Merritt James Norvell III (born March 28, 1963) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach and former player. He is the head football coach at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

, a position he has held since the 2022 season. Norvell served as the head football coach at the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

from 2017 to 2021. His father, Merritt Norvell, was the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

from 1995 to 1998.

Playing career

Norvell played

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, 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 int ...

from 1982 to 1985 and professionally in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) as a linebacker with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

for one season, in 1987 as practice and replacement player.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

His coaching career began at his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

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 resp ...

. 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 upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, and

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

. Norvell briefly spent time in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

as an assistant coach from 2002 to 2003 with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

and

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

before returning to

at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

to take his first ever

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

job in 2004. At

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, he helped guide quarterback

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

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, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

in 2007, and then served as the assistant offensive coordinator and

wide receivers A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense, WR gets its name from the player being spli ...

coach at

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

from 2008 to 2010 before being promoted to co-

and wide receivers coach in 2011. Norvell remained at Oklahoma until January 2015 when he was fired. He was subsequently 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, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

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 Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

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 landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

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

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, including a 16–13 overtime victory in the

2018 Arizona Bowl The 2018 Arizona Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 29, 2018. It was the fourth edition of the Arizona Bowl, and one of the 2018–19 NCAA football bowl games, 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS foo ...

over

Arkansas State Arkansas State University (A-State or ASU) is a public research university in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States. It is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System and the second-largest university in the state. The university ...

. 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. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022, and was also a member of the Arizona Cardinals and Michigan Panthers. He played ...

to back-to-back

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

Offensive Player of the Year awards in 2020 and 2021. Norvell left Nevada to go to Colorado State.

Colorado State

On December 6, 2021,

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. It was founded in 1870 as Colorado Agr ...

hired Norvell to be their 24th head coach. Norvell's pass-heavy offensive style came as a stark contrast to previous head coach

Steve Addazio Stephen Robert Addazio (born June 1, 1959) is an American football coach and broadcaster and former player. He became a color commentator for ESPN's college football broadcasts before the 2024 season. Before becoming a broadcaster, Addazio ser ...

'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 res ...

. Norvell is 16-21 in his first three seasons as the Rams Head Coach.

Personal life

Norvell's father, Merritt married his mother, Cynthia, who was a model, on July 4, 1962. Norvell has one brother, Aaron. His mother died at 79 after a battle with cancer. Norvell is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Head coaching record

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 NFL 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 Players of American football from Madison, Wisconsin Coaches of American football from Wisconsin African-American coaches of American football 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen African-American Catholics