Merritt James Norvell III (born March 28, 1963) is an American college football coach and former player who is currently the head coach for the

Colorado State Rams The Colorado State Rams are the athletic teams that represent Colorado State University (CSU). Colorado State's athletic teams compete along with 8 other institutions in the Mountain West Conference, which is an NCAA Division I conference and s ...

. Norvell served as the head football coach at

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

from 2017 to 2021. His father, Merritt James Norvell Jr., was the athletic director at Michigan State University from 1995 to 1998.

Playing career

Norvell played college football at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

from 1982 to 1985 and professionally in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) as a linebacker with the Chicago Bears for one season, in 1987.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

His coaching career began at his alma mater

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

in 1986 when Norvell took a job as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respo ...

. From 1988 to 2001, Norvell served as an assistant coach for multiple positions at

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and Iowa State. Norvell briefly spent time in the NFL as an assistant coach from 2002 to 2006 with the Indianapolis Colts and Oakland Raiders before returning to college football at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

to take his first ever offensive coordinator job in 2004. At

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, he helped guide quarterback

Zac Taylor Zachary William Taylor (born May 10, 1983) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). Beginning his NFL career as an offensive assistant, he was the quarterbacks coach f ...

to win Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors and break several school passing records. Norvell spent a season as the offensive coordinator at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

in 2007, and then served as the assistant offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Oklahoma from 2008 to 2010 before being promoted to co- offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2011. Norvell remained at Oklahoma until 2015, when he was hired as the wide receivers coach at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, where he held play calling duties. Norvell then spent the 2016 season as the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

before landing his first head coaching job with Nevada in 2017.

Nevada

In 2017, Norvell was named head coach for the

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

football program. The team struggled during Norvell's first year, going 3–9 in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

. However, Norvell helped the team rebound the next season, with Nevada going 8–5 in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, including a 16–13 overtime victory in the 2018 Arizona Bowl over

Arkansas State Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Nevada posted winning records in 2019, 2020, and 2021 as well, and Norvell finished his tenure at Nevada recording a winning record in four of his five seasons. Norvell also led

quarterback

Carson Strong Carson Brown Strong (born September 14, 1999) is a former American football quarterback who is currently an assistant quarterback coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Philadelphia Eagles in , and also pl ...

to back-to-back

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

Offensive Player of the Year The National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award is an annual American football award given by various organizations to the National Football League (NFL) player who is considered the top offensive player during the regular season. Or ...

awards in 2020 and 2021.

Colorado State

On December 6, 2021, Colorado State hired Norvell to be their 24th head coach and first Black head coach in program history. Norvell's explosive, pass-heavy offensive style came as a stark contrast to previous head coach Steve Addazio's run-heavy

smashmouth offense In American football, a smashmouth offense is an offensive system that relies on a strong running game, where most of the plays run by the offense are handoffs to the fullback or tailback. It is a more traditional style of offense that often resu ...

Head coaching record

†=The team was coached by interim head coach

Vai Taua Vai or VAI has several possible meanings: * Vai people ** Vai language ** Vai syllabary ** Vai (Unicode block) * Vai (Crete) * Văi, a village in Lupșa Commune, Alba County, Romania Abbreviation * VAI, Video Artists International, a classical ...

for the 2021 Quick Lane Bowl as Norvell left the program prior to the game.

References

External links

Colorado State profile

Nevada profile

Arizona State profile

Texas profile

UCLA profile

Nebraska profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norvell, Jay 1963 births Living people American football defensive backs American football linebackers Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches Chicago Bears players Colorado State Rams football coaches Indianapolis Colts coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football players Iowa State Cyclones football coaches National Football League replacement players Nebraska Cornhuskers football coaches Nevada Wolf Pack football coaches Northern Iowa Panthers football coaches Oakland Raiders coaches Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Texas Longhorns football coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches Wisconsin Badgers football coaches Sportspeople from Madison, Wisconsin Coaches of American football from Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople