Strike 2: A lot of folks who follow CSU Rams football believe that head coach Jay Norvell is on the hot seat in 2025. Anytime there are unmet expectations and the athletic director in charge isn’t the same one who hired the current football coach, those kinds of rumors are going to be out there.

But then again, have there really been unmet expectations for Rams football? Wasn’t the goal a season ago to get to a bowl game? The Rams weren’t world beaters a season ago, but they did win eight games and reach the postseason for the first time since Mike Bobo was in charge back in 2017. So it wasn’t too bad, actually.

But now the heat is on. Now Ram followers want more. Can Norvell’s 2025 squad deliver it?

First things first. In order for Colorado State to get back into conversations about winning football conference championships and more, there needs to be an identity. Something to hang their collective hats on.

When Norvell arrived after the brief but dreadful tenure of Steve Addazio, he was bringing with him a definite identity on offense. After coaching quarterback Carson Strong at Nevada for the previous three seasons, Norvell’s “Air Raid” attack was all the rage. In the final game of the 2021 season, Norvell brought his Nevada team into Canvas Stadium and demolished Addazio’s Rams 52-10. Strong passed for 288 yards and four touchdowns (including two to future Ram Tory Horton) in just over a half of game action. It was CSU’s worst loss in a decade. Addazio was fired and Norvell brought in as the new HC just two weeks later.

Air Raid arrived and set up shop in Fort Collins.

It took some time to take root of course, but by the time redshirt freshman Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi took over at quarterback just one game into the 2023 season, Air Raid was operating at full capacity. BFN would pass for 367 yards in the double overtime loss to Colorado, and go on to throw for 3,460 yards and 22 touchdowns that season.

Then came last year, with expectations high and excitement about the Fowler-Nicolosi-to-Horton combo on the minds of Rams faithful. Except it didn’t really happen. CSU came out in a conservative run-first offense and got shut out 52-0 at Texas to open the season. Horton got injured in the second game, and CSU became a run-the-ball-to-control-the-clock kind of offense the rest of the season. Fowler-Nicolosi’s numbers dropped significantly, and Air Raid all but disappeared.

Identity lost.

This year, the offensive coaching staff is the same, meaning Norvell will still be calling the plays. Associate head coach Matt Mumme (whose father Hal is considered one of the inventors of the Air Raid attack) will still be on the sidelines and in charge of the quarterbacks along with Strong, who’s been hired as the assistant QB’s coach. All of this would seem to signal a return to Air Raid, right?

Maybe.

After watching August practices, close observers believe the Rams offense will be a combination of concepts, including zone-read run plays and some of the Air Raid passing attack. There are weapons available in both the passing game – where Fowler-Nicolosi returns for his junior season – and in the run game. Jordon Ross and Armani Winfield are both deep threats on the outside, along with Tommy Maher and tight end Jaxxon Warren, the 6-foot-8 pass catcher from Texas.

“We’re really excited about Jaxxon,” Norvell said. “He’s a big, tall guy that can run. He’s got good hands, and he’s really made an impact in the passing game.”

Running back Justin Marshall enters the season on the Doak Walker Award watch list, and he’ll have competition for carries from Jalen Dupree, Lloyd Avant and Keegan Holles.

“I love our backs,” Norvell quipped at Media Day. “They’ve all had a really good camp. We’ve been mindful to keep them all healthy, and that’s a good thing going into the season.”

Obviously Fowler-Nicolosi remains the key. During his throw-it-all-over-the-field freshman season, he turned the ball over 22 times, including 16 interceptions and six fumbles lost. Last season, he cut it down to nine interceptions while throwing almost 100 fewer passes and adding positive yardage as a runner. Since his quarterback rating was almost the same, and his team won more games, perhaps the slightly more conservative approach paid off?

We’ll soon find out if Norvell’s seat really is hot.

The Rams first game is Saturday night in Seattle against the Washington Huskies.