Deion Sanders confirms Pat Shurmur, Robert Livingston will not coach from press box

With the 2024 college football season rapidly approaching, Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders confirmed that both offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and Robert Livingston are going to be coaching from the sideline and not the press box.

For different coaches, there are benefits to either being in the box or on the field. However, as Sanders explained, for these coaches the benefits of being on the field outweigh those of being in the box.

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“Neither’s going to be in the box,” Deion Sanders said. “Neither.”

For Pat Shurmur, who took over as offensive coordinator in the middle of the 2023 season, this decision is a change. In particular, it’s a change Deion Sanders attributes to how he works with star quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

“Well, he wanted to see the game from a different perspective, and that’s what he wanted to do. He really wants to be down there, hands-on, and work hand-in-hand with Shedeur because they see a lot of things joint, and Brett [Bartolone] is doing a wonderful job up top,” Sanders said. “Coach [Michael] Pollack is doing a wonderful job up top. So, we got what we want and he’s going to be on the field doing what he’s blessed to do.”

After a 4-8 2023 season, Deion Sanders made several changes to the coaching staff, including the moves at both coordinator spots. Now, he’s in a position where he’s excited about the staff moving forward.

“We got some good guys. I mean, they’re good character guys,” Sanders said. “The kids love them. Schematically, they’re second to none, I feel like. I already know what they’ve come up with for the first game. I can’t wait until you see it.”

Colorado will open its season on Thursday, August 29th with a tricky FCS opponent in North Dakota State. After that, the schedule is going to get tricky for Colorado, with a road trip to Nebraska and their first year back in the Big 12 along the way.

It’s a season with a wide variety of expectations for Colorado. Some have praised the Buffaloes, like analyst Joel Klatt, saying it would be “insane” to not call Colorado a contender in the Big 12. Meanwhile, Paul Finebaum has been much more critical, saying that Colorado should not have received a vote in the AP Poll. With all of that, it’s not a surprise that Colorado’s 5.5-win total is a bet being picked to avoid.