FORT COLLINS — Football returned to Colorado State on Tuesday, as the Rams began spring practice in the shadow of Canvas Stadium looking to build on what they accomplished last fall.
While many familiar faces return from last year’s 8-4 team that made the program’s first bowl appearance since 2017, there are also many new ones, both on the field and on the sideline.
As head coach Jay Norvell enters his fourth season with the Rams, the main focus and the priorities of spring ball remain the same, and that excites him.
“Just developing new playmakers,” Norvell said. “You lose a great player like a Tory Horton, and you’re looking for guys to step up into those shoes. Same thing defensively, you know, we lost some pretty good players, but I’m really impressed with the talent we have.
“I’m excited about the talent we have on this team and excited to see them grow together.”
Horton, one of the best receivers in Mountain West Conference history and a likely NFL draft pick next month, is one of several faces who aren’t around the program any more, after exhausting his eligibility at CSU. Several others, especially on the defensive side, are gone as well, either through graduation or the transfer portal.
Longtime Rams Jack Howell and Henry Blackburn are gone after graduating. As are Buom Jock and Chase Wilson, who left via the transfer portal. The defensive players that are back, and those new to the program, have a new coordinator this year as Tyson Summers has returned to Fort Collins to take over that role. He also has a revamped staff of position coaches under him.
The defensive players spent the winter adjusting to Summers’ style and system, and to each other.
“It’s been a really good eight weeks of winter, just getting to know the new roster,” graduate defensive back Ayden Hector said. “It’s a really new team; some young guys, some old guys coming in, a lot of transfers, and it’s been really fun to kind of help them come up into college football and learn how to work, how to play on the field, how to communicate.”
Offensively, the Rams lost their top two receivers from last season to the transfer portal, but that will give some of the younger and newer players a chance to take advantage of their opportunities. The Rams also have some holes to fill on the offensive line and running back, although Justin Marshall returns, and Vann Schield is back after spending a season at Northern Colorado.
The most important piece is quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, who enters the season as the starting quarterback for the Rams for the second year in a row. During the 2023 season, he took over for Clay Millen in the team’s game against Colorado and has remained the starter ever since.
Now a veteran of spring ball, Fowler-Nicolosi said he has several things he plans to focus on as he prepares for another season.
“I think just sharpening up on the little things,” Fowler-Nicolosi said. “I think most of the big things have gotten taken care of by this point going into my fourth year, and I kind of understand the flow of everything, and so really sharpening up small details and making sure that I’m the best I can be.
“I’m getting better every day because you’re never at your best. So, finding that 1% every single day, that little thing that I can adjust and move from there.”
Beginning with Tuesday’s practice, the Rams will work out together three days a week for the next five weeks. The schedule will conclude with the annual Green and Gold Game on April 26.
Norvell believes the team is already ahead of where it has been on the first day of his previous spring practices and hopes that translates into a good conclusion at the end of April.
“We’re further ahead than any team we’ve ever had, and it’s because of the preparation of our coaches,” Norvell said. “Spring’s always been about teaching. It takes on more of an added emphasis when you’re putting in a new defense. I’ve just been so impressed with our coaching staff. We have very experienced coaches.
“We want to use all that knowledge to help us be as good as we can possibly be.”
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