Deion Sanders has his “prime time” offensive coordinator.
Sources with direct knowledge told FootballScoop Monday night that Kent State head coach Sean Lewis just wrapped up a team meeting with his Kent State team during which Lewis informed the players that he had formally accepted the offer to become Sanders’s offensive coordinator atop the University of Colorado.
Lewis twice led the Golden Flashes to a pair of seven-win seasons, but he had been seeking an exit from the MAC program in recent seasons, per sources with direct knowledge, and last week Lewis interviewed for the University of Cincinnati head job that ultimately went to Louisville coach Scott Satterfield on Monday.
Per sources, Lewis informed the team and his assistant coaches that he intended to take Bill O’Boyle with him to Boulder, Colorado, to join ‘Coach Prime’s’ inaugural Colorado Buffaloes staff.
Sanders was introduced during a Sunday press conference in which Sanders promised to bring greatness back to the fans of Colorado football and also later informed the Buffaloes during a team meeting that they should hit the NCAA Transfer Portal as Sanders said he intended to bring “about 10 dogs” with him to the Pac-12 program.
O’Boyle is a veteran coach at all levels of football, and he’s previously in Colorado at Colorado Mesa.
As for Lewis, he exits Kent State with a 24-31 record – though Lewis posted an above-.500 mark after his first season was a 2-10 campaign.
Sanders has vowed to bring a preeminent staff with him to Colorado after he guided Football Championship Subdivision program Jackson State, an HBCU program, to unprecedented success. The Tigers (12-0) are set to make their second-straight appearance in the Celebration Bowl later this month, and they’ve posted a 23-2 ledger under Sanders in his two full seasons atop the program.
“It’s going to be one of the best staffs you’ve ever seen assembled,” Sanders said during his team meeting Sunday with the Buffaloes. “One of the best recruiting staffs you’ve ever seen assembled. They’re coming.
“Everything. The way you think about the game, the way you study the game. I’m going to invest in you and you’re going to invest in yourself.”
Per sources with direct knowledge, Lewis wholly endorsed current Kent State offensive coordinator Andrew Sowder as the top candidate to replace Lewis in-house as the Golden Flashes' head coach. Sowder has served as Kent State's offensive coordinator since 2018.
A Texas native, Sowder also has worked at the University of Texas as well as San Jose State and Bowling Green.