Jay Norvell Ethnicity: Where Is Jay Norvell From?

Publish date: 2024-06-20

Jay Norvell is a popular American college coach. He is the head coach at Colorado State University. Norvell has occupied this position as head coach since the 2022 season.

He also served as the head football coach at the University of Nevada, Reno from 2017 to 2021. Before his coaching career, Jay Norvell was also a football player. The desire to be a sportsman runs through his family.

His father, Merritt Norvell, was also the athletic director at Michigan State University from 1995 to 1998. As we take a look at his career, we will also reveal details about Jay Norvell’s ethnicity and details on where he is from. Keep reading to find out more.

Jay Norvell Biography

Norvell was born on March 28, 1963, in Madison, Wisconsin to Merritt Norvell (father) and Cynthia (mother). His mother was a model. He also has a brother named Aaron. Both parents are however dead. His mother died at the age of 79 after a battle with cancer. His father also died at the age of 79 on October 19, 2020.

His father, Merritt Norvell was an American college athletics administrator. He served as the athletic director at Michigan State University from 1995 to 1998. He attended Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, Illinois, where he starred in four sports. Merritt then moved on to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers as a halfback and was a member of the 1962 Wisconsin Badgers football team that played in the 1963 Rose Bowl.

Jay Norvell Career

Norvell began his career at college when he played football at the University of Iowa from 1982 to 1985. He began his professional career in the National Football League (NFL) as a linebacker with the Chicago Bears for one season, in 1987

Jay Norvell started a new career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Iowa in 1986. So from 1988 to 2001, he served as an assistant coach for multiple positions at Northern Iowa, Wisconsin, and Iowa State. After some time as an assistant coach, he returned to college football at the University of Nebraska to take his first-ever offensive coordinator job in 2004. At Nebraska, he helped guide quarterback Zac Taylor to win Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honours and break several schools’ passing records.

In 2017, he was unveiled as the head coach for the Nevada football program. After struggling in his first season, he helped them rebound the next season, with Nevada going 8–5 in 2018, including a 16–13 overtime victory in the 2018 Arizona Bowl over Arkansas State. After an impressive career with the Nevada, he left for Colorado State.

Norvell was hired as the head coach of Colorado State on 6 December 2021. His pass-heavy offensive style came as a stark contrast to previous head coach Steve Addazio’s run-heavy smashmouth offence.