Jay Norvell

Jay Norvell is in his first season as running backs coach for the University of Iowa football program. Norvell has nearly four decades of collegiate and professional coaching experience.

Norvell is a UI graduate and former Hawkeye, winning 35 games and advancing to four bowl games during his four-year career (1982-85). He was a first-team All-Big Ten honoree and an Iowa MVP his senior season in 1985. The native of Madison, Wisconsin, recorded a conference-high seven interceptions and ranked fourth on the team with 76 tackles in 1985, helping the Hawkeyes win 10 games, a Big Ten championship and a spot in the Rose Bowl.  

Following graduation, he began a career in coaching as a graduate assistant under Hayden Fry (1986-87). Over the next decade, Norvell had coaching stints at Northern Iowa (1988), Wisconsin (1989-94) and Iowa State (1995-97).

From there, Norvell expanded his coaching resume to the professional ranks, serving as the wide receivers coach for the Indianapolis Colts (1998-2001) and tight ends coach for the Oakland Raiders (2002-03) -- a period that included an AFC Championship and appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2002.

 

After six seasons in the NFL, Norvell returned to college football, coaching at Nebraska (2004-06), UCLA (2007), Oklahoma (2008-14), Texas (2015) and Arizona State (2016). During his time as an assistant, Norvell coached in every BCS bowl game during the BCS era, including the 2009 BCS National Championship with the Sooners. 

After nearly three decades as an assistant coach, Norvell earned his first head coaching job at Nevada in 2017, followed by three-plus years at Colorado State (2022-25).

Norvell has a wife, Kim, and son, Jaden. He is the author of a book, “Complete Wide Receiver,” which was published in 2012.