Deion Sanders to add longtime NFL coach to Colorado staff

Friday afternoon continues to supply coaching moves, which are fairly atypical for July. Pat Shurmur, who did not coach last season, will catch on in the college ranks. Deion Sanders is adding the two-time NFL HC to his Colorado staff, per Mike Klis of 9News.

Most recently the Broncos offensive coordinator, Shurmur has coached in college since the late 1990s. Andy Reid hired Shurmur for his first Eagles staff back in 1999, bringing him over from a role as Stanford’s offensive line coach. From then until the 2021 season, Shurmur served as an NFL assistant. But Colorado will bring him aboard. 247Sports.com’s Carl Reed Jr. was the first to report the hire was expected.

Formerly a head coach with the Browns and Giants, Shurmur caught on with the Broncos in 2020. Not exactly saddled with great circumstances on offense during that stay, Shurmur was out once the Broncos fired Vic Fangio. But Shurmur’s 2021 work looks better after what happened in Denver last year. Using Teddy Bridgewater as their primary starter, the 2021 Broncos ranked 23rd in points. This came with three Drew Lock starts and two extended appearances by the struggling second-round pick. Last season, the Broncos dropped to last in scoring.

Shurmur, 58, is expected to serve as an offensive analyst, Reed adds. While Shurmur has been in the NFL since 1999, he did make that jump after a lengthy stay in the college ranks to start his career. Michigan State employed Shurmur as an assistant from 1988-97.

Although the Browns and Giants both fired Shurmur after two seasons, he has enjoyed success as an assistant. Most notably, Shurmur earned Assistant Coach of the Year acclaim for his 2017 work in Minnesota. Despite losing starter Sam Bradford early that season, the Vikings soared to a 13-3 mark and earned the NFC’s No. 2 seed behind backup Case Keenum. In what proved to be an outlier season, Keenum led the NFL in quarterback DVOA and won a back-and-forth matchup against the Saints to book the Vikings in their first NFC Championship Game since 2009.