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On Wednesday night, Nevada hired its next coach as it was reported that Arizona State offensive assistant Jay Novell will be the next head coach for the Wolf Pack. It was first reported by Football Scoop and the hire is an important one as Novell will be the first African-American head football coach in school history.
Norvell has been an assistant at the college and pro level for more than 30 years as he has been an assistant at Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and UCLA before becoming Arizona State’s wide receiver’s coach and passing coordinator this past season. Norvell has spent time in the NFL ranks as a wide receiver’s coach for the Indianapolis Colts from 1998-2001 and with the Oakland Raiders from 2002-2003.
Norvell is a former All-Big Ten defensive back at Iowa who started his coaching career at Iowa as a graduate assistant and from there, moved on to become an offensive position coach at Northern Iowa, Wisconsin and Iowa State before moving up the NFL. This will be Norvell’s first head coaching job at either the pro or collegiate level and what he brings to the table is his ability to recruit the state of California. The Wolf Pack have gotten away from recruiting the state in recent years so the Wolf Pack will more than likely hit the state hard to bring in some California talent to the Silver State.
Norvell will be replacing Brian Polian who was fired on November 27th after going 23-27 in four seasons as head coach of the Wolf Pack. Norvell will be tasked to take the Nevada program on an upward trajectory to the top of the Mountain West conference.