Pat Shurmur seemed to be quoting from the original football rule book on Friday.
“It’s pretty simple,” the Colorado offensive coordinator said after the Buffaloes’ fifth practice of preseason camp. “The ball is oval shaped, full of air, made of leather. We want to secure it collectively and advance it. It’s pretty clear in my brain, right, and so that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Sounds like a good plan, and if the Buffaloes can secure the oval-shaped leather ball and advance it with regularity, they could be pretty good on offense this season.
Tasked with making sure the Buffs can advance the ball is Shurmur, who comes into his first full season as the coordinator with rejuvenation.
The 59-year-old Shurmur is a long-time NFL coach whose most recent job before coming to Boulder was as the offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos in 2020 and 2021. After a year out of the game in 2022, Shurmur joined head coach Deion Sanders’ staff in Boulder last summer as an analyst and was elevated to coordinator this offseason.
“Shoot, I feel 20 years younger working with these young people,” he said. “If you sense my excitement, this has been fun for me working with these young players. I’ve got a new, fresh perspective.”
Shurmur has been to the highest levels of his profession, as head coach of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns (2011-12) and New York Giants (2018-19). He’s been the offensive coordinator at different times for the St. Louis Rams, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings and Broncos.
Following a disappointing stint with the Broncos, however, Shurmur has taken a path he didn’t expect by coming to Boulder.
“Who knew that the journey would take me back to college?” said Shurmur, who hadn’t coached in college since 1998, at Stanford, before joining the Buffs last year. “But what the heck? Let’s roll. I think that’s kind of the fun piece. I think we all grow.”
Shurmur has had a lot of success in his coaching career, including being named the NFL’s assistant coach of the year in 2017. Locally, he’s remembered for his time in Denver, although the Broncos’ struggles certainly weren’t all on Shurmur.
Under head coach Vic Fangio, the Broncos went 12-21 during the 2020-21 seasons, leading to Fangio getting fired. The Broncos had one of the bottom 10 offenses in the league in those seasons, with Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater as the primary quarterbacks.
But, Shurmur did point out that the Broncos were doing OK before a late season injury to Bridgewater in 2021. They were 7-6 before a four-game slide to end the year.
“We had made great strides at the Broncos,” he said. “We had a chance at some point. We had a team that was, on offense, very young … and we battled through it. Unfortunately, we fell a little bit short, but that’s kind of the way it is in that league.”
While there were certainly some ups and downs with the Broncos, Shurmur recognizes the opportunity he has with the Buffaloes.
“A fresh start, for sure,” he said. “I mean, I was able to kind of go back and evaluate for myself the things over the years that worked, the things that didn’t. I think that’s the advantage of experience. And then you come to a new love.”
Maybe this is a “prove it” year for Shurmur. Maybe it’s just a new opportunity. Either way, he’s aiming to make the most of it because he’s enjoying his time with the Buffs.
“I think everybody tries to prove it every day,” he said. “I mean, you’re always trying to give great effort and do what you think is best. As you’ve gone through life and you’ve tried things that didn’t work, it helps you make better decisions as to what’s best.
“Maybe it’s the mountain air, but I just feel mentally much more clarity when it comes to this. … Everybody gets better as they go through life, right? And that’s part of the journey. I’m just very thankful that I have an opportunity to do it here.”
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