CU Buffs make big-time OC hire for Coach Prime’s staff

Where Pat Shurmur was a no-go, the Colorado Buffaloes know Brennan Marion brings the Go-Go.

The Buffs are on the verge of hiring Marion to be their new offensive coordinator, stealing him away from his head coaching job at Sacramento State. This comes from multiple reports on Thursday.

Marion, 38, was in his first head coaching job and just finished his first season at 7-5 for the Hornets. He was about to bring in the top recruiting class in the FCS and had doubled their rushing output in just one year at the helm. But he leaves because of the FCS struggles of Sac State and their flirting but failure to get FBS membership for the 2026 season.

Marion’s improvements in the run game were no surprise, given his innovative Go-Go offense that has changed college football. Sac State finished third in FCS in rushing at more than 260 yards per game, and that’s exactly what Colorado needs, after two seasons dead last in rushing with Deion Sanders in charge and a third where the program improved but was still subpar.

Marion got the gig at Sac State after a strong two years as the OC at UNLV, where his system made the Rebels one of the best teams in the Mountain West.

Marion played wide receiver in college, finishing at Tulsa, and was briefly a member of the Miami Dolphins. As a player, he set the single-season NCAA FBS yards-per-catch record in a single season at 31.9 and finished as the NCAA career leader at 28.7 yards-per-catch. He had back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons.

Gaining Marion is a huge boon to the Buffs, who struggled in their first year without Shedeur Sanders. Marion will now get as many as four years with top recruit JuJu Leiws at signal caller. Though Marion has only had two years max at all of his stops over the last decade.

Marion will replace Shurmur, who himself replaced Sean Lewis, who was thought to be one of the top young minds in football. He will be Sanders’ third OC.

Below is a video from last year when he was at UNLV explaining Marion’s offense. Buffs fans will hope their team can be as eclectic as they were with Sanders under center and with what Marion has brought elsewhere.

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