Who: Sean Lewis, Colorado
Title: Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Previous stop: Kent State head coach (2018-22)
Why he's important: Imagine selling your moderately successful tech consulting business to go work for Elon Musk. From the outside, all we see is madness -- wild quotes from the boss, a workplace culture that might not rise to the best practices of your standard American corporation. But look at how far he's gotten. There's gotta be a method somewhere within that madness... right?
That's the football equivalent of Sean Lewis leaving the Kent State head coaching job to be Deion Sanders's offensive coordinator at Colorado.
Lewis went 24-31 in his five seasons at Kent State, which may not sound like much until you realize it's Kent State. His 17-14 stretch from 2019-21 represented the best 3-year run for the Golden Flashes from 1972-74. Those three seasons happened to be Don James's last three years at Kent State; they earned him the head coaching job at Washington, where he'd go on to build a College Football Hall of Fame career.
So, having strung together success last obtained by a future Hall of Fame, national champion head coach, Lewis left his post in Ohio to join Coach Prime in the mountains.
“It was a tremendous opportunity,” Lewis said back in March. “I knew there would be great things that are happening here. The work we had done at Kent State was second to none and (I’m) really proud of what we did there, but I knew that for what I was after and what the opportunity was for my family and everything this could provide now and in the future, it’s something I had to jump at.”
PREVIOUS INSTALLMENTS: No. 15: Bryan Nardo, Oklahoma State; No. 14: Chad Bumphis, Mississippi State; No. 13: Buster Faulkner, Georgia Tech; No. 12 Chris Jackson, Texas; No. 11: Philip Montgomery, Auburn; No. 10: Josh Gattis: Maryland; No. 9: Lance Guidry, Miami; No. 8: Austin Armstrong, Florida
What kind of boss is Deion? In his infamous "I'm bringing my luggage and it's Louis" introductory team meeting, Coach Sanders said he expected his coaches to put work first while at work, and then put family first while at home. Two Sanders sons are on the team, and a third a full-time videographer, so it seems Prime walks the walk in this area.
Then again, would it really shock you if, three years from now, we heard reports of Colorado assistants being expected to keep crazy work schedules, even for college football?
Anything and everything is on the table for perhaps the grandest experiment we've seen, and Lewis is partially responsible for making sure this experiment doesn't set fire to the chemistry lab.
Lewis is a student of the Briles Veer and Shoot system, having learned and operated it under Dino Babers over the course of six seasons at Eastern Illinois, Bowling Green and Syracuse. His 2021 team ranked third nationally with nearly 249 rushing yards per game at 5.38 per carry, which allowed Kent State quarterback Dustin Crum to finish among the top 30 nationally with 8.4 yards per attempt.
A brand new offensive line will clear the way for Dylan Edwards, a 4-star true freshman, who has emerged as the starting running back over the course of training camp.
Lewis says Colorado has identified a starting five up front but admits they won't really know what they have until the first snap against TCU.
"It's kind of a wait-and-see. I love their approach," he said. "You don't really know what you have until you're in the live fire. I love the way that they're seeing the game through the same set of eyes, the five guys that we've settled in on. That allows us to play fast."
Colorado's roster lists 18 wide receivers, walk-ons included. Twelve are freshmen, and the other six are transfers. In fact, 22 Buffaloes caught a pass last season; only four -- two running backs, two tight ends -- return. Those four players combined for 12 receptions.
True freshman Dylan Edwards has emerged as the starting running back, where he'll be backed up by Kentucky transfer Kavoisey Smoke and Houston transfer Alton McCaskill. Shedeur Sanders will start at quarterback.
In short, if a Buff who was on the team in 2022 will not touch the ball in a close game in 2023.
"Go fast, be efficient, stay on schedule," Lewis said of his offensive mantra. "We want to create space for our speed, we want to find ways to create a numerical advantage. If all those things are going to be even, we want to create leverage so then we can out-flank and take away the edge of the defense."
Lewis does not script his opening plays, preferring to go by feel. And while this Colorado offense has certainly come a long way from the first spring practice to today, it'll be a work in progress all year long. Lewis has been laying a foundation to adapt to sudden change from the beginning. "One of my quotes we always say, and the guys joke with me, 'So what, now what?'"
No matter what happens over the next few years, the Prime era in Colorado will be college football history. It's largely up to Lewis whether it's the good kind or the bad.