Tag: Sean Lewis

Power ranking 10 candidates for Michigan State football’s head coaching job: Version 1.0

Ranking MSU’s potential head coaching candidates:

Following a massive USA TODAY investigation, Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller announced to the public that the University plans to fire Mel Tucker for cause, which would imply that a coaching search is imminent, if not already underway.

At no slight to acting head coach Harlon Barnett, it’s only natural that there  has been a lot of chatter already amongst the Michigan State fan base and media around who could be the next man up to be the long-term head coach at MSU.

In this series, we will be ranking the potential candidates that could be in the running to take over Michigan State’s job. The list will be capped at ten names (for now) along with a few other honorable mentions, and will fluctuate based on how coaches are performing this season along with any rumored or confirmed interest from the Spartans:

How Josh Heupel’s offense differs from other veer and shoot play-callers

A look at how Josh Heupel’s offense differs from other veer and shoot play-callers.

Colorado’s emergence offensively has been at the forefront of the 2023 college football season through three weeks.

Sean Lewis is part of the veer and shoot coaching tree and is in his first season as the Buffaloes’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He served as Kent State’s head coach from 2018-22.

Lewis’ offensive coordinator at Kent State was Andrew Sowder.

Sowder played and coached at Baylor in the veer and shoot offense under head coach Art Briles.

Lewis is running a veer and shoot offense at Colorado like he did with Sowder at Kent State.

Josh Heupel has executed a veer and shoot offense since serving as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Missouri in 2016, and continues to do so as Tennessee’s head coach.

A difference in Heupel and Lewis’ veer and shoot offense is mesh. Lewis’ offense features mesh, while Heupel’s does not.

One example of Colorado executing mesh is on third-and-goal at TCU in Week 1. Lewis’ play-call of slot and tight end mesh can be watched below.

Another coach who installed the veer and shoot offense at the FBS level in 2023 is Kevin Decker with Old Dominion. His offense features mesh with the Monarchs.

Decker previously served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Fordham from 2019-22.

He installed Heupel’s offense during Fordham’s downtime during the coronavirus shutdown.

Decker and Fordham hired David Weeks as an offensive quality control coach in 2020. He was elevated to tight ends coach in 2021.

Weeks came to Fordham after serving as a student assistant quarterbacks coach from 2018-19 at UCF under Heupel. At UCF under Heupel, Weeks was responsible for helping provide input and breaking down opponent and self-scout film, creating cutups of opponent and self-scout specific film, creating weekly post-game packets and charts, a weekly red zone report, and drawing weekly installs.

“In 2019 we would study it, but wouldn’t run it,” Decker previously told Vols Wire of installing Heupel’s veer and shoot offense. “Then Covid happened and we were still able to get in 10 practices in the fall without a season. I said this is an opportune time to get this stuff on film and see how it looks. It’s really different, but the biggest thing to stress to your guys is to don’t overthink it, run fast and make full speed decisions, you’re always right and run to green grass — that’s it. Our kids really loved it, and because it allowed them to play fast and to play without thinking.

“We kind of made the full blown adjustments and we obviously reaped the benefits with some success this year. I love it, and as a play-caller, when you spread a team out wide, you really get to see what their attention is.”

Decker and Old Dominion played at Virginia Tech in Week 1 and executed mesh during the contest. Below is one example of Decker calling slot mesh with a quarterback run to get a first down on third-and-three.

Kevin Decker discusses installing Josh Heupel’s offense

Tennessee defeated Austin Peay, 30-13, in Week 2 at Neyland Stadium.

Austin Peay head coach Scotty Walden hired Lanear Sampson as a co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach ahead of the 2023 season.

Sampson played wide receiver for Briles at Baylor from 2008-12. He was an offensive quality control coach under Heupel at UCF in 2020.

Walden’s offense features mesh, as well as operating with a spread tempo, going no huddle, wide splits, while snapping the ball every 12 seconds.

Scotty Walden discusses Austin Peay football, connections with Tennessee

20 potential candidates to replace Mel Tucker as Michigan State football’s coach

Who could potentially replace Mel Tucker? We came up with 20 coaches to consider.

Following an in-depth investigation by USA TODAY into the allegations made by Brenda Tracy against Mel Tucker, the university placed Mel Tucker on an unpaid suspension.

Operating under the assumption that Tucker has coached his last game as the head man of the Michigan State football program, as Lansing State Journal reporter Graham Couch speculated, the Spartans will be in the market for a new leader of their football program.

Check out some of the potential candidates Michigan State could look to bring in:

How high will Sean Lewis rise in the coaching industry this season?

Deion Sanders’ offensive coordinator figures to get calls from Power Five ADs when jobs open up in late November.

Hiring Sean Lewis as his offensive coordinator might be the smartest, shrewdest, most important thing Deion Sanders has done at Colorado.

Lewis is a rising star in the coaching profession. We asked our Pac-12 panel, “Will Sean Lewis be a Power Five head coach next year?”

Matt Wadleigh, Trojans and Buffaloes Wire: Sean Lewis should definitely get a long look, especially if the Buffs offense continues to do what they did in Week 1. Deion might want to start looking for another offensive coordinator.

Zachary Neel, Ducks Wire: What is the Power Five anymore? Sean Lewis will be a head coach at a respected school in the next two years. Again, give me more sample size before I crown him the next Kenny Dillingham.

Matt Zemek, Trojans Wire: He will get phone calls from athletic directors. It’s up to him if he wants to leave Deion or ride with this for a few years. If the right job opens up, he will take it. Does he want the West Virginia job when Neal Brown gets fired? If he does, he’ll be in Morgantown in 2024. He can play Colorado in the Big 12. Wouldn’t that be something?

Check out our Pac-12 football predictions roundtable for the 2023 season.

