Deion Sanders has a strong opinion about Colorado football OC Pat Shurmur

Deion Sanders has the highest regard for his Colorado State football offensive coordinator, Pat Shurmur.

Coach Prime not only believes in Shurmur’s coaching abilities, but he also believes the former Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings head coach has the ability to lead men.

“First of all, Coach Shurmur is phenomenal,” Sanders said on ESPNU during Big 12 Media Days (h/t Op3). “And the job he did at the end of last year, running someone else’s offense, wasn’t easy, but he did it and he did a great job, especially not having Shedeur for, I think, the last game, game and a half.

“Pat Shurmur is a pro. Pat Shurmur is a communicator. Pat Shurmur is a relational guy that, once you get to know him, once you build that relationship, you want to play for him, you want to hunt for him, you want to kill for him. So he’s that type of guy and the relationship that he has with Shedeur, and understanding that what they both want to accomplish on the field is poetry in motion. And then it’s easy to communicate with him. … A pro understands the running game and how important the running game is. So Pat brings a tremendous amount of experience and success.”

Coach Prime sees Shurmur differently than the speakers.

Nick Ferguson, formerly of BuffsBeat, Shurmur’s attack called vanilla after two weeks on the job as the primary play-caller after Sean Lewis was demoted from the Buffs’ full-time offensive coordinator to co-OC.

“Shurmur, a former NFL head coach, didn’t have much of an impact on the Buffs’ offense and seems pretty boring compared to Lewis’ scheme,” Ferguson wrote.

Mike Farrell (of the Mike Farrell Sports brand) believes that raising Shurmur/lowering Lewis proves that Sanders is not head coach material.

“Deion is an absolute fool to demote Sean Lewis unless there’s something we don’t know about,” Farrell began, before adding: “If this is personal, then it shows he’s just not head coaching material.”

Shurmur, like every other coach and player in Colorado’s football program, has a lot to prove in 2024. The NFL could come knocking again with a flashy campaign, and if Shedeur Sanders thrives, he could land a job wherever the “Grown QB” goes in the 2025 NFL draft.