College football recruiting: Colorado State’s Jay Norvell landing talented wide receivers over Power 5 schools

The Jay Norvell era at Colorado State began with a recruiting pitch for his prolific air-raid offense.

Establish CSU as WRU.

“Number one is the vertical passing game,” Norvell said back on Dec. 7 at his introductory news conference in Fort Collins. “We love big receivers and tall guys that can run.”

Top prospects from across the nation are getting on board. The 2023 CSU recruiting class is shaping up this summer with four wide receiver commitments who picked the Rams over Power 5 scholarship offers.

Lavon Brown (Sierra Canyon HS, Calif.) chose CSU over Arizona, Arkansas, Florida State, Oregon and USC. The Rams landed Justin Marshall (Merrillville HS, Ind.) instead of Boston College or Indiana. Future CSU pass-catcher Stephon Daily (Sierra Linda HS, Ariz.) had an offer from Washington State.

The most significant commitment — local product Silas Evans III (George Washington) — spurned CU and Oregon State to join Norvell’s offense. A huge in-state pull for a new CSU coaching staff establishing roots in Fort Collins.

“It’s an air-raid offense,” Evans said. “Being able to catch the ball a lot and show what I can do (is appealing).”

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound wide receiver flew under the radar until a breakout junior season at George Washington. Evans averaged a stunning 29.3 yards per catch. He scored eight touchdowns on 16 receptions. Evans also starts at safety on defense with 74 tackles last year.

It didn’t take long for college recruiters to get on board after watching his highlight film (via Hudl).

“He’s super mature. He’s like a grown man just walking around high school,” George Washington head coach Dwight Swift said. “He does things right and he’s always on a straight path. I’m excited for him. In the recruiting process, we probably met with over 20-plus coaches in the spring. … He’s been making plays since freshman year. Just an explosive game-changer on offense and defense.”

Recruiting heated up for Evans in late May when Oregon State and CU each offered a scholarship. The Rams didn’t enter the picture until June. But their late timing didn’t matter after Evans forged a relationship with Norvell and CSU wide receivers coach Chad Savage.

“Coach Savage is a great dude. He’s young so he can really relate to us,” Evans said. “Me and my mom really connected with coach Norvell. We really liked him a lot. A really down-to-earth guy. His vibe was cool.”