Deion Sanders is set to have his third offensive coordinator in four seasons in Colorado.
According to several reportsthe Buffaloes will hire Sacramento State head coach Brennan Marion as their new offensive coordinator. Former NFL head coach Pat Shurmur served as Colorado’s offensive coordinator for most of the 2025 season. but I didn’t announce a game late in the season as Sanders attempted to revive the offense.
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Marion has been at Sacramento State for one season. The Hornets are at the second-tier FCS level of college football and are trying to move up to the FBS level. However, their application to play as an independent team at the highest level of college football in 2026 was denied over the summer.
Before becoming head coach at Sacramento State, Marion served as offensive coordinator at UNLV for two seasons. The Rebels went 11-3 in 2024 and averaged 35 points per game and 6.3 yards per play before finishing No. 23 in the AP poll. The previous season, UNLV scored 34 points per game.
A former wide receiver at the University of Tulsa, Marion has worked all over the country since becoming a college coach at Arizona State as quality control coach in 2015. He was at Oklahoma Baptist, Howard, William & Mary, Hawaii and Pitt before spending the 2022 season as Texas’ passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach.
Current San Diego State coach Sean Lewis became Colorado’s offensive coordinator after Sanders was hired ahead of the 2023 season. Shurmur, who was hired as an offensive analyst, took over for Lewis during that season as Colorado struggled mightily.
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Shurmur remained at that position for the 2024 season as Colorado finished 9-4 and Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy playing both wide receiver and cornerback.
With the departure of Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders to the NFL, Colorado’s offense took another major step backwards in 2025. The Buffaloes used three different starting quarterbacks during a 3-9 season. Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter started the season as the team’s QB before Ryan Staub started a game, then freshman Julian Lewis took over late in the season. Lewis missed the final game of the season to preserve his redshirt status and has four years of eligibility remaining.
