Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur ‘re-energized’ by young CU Buffs players

BOULDER — Another offseason, another new offense for Shedeur Sanders to learn.

Whether it was at Jackson State or now at Colorado, the star quarterback is going to go four-for-four in college with a different offensive scheme every season.

As a freshman, Sanders had co-coordinators Michael Pollock and Jason Phillips (both of whom are on staff now with the Buffaloes) running the offense. As a sophomore, it was current CU tight ends coach Brett Bartolone. Last year, Sanders’ first with the Buffs, Sean Lewis was calling plays until a late-season change saw longtime NFL coach Pat Shurmur move from an analyst role to play caller.

Leading rusher Dylan Edwards latest transfer from CU Buffs

The role now belongs to Shurmur full-time after Lewis moved on to become the head coach at San Diego State. It’s safe to say the relationship between quarterback and offensive coordinator is off to a good start.

“He understands me as a person,” Sanders said last week. “That’s why I feel like a lot of players like playing for (my) dad. A lot of people don’t like the untraditional way of how college athletes do things. Coach Pat, we have a great relationship. He understands me and accepts me for who I am.”

Legendary pic.twitter.com/hezInW36Fe

— Shedeur Sanders (@ShedeurSanders) March 24, 2024

It’s a very different situation for Shurmur, who started his coaching career at his alma mater of Michigan State but spent his previous 20-plus years in the business working in the NFL, three times as a head coach and as an offensive coordinator at multiple stops with the Broncos as the most recent.

Shurmur explained last summer when he was hired to be an analyst that he planned on continuing to take some time away from football after being let go by the Broncos following the 2021 season.

It was actually on his daughter’s wedding day when he got a call from Deion Sanders asking him to come out and be a set of eyes with pro experience to take a look at the CU offense and Shedeur’s abilities as a quarterback.

It’s been well documented that Shurmur took over play calling duties for the final four games of the season, and while he tried to implement some of his own offensive philosophies during that time, it’s not the easiest thing to do in the middle of the season. As spring ball kicked off last week, now he’s able to do more of that.

“Now, we’re able to set some stakes in the ground and do some things that we need to do to play winning football,” Shurmur said. “It obviously starts with running the ball and being able to protect the passer. Obviously, we know how dynamic Shedeur can be. They went out and got us some quality big people that will help us be able to do that so we can play winning football.”

But don’t expect a drastically different offense than the one that averaged over 475 yards per game while Lewis was calling plays. Shurmur himself said multiple times that college is “a different game” from the NFL. There are certain restrictions with roster construction that almost force pro offenses to look a certain way that just don’t exist in college.

“We’re gonna go back and look at the things that we did well last year that we continue to like and then add things to it that will help us be even better,” Shurmur said. “Believe it or not, they're doing the same thing in the Kansas City Chiefs building. That’s what we do as coaches.”

Shurmur understands that there needs to be some pretty drastic improvement offensively and he knows exactly where to start.

“We need to protect the passer and run the ball much better than we did last year," Shurmur said. "You gotta practice those things. We still have to utilize the strengths of a dynamic quarterback and throw the ball. It’s gonna be fun. Every place I’ve been, I’ve tried to spread the ball around and make sure everybody was getting their touches.”

The upcoming season will actually be Shurmur’s first as a full-time offensive coordinator in college. All of his previous college experience came as a position coach or a special teams coach both at Michigan State and Stanford. But he’s happy to be back in a place that makes him feel young again.

“I do feel re-energized by the younger players and they’re all ears,” Shurmur said. “I can’t tell you how many meals where they’re (like), ‘Tell me about Michael Vick. Tell me about Sam Bradford. What was Case Keenum like?’

“They want perspective and I think the endgame for some of these guys is gonna be pro football, so they’re always looking for the perspective. That’s kind of a neat piece (of this).”