Shurmur ‘most likely’ to be OC next year
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders may have settled on his offensive coordinator for next year.
In an interview with USA Today on Monday, Sanders was asked if Pat Shurmur would be the Buffaloes’ offensive coordinator next season and said, “Yeah, most likely.”
Shurmur, a long-time NFL coach, was hired by Sanders as an analyst last summer. Eight games into this season, Sanders made the decision to promote Shurmur to a co-offensive coordinator role with Sean Lewis and handed the play-calling duties to Shurmur.
Sanders also told USA Today that his son, Buffs’ starting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, is “OK” and should be healthy by the spring after missing the last game and a half with a fracture in his back, as well as an ankle injury.
With the transfer portal opening on Monday, Sanders also told USA Today that the Buffs (4-8, 1-8 Pac-12) are looking for “older quarterbacks” to come to Boulder as backups in case something happens to Shedeur again. He said he’s looking for multiple quarterbacks from the transfer portal.
The Buffs also currently have Ryan Staub, who will be a true sophomore and played well in his only start of the season, at Utah in the finale on Nov. 25.
As for the coordinator position, Shurmur is a logical choice after finishing the season in that role. Lewis is no longer with the Buffs, as he took the head coaching job at San Diego State last week. Sanders told USA Today that he’s happy for Lewis.
“Coach Lewis came with the intention of having a great year and leaving,” Sanders said. “That’s what it was. … That’s what the plan was, and the plan was executed. Nothing has transpired that has caught us off guard. Not one thing.”
Sanders hinted that Shurmur would be the OC after the Buffs’ 23-17 loss at Utah. He said after the game that there would be “a few” changes to the staff, but when asked if that would include offensive coordinator, he said, “I don’t know about that one.”
Following the Utah game,
Sanders also spoke highly of Shurmur when he said, “Pat and I communicate really well. Pat and Sean communicated really well. Pat and Shedeur communicate really well. So I think he did a great job. I really did.”
With Lewis calling plays during the first eight games, the Buffs averaged 32.1 points and 408.6 yards per game. But, they had also sputtered throughout his last six quarters as play caller.
Shurmur called plays the last four games and the Buffs averaged 20.3 points and 273.5 yards per game. In Shurmur’s second game as play-caller, though, the Buffs had 31 points and 339 yards in nearly upsetting then-no. 23 Arizona.
Early in the next game, Shed