Deion Sanders didn’t leave much room for interpretation Tuesday.
When asked at his weekly press conference whether Colorado had considered making another change at offensive play-caller, Sanders gave a one-word answer and moved on. For a coach who usually has plenty to say, the brevity landed hard.
On the surface, it sounded like a simple vote of confidence in offensive coordinator Brennan Marion. But it also fit a pattern Sanders has followed before, one that has surfaced in late-season stretches over the last few years. He has changed play-callers in two of his previous three seasons, and both of those switches came with November approaching.
Colorado was 4-4 after a 28-16 loss at UCLA when Sanders took over play-calling from offensive coordinator Sean Lewis and handed the job to analyst Pat Shurmur, a former NFL head coach. Shurmur’s first game calling plays ended in a 26-19 loss to No. 16 Oregon State, and Sanders defended the move afterward.
"We just needed to try something else at the time, and that's what we did," Sanders said after the loss. "I don't look back on it. I don't second-guess myself whatsoever, because it's more to it than what you may know."
Shurmur later became the offensive coordinator, but he lost the play sheet after a 53-7 defeat at Utah on Oct. 25, 2025.
The next week, tight ends coach Brett Bartolone, who had run Sanders’ offense at Jackson State, handled the play-calling without any formal announcement. Sanders eventually hinted at the adjustment.
"I might have already made changes, and you don't know," Sanders said in November 2025. "I don't blow the whistles and make major announcements."
Colorado’s current record looks a lot like last year’s at this point in the calendar. The Buffaloes are 3-6 and 1-5 in the Big 12, matching the same marks they carried a year ago after that quiet change.
The offense has not done Sanders many favors, either, averaging a Big 12-low 19.8 points per game. Under Sanders, Colorado has gone 13-3 when it scores 30 or more points across his first three seasons, and 3-18 when it does not.
This year’s team has hit 30 only once, in a 52-21 win over FCS Weber State.
There is also the financial side of the decision. Marion is due $1.5 million a year through Jan. 31, 2028, which is nearly twice Shurmur’s $850,000 salary. Moving on from him nine games into a two-year deal would be a difficult call for an athletic department that projected a $27 million fiscal 2026 deficit and will not release final figures until January 2027.
When the questions kept coming Tuesday, Sanders pushed back a little. "Is this Killing Brennan Day, today?" he asked.
He then turned the conversation back on himself when the topic shifted to the offseason.
"I know what you're getting at, and I applaud it, but nah. I love the job the coordinators are doing. I gotta do better," Sanders said.
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Houston brings a ranked opponent into Boulder and a quarterback in Conner Weigman who gives the Cougars a steady presence in a game Colorado cannot afford to let slip away. For the Buffaloes, it is the kind of November test that can either keep postseason hopes alive or leave the margin for error gone before the final stretch even begins. [Read more 🡒]