Over the last four seasons, the Jay Norvell era at Colorado State has been an absolute disaster. This season, that hit a fever pitch as the Rams have benched their quarterback and are off to a 2-5 start after losing 31-19 at home against Hawai'i on Saturday night.
On Sunday morning, Colorado state decided it had enough. The Rams fired Norvell effective immediately before they head into Week 9, according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.
Defensive coordinator Tyson Summers is expected to become the interim head coach in Fort Collins, according to Pete Nakos of On3 Sports. Norvell leaves Colorado State with an 18-26 record in four seasons as the head coach there.
Norvell did not have a buyout if Colorado State fired him after Dec. 1, but now the Rams will pay him $1.5 million since the move was made before then.
Colorado State seemed to be on the right path under Norvell in 2024, when it finished 8-5 and reached the first bowl game for Colorado State since 2017. The Rams lost in the Arizona Bowl to end the year, but the eight-win campaign became the expectation for Norvell.
Now, the Rams are mathematically unable to meet that eight-win threshold in 2025, and they will be missing out on bowl season altogether if they can't undergo an incredible turnaround under Summers.
Norvell had a lot of success during his five seasons at Nevada before taking the Colorado State job, finishing with a 33-26 record there and winning a pair of bowl games. However, the success did not translate to Colorado State, a school with more resources in the NIL era.
Colorado State will now be looking for a new head coach before its first season in the new-look Pac-12 in 2026.
