Career
He served as the head football coach at Centenary College of Louisiana from 1919 to 1921 and 1926 to 1933 and at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University from 1934 to 1947, compiling a career college football record of 143–75–18. Norton"s record at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical was 82–53–9, giving him the second most wins of any coach in Texas Agricultural and Mechanical Aggies football history. He was fired in 1947 when his team went 3–6–1 and lost to Texas for the eighth straight year.
Norton was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1971.
Norton played four different sports at Birmingham–Southern College and played minor league baseball with the Birmingham Barons prior to becoming a coach. In addition to football, Norton also coached basketball at Centenary from 1921 to 1926 and baseball at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical from 1943 to 1944.