Colorado fans are blessed with some great father-son stories. The Colorado Buffaloes head coach, Deion Sanders, has been too protective about his sons- Shedeur, Shilo, and Deion Sanders Jr. The kids, too, made Papa Prime proud in every walk of their lives. Looks like a strong competition is coming up for the Buffs squad when it comes to weaving father-son heartfelt narratives. Well, Deion is no longer part of the race, as he now comes back to an empty nest. Right now, it’s the $1.8 million college football coach’s son who just can’t keep his father’s latest milestone under wraps. And lands a cryptic message pushing for a big fortune hunt as his dad might stay a little longer. Now, who is this dad-son duo?

That’s none other than the Colorado State Rams head coach Jay Norvell and son Jaden Norvell. We all know, not a single program could save itself from the storm that came with the transfer portal. Jay’s Rams also fell prey to the mass exodus. He lost seven players in the winter portal. This included the No.1 option in Jay’s offense, their sophomore wide receiver Caleb Goodie along with Jamari Person, Jordan Williams, Niko Lopez, Buom Jock among others.

They say, ‘If winter is here, can spring be far behind?’ Unfortunately, spring, too, has been chilly for Jay’s program. They lost their receivers Dylan Goffney and Louis Brown, punter Will Hutchinson, long snapper Jake Dennis, and the list goes on. But Jordan’s story brings some amount of hope for the fans. 

On May 23, Jaden posted a screenshot of the song that he must be vibing to at the moment. ‘All Right Now’ is a song by English rock band Free. It consists of the famous line, “All right now, baby, it’s all right now.” Turns out that this song resonates the best with Jay’s program’s current status. As Jaden hinted at it with a heartfelt caption, giving kudos to his father’s magic on the recruiting trail. “I represent LOYALTY. This is my 9th season on the sidelines. We’ve replaced those that we lost with more talent and more experience should be Top 3 recruiting class AGAIN.” Yes, Jay did not sit back and relax, and immediately filled the gaps with better recruits. 

The notable ones are linebacker Jeremy Naborne, who racked up 55 tackles and 2.5 sacks in nine games played last season at Fullerton. Not to forget, running back Konyae Hunter, who had had 101 carries for 400 yards (4 yards per carry) and five touchdowns in the last two seasons. But maybe the good words are not enough for his dad, Jay. So Jaden took matters into his own hands and wrote, “Pay that man.” After all, turns out that Jay’s efforts are not getting due credit. 

Time for CSU to pay Jay Norvell what he has earned

Now, what better way to push Colorado State to hit the ‘EXTEND’ button for their head coach? In the list of college football head coach salaries, Georgia’s Kirby Smart holds the top spot with $13,282,580 total pay, along with a $275,000 bonus. However, Jay sits quite low in that very list at No.71. His total pay is $1,800,000. And guess how much the Rams paid him as a bonus in the 2023-2024 season? ZERO.

After going 5-7 in 2023 and nearly making a bowl game, the Rams went 8-5 and appeared in the Arizona Bowl last season. As Colorado State enters the third season with Jay, they are just one step away from hitting a major milestone, which is competing for a Mountain West Championship in 2025. He agreed to a five-year contract before the 2022 season, which started with a $1.6 million yearly salary that increases $100,000 every season. 

Even though the Colorado State Rams have yet to dish out a lucrative contract extension to Jay Norvell, they carried the burden of the hefty buyout sum. However, it came with a catch. The coach had signed a five-year deal worth $1.6 million annually in Fort Collins, with salary increases of $100,000 annually each of the next four seasons. That’s when the Rams lured Jay away. His buyout at Nevada was about $2 million. Later on, it was reported that Colorado State paid that, and Norvell will repay $1.3 million of that through a promissory note over the length of his contract with the school. Jaden’s latest message might just be the wake-up call Colorado State needed to start appreciating their leader.