Former Colorado State HC Joins Iowa as Offensive Analyst

Even though it feels like the 2025 college football season just ended, the Iowa Hawkeyes are already fully focused on their 2026 season.

LeVar Woods was the only notable coach to leave this team, but Iowa quickly replaced him with Chris Polizzi.

Now, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel, a new offensive assistant has been added to the mix. Jay Norvell, an Iowa graduate, has spent the last eight years being a head coach at the FBS level.

Norvell spent 2017-21 with Nevada before joining Colorado State from 2022-25. With a career 51-52 record (2-2 in bowl games), Norvell will now take a step back as he becomes Iowa's offensive assistant.

New Role For Jay Norvell

Sources: Former Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell is joining the staff at Iowa as an offensive analyst. Norvell spent nine seasons as a college head coach at CSU and Nevada, authoring five bowl seasons. He' an Iowa graduate who served as an honorary captain in November. pic.twitter.com/OwjY7OkSPp
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 4, 2026

The last time Norvell did something other than being a head coach was the 2016 season with Arizona State. There, he was the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator. Throughout his career, he's coached wide receivers, offensive lineman, tight ends, and quarterbacks.

Clearly, he has much offensive experience as humanly possible. Not only that, but he spent six years in the NFL before returning to the collegiate level. Norvell has worked with 12 different teams throughout his illustrious career, but it all began at Iowa.

Norvell graduated from Iowa in 1985 before he had a short stint in the NFL as a player. The 1985 First-team All-Big Ten honoree was a stellar linebacker but found his calling card as an offensive coach. It's crazy to think that all began in 1986-87 when he joined the Hawkeyes staff as a graduate assistant.

Norvell Returns to Iowa

CSU HC — Colorado State's head coach Jay Norvell reacts to a flag thrown on CSU during an NCAA football game against UTSA at Canvas Stadium on Sept. 20, 2025, in Fort Collins, Colo. | Logan Newell/The Coloradoan / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa is about the only place Norvell would've continued to coach knowing he wasn't going to be the lead guy. Having spent the last eight years leading the charge, Norvell will take a step back as Iowa ushers in a new era for this offense. Either Hank Brown or Jeremy Hecklinski will lead the charge with Tradon Bessinger waiting in the wings.

Norvell's offensive mind should help take this team to the next level. If they would've had him last year with Mark Gronowski, who knows how Iowa's season would've looked. Nonetheless, he's here now and isn't coming to mess around.

For what it's worth, Norvell racked up 35 wins in his four seasons with the Hawkeyes. If fans are worried that he was only the head coach of Nevada or CSU, look no further than his stints with Oklahoma and Texas. Norvell is the real deal, and he's going to look to prove that as he returns to the B1G for the first time since 2006.

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