Tag: Pat Shurmur

Pat Shurmur will ‘most likely’ become Colorado’s OC, Deion Sanders says

Pat Shurmur will “most likely” become Colorado’s next OC, according to Deion Sanders

The frontrunner for Colorado football’s vacant offensive coordinator position is now Pat Shurmur, according to head coach Deion Sanders.

In an interview with Brent Schrotenboer of USA TODAY Sports, Sanders was asked if Shurmur will become his OC next season. Coach Prime replied, “Yeah, most likely.”

Shurmur began the 2023 season as an offensive analyst for Coach Prime but took over play-calling duties from Sean Lewis about midway through the year. Under Shurmur’s direction, Colorado averaged 20.25 points in its final four games.

When Lewis left Colorado’s staff last week for the head job at San Diego State, many pinned former Tampa Bay Buccaneers OC Byron Leftwich as the top candidate for the job, but Shurmur now appears to be the favorite.

Before joining the Buffs’ staff in July, Shurmur had a rocky two-year stint as the Denver Broncos offensive coordinator from 2020-21.

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WATCH: Pat Shurmur speaks with Colorado players about improving team’s rushing attack

WATCH: Pat Shurmur made it clear to players that Colorado has to improve its rushing attack

There was plenty said about Colorado head coach Deion Sanders’ decision to give playcalling duties to former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. Sean Lewis was previously calling plays before, but Shurmur took over for Saturday’s game against Oregon State.

Unfortunately, the offense didn’t do much in that game. The Buffs produced just 238 total yards and did little in the rushing department. They turned the ball over just once, but quarterback Shedeur Sanders was sacked four times in an underwhelming effort all around.

Earlier this week, Shurmur spoke to the team and emphasized the importance of developing a better ground game (h/t Well Off Media):

Sy’veon Wilkerson was the team’s leading rusher on Saturday with just 17 yards on four carries. The Buffs are currently averaging under 70 rushing yards per game while their passing offense is putting up an average of 320.6 yards, so they’ll need to find some balance moving forward.

It’s also an issue with the offensive line, and Coach Prime had a private meeting with that group just last week. Nonetheless, let’s see if Shurmur can turn around the Buffs’ struggling offense around this week against Arizona.

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Deion Sanders explains why he handed over offensive play-calling duties to Pat Shurmur

Deion Sanders opened up on his decision to give Pat Shurmur an increased role

Head coach Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes made some headlines prior to the Oregon State game when it was reported that Pat Shurmur would call offensive plays instead of coordinator Sean Lewis.

Shurmur has a lengthy resume, but the decision was made even more head-scratching when the Buffs struggled offensively against Oregon State on Saturday. The Buffs had just 238 yards of total offense and scored two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders was sacked four times in the game, and the rushing attack remained nonexistent.

All in all, it was another disappointing offensive performance. After the game, Coach Prime was asked about his decision to give Shurmur an increased role:

“We’re not going to demean Sean Lewis,” Deion Sanders said. “We’re not going to do that. We’re not going to take the tone. Sean is a good man. I think he’s a good playcaller. We just needed change at the time. We just needed to try something else at the time. And that’s what we did. I don’t look back on it. I don’t second-guess myself whatsoever because there’s more to it than what you may know. Let’s just trust the process.”

The offense has taken a giant step back, and this performance was not encouraging one bit. The Buffs have now lost three in a row and five of their last six games with the Arizona Wildcats now coming to town.

If the offense doesn’t improve soon, who knows what changes will happen next?

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Looking back at the coaching career of new Colorado co-offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur

Take a look back at the coaching career of Pat Shurmur

As the Colorado Buffaloes’ offense prepares to take on the No. 16 Oregon State Beavers, the unit will have a new voice calling plays. Offensive analyst Pat Shurmur has reportedly been asked to help Sean Lewis restart the Buffs’ once-explosive offense.

After playing a pivotal role on both sides of the ball for the Michigan State Spartans as a player, Shurmur jumped right into coaching in 1988 as a graduate assistant at MSU. He stayed in Lansing, coaching the Spartans’ tight ends, offensive line and special teams at various points until 1997. After spending one year at Stanford as an offensive line coach, Shurmur jumped to the NFL.

The Philadelphia Eagles were his first NFL stop. He coached TEs, the OL and QBs before getting his first crack as an offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams in 2009. His work with the Rams helped him get his first head coaching gig with the Cleveland Browns. Shurmur would be a head coach twice more, coaching on an interim basis for the Eagles in 2015 before leading the New York Giants from 2018-19. He also made a stop with the Minnesota Vikings from 2016-17.

His most recent NFL gig was here in the state of Colorado. He was the Denver Broncos offensive coordinator from 2020-21.

Take a photographic look back at Shurmur’s NFL coaching career:

Ex-Giants coach Pat Shurmur to call plays for Deion Sanders’ Colorado

Former Giants head coach Pat Shurmur has been elevated to call plays for Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes this weekend against Oregon State.

The Colorado Buffaloes have been in the news quite a bit since hiring former NFL standout defensive back Deion Sanders as their head coach. Sanders saw a lot of success at Jackson State in 2022 and joined the Pac-12 earlier this year.

After starting the season 3-0, Sanders’ team has struggled to win a game. Looking for the right change to boost his group of men, Sanders decided to elevate former New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur to call plays against Oregon State this weekend.

Shurmur was a head coach for three different NFL teams: two seasons with Cleveland, one game with Philadelphia (interim), and two with the Giants. He’s known to call plays as a head coach and spent time as an offensive coordinator in the NFL as well. His overall record is 19-46 as a head coach.

