Sources: Kent State’s Lewis to Colorado as OC
7:26 PM ET Pete ThamelESPN The on-field identity of Deion Sanders’Colorado program took form today, as sources
informed ESPN that the Buffalos are hiring Kent State head coach Sean Lewis to be the team’s offensive coordinator.As Kent State’s head coach and play caller, Lewis developed a distinct identity– whiplash tempo, quick snaps and wide-open offenses. His offense is a descendent of the old-school Baylor offense, which assisted make devastating tempo style in college football more than a decade ago.This year, Kent State finished with the fastest offense in the Group of 5 and the fourth-fastest offense in college football. According to ESPN Stats and Information research, they balanced 30.1 seconds of real time between snaps.Sources informed ESPN that one of the appeals of Lewis working in Colorado was that breakneck rate, integrated with the altitude in Stone, which will damage opposing defenses.Lewis’s fidelity to tempo resulted in one
of the very best runs of football in recent generations at Kent State. His success there belies his record(24-31), as he won the program’s first-ever championship game in school history and reached the MAC title
game last year. That was simply the 2nd MAC title game in school history.Lewis’ offenses at Kent finished in the top 5 in total offense in both 2021 and 2020. In 2020, the Golden Flashes led the country in scoring (49.8 points per game )when Kent State played a MAC-only schedule in the COVID-shortened season. It’s not simply wide-open passing either, as Kent was No. 3 nationally in rushing offense last season.Sanders has proved to be a respected recruiter at Jackson State; Travis Hunter, the No. 2 overall hire in the ESPN 300 in 2015, selected Jackson State over Georgia and Florida State. If Sanders can draw elite professional athletes to Boulder, Lewis’system ought to have the ability to highlight them.”It makes sense,”stated
a MAC coach who has actually faced Lewis.”They’ll be able to get players and play in a wide-open passing attack. They’ll be explosive, athletic and assaulting. I believe anytime you’re handling elevation, no matter what system you run, it’s something you have to adapt to. I believe it fits a bit of the wide-open assaulting Pac-12 type of offenses. They need to be able to draw in guys who wish to play because type of system offensively.”Lewis played tight end and quarterback at Wisconsin under offensive planner Paul Chryst, an uncommon incubator for a hyper-tempo offense. He began early in his training profession at Eastern Illinois with Dino Babers, who is a former Baylor assistant and passed on the high-octane offense to Lewis. Lewis was also on the personnel during Jimmy Garoppolo’s period at Eastern Illinois.From there
, Lewis followed Babers to Bowling Green in the MAC and Syracuse in the ACC, reaching offensive organizer and soaking himself in tempo offense.Lewis was the youngest head coach in the nation when he got the Kent job at age 31 in December of 2017. His success in five season at Kent has actually been so valued by the administration there that a source informed ESPN they aim to
keep a comparable up-tempo style, as it’s enjoyable to view, fan-friendly and easy to recruit to.Kent State authorities appreciate of the momentum Lewis assisted produce and plan to use the$750,000
buyout Colorado will pay for Lewis to continue to supplement the program. Kent State has long been one of the MAC’s most tough jobs, as Lewis ‘2 bowl appearances there matched the overall in the history of a program that started in 1962. At the core of Lewis’period there was forging a distinct identity, and it
‘s one that’s simple to see why it would be appealing to a program where Sanders assures to bring in a large swath of five-stars and elite ability players. “They’ll have fun with rate and tempo and attempt and spread out the field all 53-and-a-third, “said another MAC coach.”It’s a vibrant system if they can get a quarterback recruited that can run it. “