Deion Sanders says Pat Shurmur likely to be Colorado's offensive coordinator in 2024

Coach Prime ready to settle with the former NFL coach next year

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Deion Sanders will have a busy off-season and an unexpected part of that will be replacing half his coaching staff. After losing offensive coordinator Sean Lewis to San Diego State, the Buffs are left with Pat Shurmur, who took over play-calling duties late in the season. It seems Coach Prime is content with keeping the former NFL assistant in the same role.  

In an interview with USA TODAY, Sanders said Pat Shurmur will “most likely” serve as CU’s offensive coordinator next year. He was given an analyst title with the Buffs to start the 2023 season and moved his way up to being one of ten full-time assistants for Sanders. 

Colorado's offensive line will need the most work after giving up 54 sacks, which led to Shedeur Sanders ending the season with fractured back. It's not going to be an overnight fix, but with a few adjustments and bringing in the right players via the transfer portal, the Buffs can be successful.  

Many have speculated if Byron Leftwich would be added to Sanders' staff, considering the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator has been in Boulder a few times this year. Either way, if Shurmur stays on or Leftwich takes the job, it's all about securing an NFL OC for Shedeur Sanders to boost his NFL Draft stock going into 2025. 

Shurmur, 58, has been well-traveled during his time as a coach. He had two head coaching stints with the Cleveland Browns (2011-2012) and New York Giants (2018-2019). Prior to being at CU, he was on Vic Fangio's staff as OC for the Denver Broncos for two seasons during the height of the Covid pandemic. 

Sanders also talked about his son, Shedeur, dealing with the injury to start the off-season. He said the Buffs QB was expected to be healed by Spring. However, Coach Prime made a curious comment about the quarterback situation. 

“Right now, we’re looking for older quarterbacks, because we plan on winning,” Deion Sanders said. “So, if something were to happen to Shedeur, they could step right in and make it happen. That’s what we’re looking for. We’ve already mapped out what we need in each position way before the season concluded. So we already knew and know what we’re looking for. So we’re right on pace to go find what we’re looking for, and we know where it is.”

Sanders will officially receive Sports Illustrated's 2023 Sportsperson of the year at a star-studded ceremony on Wednesday night. It will happen hours before Season 2 of his documentary series “Coach Prime” on Prime Video, debuts Thursday.