Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders has officially promoted Pat Shurmur.
Shurmur will take over as the program's offensive coordinator in 2024, Colorado announced Friday. He replaces Sean Lewis, who took the head coaching job at San Diego State in November.
Shurmur served as the team's co-offensive coordinator and offensive analyst last season.
Colorado Buffaloes Football @CUBuffsFootballPat Shurmur has been named as our Offensive Coordinator.<a href="">#GoBuffs</a> <a href="">
The move was expected as Sanders previously said in an interview with USA Today's Brent Schrotenboer in December that Shurmur would "most likely" take over as offensive coordinator of the Buffs.
Sanders gave Shurmur offensive play-calling duties for the final four games of the 2023 regular season, but the team's production wasn't nearly as good as it was under Lewis.
Through the first eight games with Lewis calling plays, Colorado averaged 32.1 points and 408.6 yards per game. With Shurmur calling plays, they averaged 20.3 points and 273.5 yards per game
However, the decline in production could have been due to the declining health of quarterback Shedeur Sanders and the offensive line.
Luckily for Shurmur, he'll still get to coach a talented offense highlighted by Sanders and wide receiver/corner back Travis Hunter next season. Sanders opted to return to Colorado for another season instead of entering the 2024 NFL draft.
The Buffaloes will be looking to improve upon a disappointing 4-8 finish to the 2023 season.
Prior to joining Colorado, Shurmur spent time as offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos from 2020 to 2021. He has also served as offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, the then-St. Louis Rams and Philadelphia Eagles.
Shurmur also has NFL head coaching experience, having served as head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 2011 to 2012 and the New York Giants from 2018 to 2019.
