When Deion Sanders hired Sean Lewis to be his offensive coordinator after becoming the Colorado Buffaloes head coach last December, the belief was it would be a match made in heaven. Lewis’ fast-paced uptempo offense with quarterback Shedeur Sanders at the helm sounded like trouble for the rest of the Pac-12. Things got off to a blistering start in Boulder, with the Buffaloes beginning the season 3-0. With offense the strength of their team, the Buffs put up numbers but didn’t win but one more after that quick start.
Following a Week 8 loss to the UCLA Bruins, which also followed a blown 29-0 lead and subsequent 46-43 double overtime loss to the Stanford Cardinal, Sanders decided to make a change at play-caller. He demoted Lewis in favor of longtime NFL coach Pat Shurmur, and what’s odd about that is the offense was then the least of the problems for a very flawed Colorado football team. Lewis, who was the head coach at Kent State prior to taking the Power Five gig with the Buffs took the demotion in stride, but this week he left to become the head coach San Diego State.
Lewis Stays Classy When Talking About Sanders
During his introductory press conference with the Aztecs, Lewis was asked about his time in Boulder, and not once did he take a shot at Sanders. He instead kept it classy and took the proverbial high road.
“Coach does an unbelievable job of telling a story, of giving unfiltered access,” Lewis began. “I think that’s a beautiful way to tell things and the uniqueness of the characters that are within our club.”
“Coach Sanders does an unbelievable job of speaking belief into existence, right? There’s an unwavering belief of how he does things and the conviction that gave the whole team as we went forward,” he added.
Nice words from Lewis, but nothing he mentioned had anything to do with the team’s on-field play or his demotion. One which saw an offense got from over 400 yards and scoring over 35 points in five of the team’s eight games with him as play-caller, to just over 20 points and under 275 yards per game offensively with Shurmur.
Not exactly an endorsement-ringing move.
Anonymous Coach Says Deion Playing With Fire
Sanders’ move was questioned then by many and it’s still being questioned now with Lewis gone. The timing of it was odd as well, during a week with a 4-4 record. An anonymous coach called the move “embarrassing” in a feature by The Athletic on the Colorado season.
He also mentioned that he saw Shedeur and Lewis began to have problems when the signal-caller would hold the ball longer than necessary in Lewis’ quick-hitting attack. Add in the major protection issues, which saw Shedeur and his backup sacked 56 times. That reportedly played a role in Sanders making the move, but that’s not Lewis’ fault when you consider what he was working with.
The anonymous coach also said Sanders must be careful doing things like demoting someone who was a head coach prior to joining you. Lewis then turned right around and landed an even better gig after the demotion. He also believes Sanders’ actions could even deter others from wanting to come to Boulder.
Lewis is a well-respected offensive mind in the college game, and stripping him of play-calling duties wasn’t a good look. Especially in-season for Shurmur, whose best days as a primary play-caller are long gone.
