By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – If Jay Norvell had his way, he’d probably still rather be a college head coach, but he seems to have found in a familiar place perhaps the best alternative option.

Since being fired as the Colorado State head football coach on Oct. 19, 2025, following a 2-5 start to his fourth season, the 63-year-old Norvell has reconnected with his past by returning to his beloved college alma mater, where he was an All-Big Ten defensive back in 1985, to work for a head coach and a person that he greatly admires in Kirk Ferentz.

Norvell joined the Iowa football coaching staff in February as an offensive analyst, but he has since been promoted to running back coach.

He met with the media on Thursday, and for the first time since being hired, and to say that Norvell made an impression would be an understatement.

Four about 20 minutes, Norvell reflected on his career as a player and coach, and what he said left him in tears at times and had members of the media fixated on his every word.

Once he was finished answering questions, some members of the media, not surprisingly, rushed to social media to tell Hawkeye fans that they will love Jay Norvell.

If it was Norvell’s goal to create the ideal promotional sales pitch for Kirk Ferentz, and for the Hawkeye football program, well, then he succeeded.

“Until you are a head coach, you really don’t understand all that goes into it,” Norvell said. “And the last four years, especially with NIL, the transfer portal, all the different things that go into this profession; you just really respect people that have done it as well and for as long as coach Ferentz has done it, and all the different ways that he’s pulled back and forth, and handling the ups and downs.”

After being dismissed as the Colorado State head coach last October, Norvell traveled across the country visiting other college football programs.

He visited Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, USC, and of course, his alma mater, watching each team practice.

“And I came to Iowa and I watched practice, and Iowa was my last stop,” Norvell said. “And Kirk gave me the great honor of being able to speak to the team.

“But I told him before I spoke, I said, ‘coach, I’ve seen five different schools, and I said, this is by far the most disciplined practicing team of all those schools that I saw.’ And when I talked to the team, I told them they were a great example of what a team is. And that’s difficult, that’s really challenging in this day and age.

“As a head coach, one of the things that I wanted our players to understand was gratitude. And I  just think we all need to be grateful when we see a job well done, and that’s one of things I very much admire Kirk for.”

While a cynic might accuse Norvell of having a Hawkeye, and a Kirk Ferentz bias, Norvell would probably would wear that accusation as a badge of honor because he does have a Hawkeye/Kirk Ferentz bias and is proud to admit it.

The person that met with the media on Thursday wasn’t a bitter and resentful about being fired six months ago, but rather a person filled with gratitude, nostalgia and enthusiasm for his new job.

Norvell and Kirk Ferentz both came to the University of Iowa in 1981; Norvell as a tall and slender defensive back from Madison, Wisconsin and Kirk Ferentz as Hayden Fry’s new offensive line coach.

Norvell didn’t play much until his senior season in 1985 when he made first-team All-Big Ten as a safety for Iowa’s Big Ten championship team.

He waited for his turn and then seized the opportunity when it finally came.

“I’m an example, just like a lot of players here, this place benefitted me so much,” Norvell said. “The lessons that I learned from coach Fry and the staff.

“I was a head coach for nine years; I had a picture of coach Fry about this high in my office at every place that I coached. And so it’s pretty well known how I feel about this university in others parts of the country where I’ve been. I’m so grateful for what this university has done for me.”

Norvell served as Iowa’s honorary captain for the Michigan State game this past November, and that was the first step in him reconnecting with his alma mater.

His message to the players heading into that game centered around what he learned from playing for Hayden Fry at Iowa.

Norvell mentioned three specific things, the first being to never let your teammates down. He thought back to his senior season at Iowa when he was moving into the starting lineup for a star-studded team that had high aspirations.

“And I’m like, I don’t want to let these guys down,” Norvell said. “There were some great players. So that really motivated me, the intensity of what it took to play here.”

Lesson No. 2 for Norvell was a willingness to play hurt. And to help make his point, he told a story about former Iowa defensive back, Bob Stoops, who would go one to be the head coach for Oklahoma, playing for most of a season with a broken foot.

Norvell’s third point of emphasis was the courage needed to play a physically demanding sport. He used a a quote from Thomas Jefferson to help convey his message

“This is a hard sport,” Norvell said. “You have to have courage to play this sport well.

“Thomas Jefferson made a comment, and he said, one man with courage is a majority. And what an awesome statement that is, today especially; to do the right thing, stand up and play hard for your teammates, and play with physicality and courage.”

Norvell said after being fired by Colorado State that he had a chance to be a head coach again and was offered multiple coordinator positions.

But he turned them all down.

“It just wasn’t the right situation for me,” Norvell said. “It wasn’t the right people for me.”

Asked what he learned from playing for Hayden Fry, Norvell said:

“I think like a lot of my teammates, and a lot of guys that have been through here, you really don’t understand somebody’s methods until you become older; kind of like parents, I guess.

“But I can’t tell you how many time I found myself telling our kids the exact same things coach Fry told us.”

Fry rebuilt the Iowa program in the early 1980s, ending a 19-year stretch in which Iowa didn’t have a winning season.

He passed away in 2019 at the age of 90, but his legend will live on forever, as will Kirk Ferentz’s legend as the Big Ten’s all-time winningest head coach.

And while Norvell has held a special place in his heart for Hawkeye football for over four decades, his coaching career, which included stints at a 11 different colleges, and with two NFL teams, made it difficult for him to stay connected to his Hawkeye roots.

Until now.

As for the players he now coaches, the Iowa running backs, Norvell referred to it as a really good group after having worked with the running backs throughout spring practice.

Junior Kamari Moulton returns after leading Iowa in rushing last season with 878 yards. Sophomores Xavier Williams and Nathan McNeil also return after playing in 10 and nine games, respectively, last season.

Iowa also has added former South Dakota running back Lendon Phillips Jr. from the transfer portal. He rushed for over 1,900 yards last season.

“It’s been awesome,” Norvell said. “I don’t think anyone’s had more fun here than me, to be honest with you. And it’s just a joy to be here  every day around great people.”