Jay Norvell: Tory Horton, Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi received offers from other schools to transfer

When the transfer portal opened for its two windows this offseason, talk of tampering ran rampant around college football. More than 3,500 players entered the portal this year as movement continued across the game.

During Mountain West Media Day on Thursday, Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell pointed out two instances of alleged tampering on his roster. He said Tory Horton and Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi both received NIL offers to transfer to other schools.

Norvell said he heard directly from both players about what they were hearing from other schools. In Fowler-Nicolosi’s case, he said Kansas State made him an offer to enter the portal, but the quarterback opted to stay in Fort Collins.

“It’s really important … that you have an open line of communication with your players,” Norvell said. “And Tory just tells me. ‘Hey, this guy just called me last night and asked me this and offered me,’ and I just laugh. Just thank God we’ve got Tory Horton because he’s an amazing kid. A lot of kids wouldn’t do that.” Same thing with Brayden. Brayden had the same kind of offers. If you have enough evidence, you can prove it. But a smoking gun’s a smoking gun. He said a guy from Kansas State called him, offered him $600,000 because they lost their quarterback, if he got in the portal.

“And I’m not accusing Kansas State of anything. I’m just telling you what the kid told me. If they don’t want their name thrown in it, I think they should probably get a handle on their people. But there’s a lot of that going on in college football, and that’s just the way things are right now.”

He also mentioned Ole Miss and Texas A&M as programs that also gauged interest in his players.

Jay Norvell: ‘You have to have players that you have great relationships with’

Norvell also mentioned the importance of strong relationships with his players as reasons they feel comfortable going to him with that information. While he said it takes quite a bit to prove anything, he – like coaches across the sport – acknowledged the amount of behind-the-scenes chatter there is.

“It’s very difficult to prove tampering,” Norvell said. “But there’s just so much conversation going around. I just talk to our kids, and I’ve got a good relationship with our players. The players talk to me. If they don’t talk to you, you’re probably not gonna know because coaches can reach directly to players.

“You have to have players that you have great relationships with. Those days of the authoritarian coach that’s just gonna teach kids one way, it’s not gonna work anymore because these kids have options, they have coaches. They don’t have to play for you if they don’t like you.”