Why it's not fair to point the finger at Sean Lewis at Colorado

Colorado made waves late last week with a staff tweak, as head coach Deion Sanders promoted analyst Pat Shurmur to a full-time coaching role, specifically to help on the offensive line. And while he didn’t explicitly demote offensive coordinator Sean Lewis explicitly, the message seemed to be clear as play calling duties changed hands.

But placing the blame on Lewis isn’t really fair, according to former NFL and Pac-12 offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz. Schwartz explained what he thinks is ailing the Colorado offense to On3’s Andy Staples and the main problem isn’t exactly a secret.

“What are they supposed to do with a bad offensive line? I know Pat Shurmur is not the help for that. I know Deion said he wants new offensive linemen. Well guess what? Four of the five starters right now are guys you brought in. You brought them in,” Schwartz said. “So you’re going to get new guys next season? Who is going to be playing offensive line at Colorado when you have Washington as an option, Oregon State, UCLA, Oregon? Even Arizona has a good offensive line right now. Like, why choose Colorado?”

It’s been an open secret in the second half of the season that Colorado can’t hold up on the offensive line. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders has been hit and sacked as much as any quarterback in the country. Sanders has gone on postgame tangents about the need to get better players at the position — not anything that can get solved between Weeks 10 and 11.

The scheme, coaching and talent at other spots aren’t the problem, Schwartz said. And with that in mind, Schwartz wonders what value there was, if any, in shuffling the deck with coaching staff.

“A lot of finger pointing going out and not a lot of finger point coming in, I feel like is what’s happening in Colorado right now. But, you know, Travis Hunter’s incredibly good. Shedeur Sanders is — they’ve got some good pieces,” Schwartz said.

Sanders discussed the play caller change after Week 10

In the short term, the move didn’t work, with Colorado dropping its fifth game out of the last six. For most of the game, the Buffaloes offense was stuck in first gear against a talented Oregon State team. After the game, Sanders broke down what he saw from the play calling.

“It has so much to do, and that’s a great question, but it’s not just that. It’s that and execution of the play that’s called,” Sanders said. “It’s that and timing of the play that’s called. It’s that and the thought process behind these calls.”

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“It’s a lot that goes behind that. You guys are just seeing what you see. You’re missing a whole lot of intangibles that transpired for us to be in this situation right now.”

Colorado ended the game against Oregon State with 19 points, including two points that came off a botched Beavers two-point try. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the offense found the endzone and Colorado gained more than half of its yards for the game.

“We’re not going to demean Sean Lewis, here. We’re not gonna do that, we’re not gonna take that tone. Sean is a good man, I think he’s a good playcaller,” Sanders said.

“We just needed change at the time. We just needed to try something else at the time. That’s what we did and I don’t look back on it, I don’t second guess myself whatsoever because there’s more to it than what you may know. So, let’s just trust the process. Let’s just trust the process. Sean is a, we’re not going to demean any coach on this staff by any means. I don’t get down like that, I don’t move like that.”