Who was Jay Norvell's father, Merritt Norvell? What we know about the former MSU AD

Colorado State coach, Jay Norvell, has found himself trending due to his comments a few days ahead of his side's clash against Deion Sander's Colorado Buffaloes.

Norvell played football at the University of Iowa as a linebacker before a one-year stint at the Chicago Bears. He is best known for his career as a coach at Nevada and now Colorado State.

Jay Norvell is the son of Michigan State's first black athletic director Merritt Norvell, who served in the role between 1995 and 1999.

Merritt was born on Feb. 12, 1941, and played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers before beginning a career as a sports administrator.

Merritt was known nationwide for being at the forefront of the fight for inclusion and diversity. He was also the executive director of the National Association of Coaching Equity and Development.

During his unveiling as Colorado State coach, Jay Norvell detailed Merritt Norvell's work with the black community icons of the past during the heyday of minority rights movements.

“My father was a great man,” Jay said. “He got his Ph.D. from Wisconsin. He was a social worker. He was a community worker. He came up in the late ’60s, and my father was on the Wisconsin campus when Muhammad Ali was traveling and speaking on college campuses; when Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were speaking. He was the point person (for those speeches).”

Mark Emmert, the former NCAA president, paid tribute to Merritt when he died on Oct. 19, 2020, in Lansing, Michigan.

"We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Merritt Norvell," Mark said. "His remarkable legacy in college sports began as a college athlete at Wisconsin and included serving as one of the country’s first Black athletics directors at Michigan State. Throughout his career, Merritt was a strong advocate for minority coaches and championed leadership and professional development."

Jay Norvell vs. Deion Sanders

In what was seen by some fans as unprovoked, Jay Norvell took a jibe at Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders during his press conference before the teams' clash on Saturday.

"I took my hat off, and I took my glasses off," he said, "When I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat and my glasses off. That's what my mother taught me.'"

Jay Norvell might have just poked the hornet's nest. In a trending Instagram clip, coach Deion Sanders was shown handing out his new line of sunglasses to his players during a team meeting while referencing the clash against Colorado State.

"They don't realize, not only we gonna kick their butts because it's personal, but it's gonna be business," Sanders said. "When I say business, I do a line of shades with Blenders. This is one of the first lines, so they don't realize they just helped me with business. But," he added, "it's also gonna be personal."

To further drive home the message and take advantage of the free marketing boom handed to him by Jay Norvell, Sanders appeared on "First Take" and handed out free sunglasses to Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe and Molly Qerim. It will interesting to see who comes out on top in the Rocky Mountain clash.