Shurmur’s college coaching experience includes seven years as the tight ends coach for Michigan State and one year as the offensive line coach for Stanford. He’s certainly gained experience since his college days, but the college game is vastly different today than it was in 1998, the last time he called plays there.

After all the hype surrounding Sanders’ move to Colorado and how well they started the season, Sanders is certainly looking for a way to return to the team’s earlier form. He hopes this will help, although that remains to be seen.

In order for Shurmur to call plays, Sanders had to make him a coach, which means one of Colorado’s assistants will have to be demoted for this week at least. It is unknown who that person will be at this time.

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REPORT: Colorado analyst Pat Shurmur to assume offensive play-calling duties alongside Sean Lewis

Coach Prime reportedly made a major change to Colorado’s offensive staff

Following a rough showing for Colorado’s offense at UCLA, head coach Deion Sanders has reportedly made a major change to how things will operate this weekend.

Per Brett McMurphy of Action Network, analyst Pat Shurmur will be taking over play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Sean Lewis for the Buffs’ Saturday game against Oregon State. Shurmur was previously the Denver Broncos’ offensive coordinator from 2020-21.

It’s fair to speculate that this move comes in response to Colorado’s near-absent run game. While the Buffaloes haven’t struggled to put up points, they rank dead-last in the Pac-12 with 78.6 rushing yards per game.

Brian Howell of BuffZone later confirmed that Shurmur and Lewis will serve as co-offensive coordinators.

Here’s how social media reacted to Shurmur’s sudden promotion:

Former Michigan State football QB to take over Colorado play-calling duties

A former MSU QB is set to take over play-calling duties at Colorado:

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders has taken the college football world by storm, with his crazy personality and taking over the Colorado football program. While their record is not as good as they would like, they have had a very potent offense this year, but obviously not potent enough for Sanders liking.

It is now being reported that Sean Lewis is being relieved of his play calling duties and will be giving the reigns to former Michigan State QB Pat Shurmur, who has had a long coaching career of his own.

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New Colorado analyst Pat Shurmur talks Deion Sanders, development of culture

Pat Shurmur discussed how establishing a winning culture at CU all starts with Deion Sanders

The Colorado Buffaloes offense is going to look much different this season with a ton of new faces. Head coach Deion Sanders has brought in a flurry of new players and assistant coaches.

One veteran on the staff is former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, who’s now an analyst with the Buffs.

With the season approaching, Shurmur opened up on his role and then gave Coach Prime some huge praise (h/t Adam Munsterteiger of BuffStampede)

“You’re always trying to establish a winning culture. And when you have a leader of your team like Coach Prime, who has won at everything he’s done in life, that’s where it starts,” Shurmur said. “If our players and the people around them just listen to what he’s saying and take his message to heart, it’ll all start to blossom and then we’ll win football games. And then we can start talking more about what the culture looks like.”

Shurmur is right: Sanders has a lengthy resume of winning. His professional playing career as an NFL and MLB player was fascinating, and he made Jackson State a big name.

Now, he heads to Boulder, and there are high hopes for the Buffs this year and for the foreseeable future.

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Pat Shurmur opens up on decision to join Deion Sanders in Boulder

Pat Shurmur opened up on his decision to join Coach Prime’s staff

The Colorado Buffaloes football program has a ton of big names entering the 2023 season. The coaching staff is loaded and one name that joined head coach Deion Sanders’ team over the summer is Pat Shurmur.

The longtime NFL coach was most recently the Denver Broncos offensive coordinator, so he’s a familiar name for Buffs fans.

Recently, Shurmur opened up on his role as an offensive analyst for Coach Prime and what it means to work for an emerging Buffs team. He also mentioned how he jumped at the opportunity to join CU’s staff (h/t Brian Howell of BuffZone):

“I believe in Coach Prime, and I believe in him as a man,” Shurmur told the media on Thursday. “I believe in his competitive spirit. When I was given an opportunity to come work (at CU), I jumped at it.”

Shurmur did not coach in 2022, but when the opportunity presented itself to become an offensive analyst in Boulder, he couldn’t help it.

Now, here he is, and having an experienced guy such as Shurmur is a huge bonus for Sanders and offensive coordinator Sean Lewis.

“Being an analyst, I work primarily behind the scenes,” Shurmur added (h/t BuffZone). “I’m in the meeting room with the coaches. I’m really not allowed to have one-on-one with players. It’s really hard to be out there and bite your tongue when you see something. But if there is something I see that might help a player, I gotta just kind of track it through one of the coaches.”

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Deion Sanders hires ex-Broncos OC Pat Shurmur for CU’s staff

Deion Sanders has added former Broncos offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur to his offensive staff with the Buffaloes.

Pat Shurmur will be coaching football in Colorado again this fall, but not with the Denver Broncos.

The former Broncos offensive coordinator is joining Deion Sanders’ staff at the University of Colorado. Carl Reed Jr. of 247Sports first reported last week that Shurmur was expected to join the Buffaloes as an analyst.

Mike Klis of KUSA-TV later confirmed that Shurmur has indeed been hired by Sanders as an offensive analyst. The 58-year-old coach will now return to the college ranks, where his coaching career began as a graduate assistant with at Michigan State in 1988.

Shurmur served as Denver’s offensive coordinator from 2020-2021. He was fired by the Broncos following the 2021 season and he took a break from coaching in 2022 before joining CU this summer.

Denver scored 19.7 points per game in 2021 (10th-worst in the NFL) and 20.2 points per game in 2020 (fifth-worst that season). The Broncos went through four different starting QBs during that time frame (plus the Kendall Hinton game). Shurmur will now aim to bounce back at the college level and prove that Denver’s offensive struggles didn’t all fall on him.

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