Colorado Buffaloes football coach Deion Sanders has always been impatient with his offense. At Jackson State, he relieved Michael Pollock of play-calling duties midseason and promoted Tigers TE coach T.C. Taylor to the offensive coordinator spot. He did the same thing in 2023 in Boulder, demoting Sean Lewis and promoting Pat Shurmur to full-time OC.
Pollock, of note, is Colorado’s Special Teams Coordinator. Lewis has gone on to become the San Diego State Aztecs football coach.
Regardless, Coach Prime has always advocated for change in his offense. While he was always quick to change the play-caller to benefit his son, he’d look foolish firing Shurmur after what he was able to get out of Shedeur Sanders in 2024. Hence, he’s switching out the QB frequently, playing three in a game for the first time as Colorado’s head coach last Saturday against the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens in a 31-7 win.
Andscape’s Jean-Jacques Taylor juxtaposed the fact that Shedeur was Coach Prime’s starter for most of his collegiate career so far with the constant need for change offensively.
“An old football adage says if you have two quarterbacks, you have none. Colorado apparently has three, so you can draw your own conclusions about its quarterback situation,” Taylor wrote.
“Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised.
“Sanders’ son, Shedeur, was his starting quarterback when he coached youth and high school and the first four seasons of his college coaching career. Shedeur Sanders, a fifth-round pick in this year’s NFL draft, sits third on the Cleveland Browns’ depth chart.
“How did Colorado wind up with a quarterback carousel? First, Sanders is known for his offensive impatience. In the four years he’s been a head coach, he’s changed offensive coordinators multiple times during the season.
“If Sanders doesn’t like what he sees, change is coming.”
Coach Prime thought he had his QB1 in upperclassman Liberty Flames transfer Kaidon Salter to bridge the gap to Julian Lewis in his final year of eligibility, but Ryan Staub, who has two years left after this one, has changed the narrative.
Maybe he can change it again by convincing Coach Prime that the offense is stable in his hands moving forward, and that another major change isn’t necessary.