Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders has elevated quality control analyst and former New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur to the role of play-caller, per Brett McMurphy of Action Network. Offensive coordinator Sean Lewis will still signal in plays, but has effectively been demoted.
CU has had its ups and downs throughout Sanders’ first season at the helm and those growing pains have been evident on the offensive side of the ball. The Shedeur Sanders-led offense is averaging just over 400 yards and 32.1 points per game, showing it can be one of the more electric units in the country when firing on all cylinders.
However, poor offensive line play has been the Achilles heel and the quarterback has often found himself under duress. The Buffs are allowing the second-most tackles for loss per game in the nation at 8.25 and the second-most sacks per game at 5.25. Coach Prime was very blunt about finding new offensive linemen following last week’s 28-16 loss at UCLA and this move to elevate Shurmur clearly indicates that he wants a tweak in play-calling as well. Fox Sports’ Geoff Schwartz suggested that the switch to Shurmur may actually help the line some more in the final four games of he regular season.
As for Lewis, he left his head coaching job at Kent State to join Sanders’ staff last offseason. As a rising coach in the college ranks, he’ll have plenty of suitors for his services as either a top end Group of Five head coach or a Power Five OC should he depart Boulder following the conclusion of this season.