"I just laughed" — CSU’s Jay Norvell spills the beans on Power Four schools bribing WR Tory Horton into entering the transfer portal

There's a lot of hype around Tory Horton ahead of the 2024 college football season. The wide receiver was impressive for the Colorado State Rams last season, recording 96 receptions for 1,136 yards and eight touchdowns. This has caught a lot of attention among Power Four schools.

During his session at the Mountain West Media Days on Thursday, Rams head coach Jay Norvell made it known that a host of Power Four schools tried to lure away Horton with huge financial packages. However, the wide receiver decided to remain loyal to the program.

“Tory just tells me ‘Yeah, this guy just called me last night and asked me this and offered me [this]’ and I just laughed. Thank God we got Tory Horton because he's an amazing kid. A lot of kids wouldn't do that,” Norvell said.

Tory Horton stayed to repay Jay Norvell’s faith

Tory Horton’s loyalty to Colorado State isn't borne out of nothing, the player wants to repay the faith Jay Norvell had in him from his high school days. Horton has played his four years of college football under Norvell and has decided to end his collegiate career with him.

“[Jay Norvell] gave me that shot out of high school … he was the only one that really believed in me,” Horton said. “It takes a lot of trust for a coach to go out of his way and go for someone who everyone has overlooked.”

Norvell recruited Horton during his days as the head coach of Nevada. The wide receiver played his freshman and sophomore seasons under him with the Wolf Pack. He followed the coach down to Colorado State when he was recruited by the Rams ahead of the 2022 season.

Tory Horton is not the only player with huge monetary offers

Horton wasn't the only Colorado State player who received mouthwatering transfer offers from Power Four schools. The program’s quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi also had an offer like that from Kansas State, according to Norvell.

“Brayden had the same kind of offers [as Tory]. If you have enough evidence, you can prove it, but smoking gun, smoking gun. He said guys from Kansas State called him and offered him $600,000 if he got into the portal because they lost their quarterback,” Norvell said.

Kansas State lost their quarterback this offseason after Will Howard transferred to Ohio State. And like Horton, Fowler-Nicolosi also spurned the offer from the Wildcats to remain with the Rams in the upcoming college football season.