Colorado’s Deion Sanders Hands Offensive Play-Calling Duties to Pat Shurmur, per Report

Former NFL head coach Pat Shurmur will reportedly take over the play-calling duties at Colorado.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders is shaking up his coaching staff ahead of the Buffaloes’ game against No. 16 Oregon State on Saturday. 

Sanders has stripped offensive coordinator Sean Lewis of his play-calling duties and is tapping offensive quality control analyst Pat Shurmur to call plays against the Beavers, Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reports. Lewis still is expected to signal the plays in from the sideline, McMurphy adds, but it’ll be Shurmur calling the shots.

Shurmur and Lewis will share co-offensive coordinator titles, according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.

Shurmur is a longtime NFL coach who once served as head coach of the Browns and Giants. His lifetime head coaching record (including one week as interim head coach of the Eagles) is 19–46. His most recent NFL job was as offensive coordinator of the Broncos from 2020 to ’21. He was hired by Sanders before this season. 

Lewis left a head coaching job at Kent State to be Sanders’s offensive coordinator, and he didn’t do much in the Buffaloes’ first eight games to suggest that a move like this could be coming. Colorado (4-4, 1-4 Pac-12) has scored at least 40 points in four games this season and ranks 39th in FBS with 32.1 points per game. However, the Buffs scored just one touchdown in last week’s 28–16 loss at UCLA and were held to 242 total yards. 

Due to NCAA rules about the size of coaching staffs, Sanders must demote one of his assistant coaches and make Shurmur a full-time coach for him to become eligible to coach this weekend’s game.