim role.

Weber noted it wasn't an easy thing to do, given the type of man Norvell is, but he did feel it was necessary given the overall results and a lack of consistency in an effort to build from week to week. For Weber, the time had become now.

"It was As we went through the season, we had starts and stops, and we struggled against Hawaii to find our identity, to be able to move the ball that we needed to in the way that we needed to," Weber said to open the Monday presser. "It was an opportunity for us to get Coach Summers focused on what the future of Colorado State football is, headed into the rivalry game, and it also gives us an extra week as we head into the bye week to make sure that we are prepared from a recruiting perspective. So as opposed to doing this the following week during the bye week, I actually wanted to get started a little bit earlier so that we could get as much momentum as we can as we head into a very critical bye week after our game against Wyoming."

The timing involved took into account the calendar, when the transfer portal opens and as signing days approach. The recruiting will continue even without knowing who the next head coach will be, and time was taken by those on the football staff to reach out to players who have verbally committed.

Making the change with five games and six more weeks on the schedule gives Weber a chance to cast a wide net without having to rush the hiring process, adding CSU will use the services of a search firm. He's also not drawing lines of a box for the next leader to fit inside.

"From a timing perspective, it allows us to run a very exhaustive search. In conjunction with the search firm that we're going to use, it's going to be able to present, I think, a lot of options and allow us to make a very informed, non-rushed decision on the next person to lead our program," Weber said. "The trait, in terms of what we're looking for, about the only thing that I'm going to say is that it needs to be collaborative.

"We've entered an era in collegiate sports, and football in particular, where as a university, we all need to collaborate to ensure that we can be as successful as we possibly can with our football program."

Summers Schedule

Has been chaotic, to be blunt. He was able to have time with Norvell, the rest of the staff and he's made sure to have the time for the players. By the time Monday was set to end, he said he will have met individually with every offensive player, having already spent a lot of time with his guys on defense.

And by the way, there's a rather important game to prepare for – the Border War with Wyoming – at a moment filled with some awkwardness.

"(Sunday) obviously was a day full with a lot of emotions. And for myself and our staff and for our players, I'm very aware of that and really tried to talk with them yesterday just about what yesterday was," Summers said. "I talked with them about parts of the game and being ready to kind of move on from that piece of it. And I really wanted today to be an opportunity for the relationships and the communication between the staff members and Coach Norvell and with the players. I did tell them, I said, we walk in here on Monday, we're here to win a football game this weekend, and we're here to be a football team, and it's time to reset our mind and reset our focus when it goes.

"I think a huge part of what you're talking about is just being able to be very clear in communication and define what your expectations are. So, we tried to go through that this morning as well with the team, holding them to a high level of accountability and just talking about what standards they want. There's individual standards that they need to hold themselves to, and then there's obviously going to be standards that we need to hold each other to and what we want from our team. So, a big part of today was just trying to clearly communicate that as much as I could, and I thought it went well."

Monday went as normal as far as team preparation, all of them going through recovery stretching and getting training services as needed. Tuesday, Summers wants them focused on the task at hand, which is preparing for a rival with the full intent of retaining the Bronze Boot at the end of the evening.

Emotions are in full effect, and can be used, but Summers noted being present in the moment will serve them best. There could be changes to the schedule, he noted, finding things he believe could help them reach their goals with five games remaining. In the stretch, the team will play for two trophies, with Air Force the final date in the regular season.

Summers has been a head coach before, and he's not seeing this moment as an audition for the future. But what he has experienced since his first go-round as Colorado State's defensive coordinator in 2015 will be play for how he moves forward.

"Again, I'm very fortunate for this opportunity to lead and serve, and I've never done anything in my life that I wasn't trying to attack and win and be good at," Summers said. "You know, I think the beauty of me is I failed. I failed. I failed and I won, and I failed and screwed it up, and I failed, and I've done better, and I keep coming back. And I think having made mistakes and I think having learned from those mistakes are all things that are really cool.

"I like my scars. Not everybody likes theirs. I like mine, and I think that I'm at the best version of myself and the best point right now because of those things."

Play Calling

With the added duties of head coach, Summers said his initial plan is to still call the defense, but he will wait to see what the week brings and what will work best for the team.

When he spoke to the offensive staff, he stressed wanting to have a bit more urgency in practice and getting in and out of the huddle. To guide that, the team has it's third big change of the week with tight ends coach Grant Chestnut now serving as the offensive coordinator and will call plays.

"Coach (Matt) Mumme will be passing game coordinator and assistant head coach still. And Coach (Bill) Best will be the running coordinator. Those things will stay the same," Summers said. "But I talked to Coach Chestnut today about the authority and the ability to kind of make some of those adjustments to practice as we go through. So, I think that's a big piece of it.

"I've got a lot of faith in Grant. He's been very successful in his career. And I'm looking forward to what he's able to do with those guys and staff as we move forward in the next couple of weeks."

Chestnut will be the third different person to call the offense on game day this season. Norvell opened the year in the role, switching to Mumme a few weeks back. He previously served as the offensive coordinator for Navy in 2023 and the eight seasons prior at Kennesaw State. Summers and Chestnut worked together at Western Kentucky in 2024.

Making it a theme for the week, Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel announced Jovon Bouknight will call plays for the Cowboys this week, taking over for Jay Johnson.

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