Report: San Diego State 'targeting' Colorado OC Sean Lewis as next head coach

NS_headshot_clearbackgroundby:Nick Schultz•11/28/23•

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One year after leaving his position as Kent State head coach to join Deion Sanders at Colorado, Sean Lewis could be putting the big headset on again. San Diego State is “targeting” Lewis to be its next head coach, and a deal is “expected to come together soon,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported.

Lewis served as the head coach at Kent State from 2018-22 after working his way through the coaching ranks. He had a 24-31 overall record with the Golden Flashes and led the program to a MAC East title in 2021. However, he left after the 2022 season to become the offensive coordinator under Sanders as Coach Prime took over at Colorado.

Now, Lewis is off to San Diego State to replace Brady Hoke, who retired after four years with the Aztecs.

Lewis served as the primary play-caller through most of this year, but Sanders tabbed former NFL coach Pat Shurmur to take over those duties later in the year. Colorado finished with a 4-8 record after starting the season with a 4-2 mark.

Colorado started out the year with one of the highest-powered offenses in the Pac-12, but ended up finishing No. 9 in the conference with 363.6 total yards per game. Mid-season, Sanders made the decision to take play-calling duties away from Lewis and elevate Shurmur from an analyst role. When asked about the decision, Sanders pointed to execution as a reason for the change.

He also made it clear he wanted to make a change after the Buffaloes scored just 19 points against Oregon State. It didn’t have anything to do with Lewis’ abilities as a coach, but rather what Sanders saw as a time for a shakeup.

“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 play-caller,” Sanders told reporters after the decision.

“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.”