Buffs receivers make history in Sean Lewis’ Colorado debut

Colorado’s receivers accomplished something on Saturday that had been done just four previous times this century

The Colorado Buffaloes, led by new head coach Deion Sanders, marched right into TCU and upset the No. 17 Horned Frogs on the road in stunning fashion.

Where do we begin? Freshman running back Dylan Edwards had four touchdowns, and quarterback Shedeur Sanders broke the Buffs’ single-game passing record in the first game under new offensive coordinator Sean Lewis.

Travis Hunter was electric, and the new-look Buffs team was better than advertised, at least through one game.

But, of all the noteworthy stats to take away from this, perhaps the best one is that Colorado had four players with 100-plus receiving yards. That was just the fifth time since the turn of the century that this occurrence has happened, and the first since both USC and Troy did it in 2019, per Josh Dubow of the Associated Press.

The four Buffs who made it happen?

  • Dylan Edwards: 3/135/3 (receptions/receiving yards/receiving touchdowns)
  • Travis Hunter: 11/119/0
  • Xavier Weaver: 6/118/0
  • Jimmy Horn Jr.: 11/117/1

The Buffs’ new weapons flourished under Lewis and Shedeur Sanders.

It was the first game for Coach Prime and this team, but expectations are now soaring through the roof.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.

Walk-on Michael Harrison impressing Sean Lewis early in fall camp

Sean Lewis confirmed that Michael Harrison has been making some noise at TE

The Colorado Buffaloes football team is looking much different than it did back in December. However, one player still on the roster is Michael Harrison. He was largely a special teams contributor in both 2021 and 2022.

However, with Deion Sanders and a new staff in town, the former wide receiver is figuring to make some noise at the tight end position, With some changes in the TEs room following Seydou Traore’s surprising departure,  the walk-on Harrison has been a pleasant surprise:

Here’s what new offensive coordinator Sean Lewis said about Harrison, per Adam Munsterteiger of BuffStampede:

“The transition of Mikey over to that room adds a little bit of athleticism and he’s been able to stress some vertical seams, which has been very exciting,” Lewis said. “He made a nice back-shoulder catch today, which was great.”

With Shedeur Sanders taking over at the quarterback position and a brand new group of offensive weapons, there could be some opportunity for Harrison to thrive at the tight end position. This should be one of the more interesting underlying developments to watch early on for the Buffs.

Back in July, Colorado TEs coach Tim Brewster was also raving about Harrison, saying that he could be one of the better players at his position this season in the Pac-12.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.

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Shedeur Sanders admits he’s ‘80%’ in learning Sean Lewis’ offense

Shedeur Sanders gave an update on how far along he is in learning Sean Lewis’ offense

The Colorado Buffaloes football team will have a ton of eyeballs on it, especially early on. Defensive coordinator Charles Kelly came over from Alabama and offensive coordinator Sean Lewis was recently the head coach at Kent State.

It’s not often that a head coach takes a demotion such as Lewis did, but the opportunity to join Deion Sanders’ staff and potentially craft a new era of college football was too appealing. Shedeur Sanders, the son of Coach Prime, is set for a huge year as the team’s starting quarterback and he recently opened up on how far along he is in learning Lewis’ offense (h/t Adam Munsterteiger of BuffStampede):

“I’d say right now I’m 80%. I’d say I’m almost there. He (Lewis) has 12 years in the offense, I had a spring. So, coming back to it, meeting with him, we’re able to spend more time together. It means a lot, because I am starting to understand what he thinks and why he is calling certain stuff and his thought process and what to do in each situation that presents itself. So he’s given us all the answers to the problem, we just have to solve them. If we don’t, then it’s on us.”
It’s tough enough making the move from the FCS to the FBS, let alone a Power Five program. Doing so with the high-octane offense of Lewis, which was electric at Kent State, is a totally different obstacle to face.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.

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Colorado football 2023 state of the position: Running back

How do you see Colorado’s offensive backfield shaking out in 2023?

The Colorado Buffaloes’ passing offense is getting a lot of love heading into the 2023 season. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders earned rave reviews for his play during spring ball and the wave of talented wide receivers have been social media darlings during offseason workouts.

So, Colorado will be a pass-first team next season, right? As the great Lee Corso often says, not so fast, my friend! Offensive coordinator Sean Lewis mentioned his Badger blood as a way of reminding the country that the Buffaloes are going to run the ball early and often.

Below is a breakdown of what Colorado’s RB room looks like with fall camp just weeks away:

Colorado football 2023 state of the position: Quarterback

Our position-by-position breakdown of the 2023 #cubuffs begins at QB

We are quickly approaching a new era of Colorado Buffaloes football. After the hiring of head Deion Sanders, there has been an excitement level around Boulder that hasn’t been seen in over 20 years. We now stand less than two months from the Sept. 2 kickoff against TCU.

Prior to last season, I previewed each position group and with all of the recent changes to the roster, it should be valuable to learn about the new players who will be taking the field for the Buffs this fall.

What better way to start than with the most crucial position in all football? Let’s take a look at the quarterbacks of the 2023 CU Buffs:

An updated look at Deion Sanders’ Colorado coaching staff

Here’s what Colorado’s assistant coaching staff currently looks like

If anything has become clear over the past few months, it’s that Deion Sanders’ coaching staff doesn’t lack passion. Colorado’s assistants hit the ground running and have helped revitalize the Buffs’ roster in short order.

As we’ve gotten to know Coach Prime’s assistants this offseason, it has also become obvious that their expectations for next season are high with new systems and standards being set in place throughout the team. Time will tell how things work out, but there is once again excitement surrounding Colorado football thanks in part to the program’s new-look staff.

Below is a quick breakdown of Coach Prime’s position coaches: