FORT COLLINS — Even a good man can be a bad fit.
As students wandered over from Aggie Village, as boosters folded up tents in Lot 540 from their tailgate party, they walked into Canvas Stadium 55 minutes before kickoff.
CSU football was reeling, and fourth-year coach Jay Norvell was on the clock.
It struck midnight on Saturday night. Or should have.
The Rams’ performance in a 20-3 loss demands that president Amy Parsons and athletic director John Weber do something this football team could not: Huddle up and make a wise decision. There’s no good time to move on from a football coach, but the time is now.
It will show that the administration values their athletes, their boosters and their students. That they understand this season is going nowhere with Norvell in charge, and can perhaps be salvaged when wide-open Mountain West Conference play begins Friday at San Diego State.
Every argument for keeping Norvell — he is a great person, he develops student athletes, it is too soon, his hand-picked quarterback regressed — dissolved by halftime at Canvas Stadium.
The rowdy students,12,530 strong, left and only a fraction came back, unable to resist the siren call of parties and homework over watching an offense that is about as entertaining as reading instructions aloud for an IKEA baby crib.
Can you blame them?
This was a measuring stick game for CSU in general and Norvell specifically. It meant more to the administration because the Cougars will be one of the strongest members of a reconstructed Pac-12 that will include CSU starting next season.
If the Rams cannot compete with Washington State at home, what’s the point in keeping Norvell?
Even a man who cares and builds character must produce victories.
And beyond an opening-drive field goal, CSU never flirted with winning, looking disjointed, disconnected and undisciplined. Washington State allowed 118 points in its previous two games. CSU trailed 20-3 at halftime. The optics made it worse.
The Rams were percolating with 3:49 remaining in the second quarter and the ball on their 49-yard line. They faced a third-and-1. And Norvell could not help himself.
Backup quarterback Tahj Bullock entered the game. Everyone in the stadium knew what was coming. They saw this Titanic hit an iceberg last week on the failed two-point conversion in a loss to UTSA.
Bullock ran and was stuffed for no gain. Boos followed.
On fourth-and-1, Bullock stayed in the game. There was an audible gasp from the crowd, like, “Is this really happening?”
Did Norvell think it would work, or was he trying to get fired? Bullock lost a yard on another rush. The game’s outcome was determined on this possession.
It reflected an alarming lack of creativity and urgency for a program that needed both after siphoning a reservoir of goodwill with a putrid bowl game loss, an embarrassing win over Northern Colorado and the inexplicable finish against UTSA.
The Rams have been bad and boring in three home games. They entered Saturday proving to be exceptional at one thing: committing penalties. Not exactly something to hang the hat on.
“The temperature went up (this season),” said Jim Shanahan, a former CSU player who has been recognized as a Ram Legend for his contributions to the Ram Club. “I don’t think Jay gets fired during the season. But if things don’t change, I could see them making a change at the end of the year.”
During the season is never a good time for a coaching change, even as UCLA, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech have done exactly that. It signals things have gone off the rails, that hope is emptier than the 12-pack cartons outside Canvas Stadium.
There are those who still want patience and perspective. They see a program that turned a corner in 2024, that regained respect after the laughable tenure of Steve Addazio, proof that Norvell needs time to adjust to challenges he didn’t sign up for: pay-for-play for student athletes and a new conference.
“He’s a coach who is going to make kids better when they graduate. This is not a factory for NFL players. It’s a factory of young men. And I think he makes good young men,” said Rams booster Bob Hyta, who attended CSU from 1986-91.
“A lot of things have changed since he took the job. He was recruiting for the conference he had with no expectation it would change. So you have to give the guy a break.”
Hyta’s compassion sounds like settling to others. When the kids roar, “Proud to Be A CSU Ram,” they mean it.
Of the freshman class, 3,644 are from Colorado, an in-state record. There has been a concerted effort to get students to attend games and stay beyond halftime. Only one of those things was accomplished Saturday, an ominous sign with FoCo games looming against Fresno State, Hawaii and UNLV over the next six weeks.
“I have loved going to school here, and would never change that,” senior Erik Weiskircher said. . “If they can’t beat UTSA and Washington State at home, though, I don’t think that can be ignored when considering changes.”
Saturday must create uncomfortable conversations for Parsons and Weber. In those two, CSU has an effective GPS. But all signs suggest the leadership should remove Norvell before the boos get louder, before donations get smaller, and before this season fades into obscurity.
This isn’t the same ol’ CSU. It is much easier to see Parsons and Weber being proactive rather than reactive.
The last thing you want to do is lose momentum because of loyalty to a coach for sentimental reasons.
Norvell carries a $1.9 million salary this season. He has a $1.5 million buyout from now until New Year’s Eve.
It is a lot of money. But after what played out Saturday, how can CSU afford not to write that check?
“As a student, going to the games has been a great experience,” senior Conner Moreno said. “But if we can’t get to a bowl or win a bowl game, I think it is fair to say we deserve better.”
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