Alright, buckle up folks, ’cause I’m gonna walk you through my deep dive into the world of “jay norvell football.” Now, I’m no pro scout or anything, but I love dissecting plays and seeing what makes a coach tick. So, I figured, why not try and figure out what Jay Norvell is all about?

First thing I did, I hit the film. I started by grabbing game footage I could find online. Old games, recent games, anything I could get my hands on. Seriously, I was scouring YouTube and sports archives like a hawk. I was looking for patterns, common formations, anything that screamed “Norvell.”
Then came the fun part: breaking down the plays. I watched each game focusing on offensive schemes, pass concepts, run schemes. I was jotting down notes like crazy – what kind of routes were the receivers running? What were the linemen doing? Were they pulling, zone blocking, or man-on-man? I even started drawing little diagrams of the plays in a notebook, just like a real coach.
Next, I dug into Norvell’s coaching history. I wanted to know where he came from, who he learned from, and how his offenses evolved over time. I read articles, interviews, anything I could find about his background. I traced his coaching tree, seeing who he coached with and who he coached under. It’s like detective work, only with football plays instead of clues.
After that, I started looking for trends. Did he favor certain types of quarterbacks? Did he prefer a power running game or a spread passing attack? I was trying to identify his core philosophies and how he adapted them to different teams and personnel. For example, I noticed a heavy reliance on the passing game, especially the air raid concepts when he was at Nevada. But how did he adjust that at Colorado State?
To really understand what was going on, I even tried drawing up some of his plays myself. I’d watch a play on film, then try to diagram it out on paper, step-by-step. It was a humbling experience, let me tell you! You realize how much goes into even a seemingly simple play.
But the biggest thing I did was watch press conferences and interviews. You can learn a lot about a coach’s mindset by listening to what they say. I was paying attention to the words they used, the tone of their voice, and the way they talked about their team and their opponents. It’s all about getting a feel for their leadership style and their overall approach to the game.
Finally, I put it all together. I synthesized all the information I had gathered – the film study, the coaching history, the play diagrams, the interviews – and tried to form a coherent picture of Jay Norvell’s football philosophy. What were his strengths? What were his weaknesses? How did he like to attack opposing defenses? It’s not a perfect science, but it was a fascinating exercise.
What I found was, he’s all about that vertical passing game. He wants to stretch the field and put the ball in the air. But, he’s also smart enough to adapt to the talent he has. He’ll adjust the run game based on what the defense is giving him, and he’ll use his tight ends and running backs in the passing game to keep them honest. It’s a dynamic system, and it’s fun to watch.
