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.
Colorado quality control analyst Pat Shurmur will take over play-calling duties from OC Sean Lewis vs. Oregon State, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. Deion Sanders must elevate Shurmur from analyst to full-time coach to be eligible to coach. Lewis will still signal the plays in, a…
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 3, 2023
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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