San Diego State is targeting Colorado offensive coordinator Sean Lewis to be its next head coach, with a deal expected to come together soon, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Lewis started this season as the primary play-caller for the Buffaloes’ offense under head coach Deion Sanders. He was Sanders’s first assistant hire after the Pro Football Hall of Famer was named Colorado’s head coach ahead of the 2023 season.
Now, Lewis is set to replace former Aztecs head coach Brady Hoke, who retired after four seasons at SDSU. The Buffaloes finished the season 4-8 and lost their last six games after starting the season 3-0.
During Colorado’s undefeated start, the team was one of the best offensive units in the Pac-12. However, Colorado finished the ’23 campaign at ninth in total offense (363.6), sixth in passing yards (294.7), last in rushing yards (68.9) and eighth in points per game (28.2) in the conference.
Lewis, known for orchestrating one of the most dynamic offenses in college football during his tenure as head coach at Kent State, had his role as the Buffaloes play-caller revoked by Sanders after of Colorado’s 28-16 loss to UCLA and was replaced by offensive analyst Pat Shurmur.
Although Sanders demoted Lewis, he still considered Lewis a “good play-caller” but that the program needed “a change at the time.”
“We’re not going to demean Sean Lewis, here,” Sanders told reporters following his decision about Lewis. “We’re not gonna do that, we’re not gonna take that tone. Sean [Lewis] is a good man, I think he’s a good play-caller.
“We just needed change at the time. We just needed to try something else at the time. That’s what we did and 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. So, let’s just trust the process.”
Lewis was one the youngest FBS head coaches when he was hired at Kent State in ’18. In five seasons with the program, he registered a 24-31 mark and led the Golden Flashes to their second MAC East division title in program history and two bowl games in ’19 and ’21.
The 37-year-old leaves Colorado as Sanders seeks to reconstruct the team ahead of the ’24 campaign. Since the ’23 season ended, Buffaloes tight end coach Tim Brewster resigned from his position. Three college football recruits have also decommitted from the program in recent days.
