August 15, 2024
FORT COLLINS -- Colorado State coach
Jay Norvell frequently has addressed and at times been cynical about the evolution of college football, including NIL financial
realities and poaching of players that goes beyond keeping an eye on the transfer portal. So at the Rams' Media Day at Canvas
Stadium, I asked Norvell if he still found being involved with the college game as fulfilling or fun as he once did.
"Yeah, it's going to be for me," Norvell said. "I ain't going
to do it unless it's fun. We play the only sport, it's work most of the time. It's not like basketball. We can't just go out
and play a game. When we practice, it's work. We have to block people, we have to put heavy pads on. But we're going to make
it fun. If you come to Colorado State, it's going to be fun ... We have kids who like to play, we like our team and it's time
for our fans and our team to have some fun."
The
major victory in the offseason was retaining quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and receiver Tory Horton after both received
eye-popping financial offers from other programs.
"Our reputation's starting to take hold," Norvell said. "In NIL, the first cycle
was all about money. Kids were going to a school for money. Well, I think this time, kids started to sober up a little bit.
They wanted to go where they had an opportunity to play. Money's still a factor, but we were able to get some kids that were
offered money at other schools and they came to Colorado State because of the touches they could get. They had the chance
to get their hands on the ball and what we do with our players here. That's important. It's still about the student-athlete
experience. Opportunity to play, you can't put a price on it. Kids come here because they want to get on the field, they want
to make plays and they know we're going to run a certain style offense. They know they're going to get their hands on the
ball.
"We want guys that are motivated by winning.
I told the players the season's started. I ain't worried about NIL, transfer pool, I aint's worried about none of that. I
wanted people who are motivated by winning, period."
The Rams are entering their third season under Norvell, and his
major accomplishment so far is changing the atmosphere after the disaster of Steve Addazio's two-year tenure. The 5-7 record
last season was progress, and the next step for the Rams would be bowl eligibiity in 2024. They open at Texas on August 31
before facing in-state opponents Northern Colorado and Colorado at home the next two weeks.
With so much of the preseason talk focusing on Fowler-Nicolosi and Horton, it also comes down to -- as it
always does -- how well the offensive line plays in supporting the skill positions. I talked with veteran center Jacob Gardner,
who came to CSU with the Norvell staff, and senior left tackle Saveyon Henderson.
Saveyon Henderson
The
6-4, 305-pound Henderson is from Crete, in the Chicago area. He attended Monee High School and eventually started his college
playing career with two seasons at Lane College.
"Coming out of high school, I had some DI offers," Henderson said. "But when COVID
happened, I lost those offers. Those seniors had a redshirt year. I had those offers taken away, which was unfortunate. My
mother (Charnice) had graduated from an HBCU school -- Texas State University -- and she started sending my name to HBCU schools.
The offensive line coach at Lane got right back to me immediately. They liked what they saw and I decided to commit there."
Lane College
is a small private church-related school in Jackson, Tennessee. The Division II Dragons play in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Hoping to crack
a DI program with two college seasons on his transcript, Henderson entered the transfer portal after the 2022 season,
and he eventually heard fom the CSU staff. His recruiting "visit" was via FaceTime, and included a virtual tour
of the campus.
"It
was breathtaking," Henderson said.
After signing on with the Rams, Henderson started every game at left tackle as a junior in 2023. If he can protect
Fowler-Nicolosi's blind side in 2024, that will increase the Rams' chances of improving and move up in the Mountain West.
"Before I got here, I had never played left in my life," Henderson
said. "At Lane, I was the right tackle. When I got here and they said I'd be the left tackle, I said, 'Well, all right.'
This year, I'm more comfortable, more understanding of what we're going to do."
Henderson's biggest adjustment, perhaps, is going without his beloved drum sets and cymbals,
which are back home in Crete. That probably has been a break for his college rommates -- and neighbors.
"My mom tells the story of
how she'd be in the car with friends when I was in her stomach and I would be bouncing around," Henderson said. "They
figured out I might like music. I've always had a drum set all my life. It's back home in Crete, cherry red. I love drumming.
It's my thing."
Jacob Gardner.
The Rams' veteran center, who has made the Outland Trophy Watch List for 2024, is listed
as a graduate this season. In 2022, he was the starting center for two games, then went to left tackle for the rest of the
season because injuries left the Rams thin. So the signing of Saveyon Henderson the next year enabled the CSU staff to move
Gardner back to center. He is listed at 6-4 and 300, but he seems more physically suited for center.
"I don't feel like
I was a fish out of water at tackle," said Gardner, who's from Rancho Cucamonga, California. "I played two years
of tackle at Nevada and I was really enjoying playing center, but they needed me to move. And then they moved me back."
He's listed as a Graduate this season, his third of playing under the Norvell staff.
"I
have a lot of faith in what Norvell is doing," Gardner said. "It made it pretty easy to come here. I didn't need
a bad coach to make me realize I had a good one. It's been great, I feel pretty comfortable in the offense. I understand the
things they want from me. Especially the veteran guys, we need to do a better job of refocusing ourselves. There are
going to be highs and lows during a game, every week. You want to maintain a steady attitude through the whole game, kind
of moderate and be able to pull together this year. It's important to maintain the same attitude through the game and be there
for the young guys. I want my guys to know I know what I'm doing and can get the O-line on the same page with me."
And what is this team capable of?
We'v got players like
Tory, and the whole running back room is full of guys who want the ball and are going to run their butts off," Gardner
said. "I think the sky's the limit. I'm super excited to see what this team can pull together this year."
