Returning Rams, former Nevada receivers meshing
FORT COLLINS » It’s reasonable to assume things felt a bit unnatural for assistant coach Chad Savage amid his initial days on Colorado State’s staff.
After all, first-year head coach Jay Norvell hired Savage to do one thing, coach tight ends, before quickly expecting him to do another –– serving as CSU’S receivers coach in light of Timmy Chang’s abrupt departure to be the head coach at Hawaii.
Perhaps wideouts Tory Horton and Melquan Stovall felt similarly awkward, as both also first came to CSU to do one thing before shifting their own ambitions.
As members of Nevada’s 2021 squad, the receivers visited Steve Addazio’s reeling team on Nov. 27 en route to helping the Wolf Pack deliver a 52-10 beatdown of the Rams. Just three weeks later, the pass-catching tandem transferred to Fort Collins.
“I guess it was a little weird at first, coming in,” Horton chuckled. “But that’s in the past. It’s a new culture. We all live under the same roof trying to meet one goal.”
For Savage’s part, the 2021 Nevada tight ends coach took the switch in stride, leaning on his prior coaching experience.
“I’m familiar with the position,” Savage said. “I coached receivers at San Diego (in 2020). So it wasn’t anything too crazy. And things have gone well with the group. There’s obviously a mix of guys that were here and Nevada guys. But we all want to pull the rope in the same direction.”
Newcomers Horton and Stovall took the first tug on that rope for their fellow receivers to follow.
Given their expansive knowledge of the Air Raid offense, the two newbies weren’t the ones who felt like foreigners on the field.
“It’s nice having Tory and Melquan because they can help these guys learn the scheme, say some different coaching points and learn the same terminology,” Savage said. “Especially during that first half of winter training when us coaches couldn’t be out there, (returning) guys looked to them. Those guys were really the coaches on the field.”
Upon operating as Nevada’s Nos. 2 and 3 wideouts last season, Horton (a junior) and Stovall (a senior) each amassed more than 50 grabs and 600 yards within Nevada’s Mountain West-leading passing attack.
Since then, from showing players how to approach specific plays, to issuing general advice, they’ve taken the objective of enabling their new teammates to thrive inside the Air Raid at Canvas Stadium –– like Horton did when accruing 113 yards and two touchdowns at
CSU last year.
“The funny thing is we’ll be watching film and (the Nevada game) will pop up, and we’ll just laugh,” Mccullouch said. “Them coming in was a little weird at first. But at the end of the day, we want to win, and those guys are gonna help us win.”
Mccullouch, Wright and company have already begun finding a rhythm within the Air Raid. In fact, Horton even mentioned how returning Rams have lent a helping hand for him when necessary at practice.
“We all help each other out,” Horton said. “There’s even some plays where I mess up, and they get on me. We all like to pick up each other’s slack. And we’re developing quick. So it’s a great feeling. Everyone’s got a smile on their face out there.”
Looking promising in spring camp, Mccullouch posted a career year in 2021 despite CSU’S run-heavy offense, notching 43 receptions for 540 yards. Though injured for four games, Wright still frequently flashed his dynamic expertise down the stretch as well.
With the passing game opening up in the Rams’ new offense, the wideouts who stuck around post-addazio have plenty of reasons to feel like the sky’s the limit under Norvell and offensive coordinator Matt Mumme.
“There is a difference now.” Mccullouch said. “These guys love to throw. As receivers, we love that. So we have no complaints. The energy is always up. Everybody wants to come out here and show what they can do. And we feel like we can do a lot in this offense. Me and Dante are just trying to fill in where they have holes and get the job done. It’s been going great.”
While praising the seemingly deep wideout corps’ potential, Savage stressed how the group still represents far from a gameready product –– per typical during the spring stage of preseason.
Currently, the coach’s point of emphasis concerns wideouts focusing on the “alignment, assignment and technique” within their roles as CSU’S staff continues implementing the finer details of its scheme.
CSU’S upcoming scrimmage on Saturday will indicate how much progress the wideouts have truly made through three weeks of spring ball. In light of how they’ve approached their business thus far, Savage is optimistic about what the Rams’ third of five spring scrimmages could reveal.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Savage said. “But there’s definitely potential. For the entire group, there’s really a renewed energy. So we’ve just got to keep building that, keep doing things the right way. I tell these guys every day that if we do things the right way, we’re disciplined, we take care of our business, then we’ll have fun with it.”