JuJu Lewis says what we already knew about CU’s coaching staff

JuJu Lewis said the thing at Big 12 media days this week that we all already knew.

“Last year we weren’t looking at defenses, we were just high school, free balling, just playing football.”

What was Pat Shurmur doing last season 😂? pic.twitter.com/hNv14GZmVd

— BuffBoy 🦬 (@skobuffss) July 7, 2026

Colorado’s second-year quarterback — the guy Deion Sanders hand-picked as a five-star recruit to be the future of the program after Sheudur Sanders Sanders went pro — just told a room full of reporters that the Buffaloes‘ approach to offense last season had all the schematic sophistication of the frat boys on Farrand.

We already knew this but it’s another thing when the quarterback says t.

The season was a 3-9 disaster that wasn’t all that surprising but finally amounted to the Buffaloes moving on from offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. So that was a small win. But because he was there last fall, it was hard to see what CU’s identity or system was with a revolving door of three quarterbacks.

Now? Lewis says things are different under new offensive coordinator Brennan Marion and his “Go-Go” offense. The redshirt freshman completed 55.3% of his passes for 589 yards and four touchdowns in limited action last year. It was impressive from a 17-year-old learning on the fly — by his own admission — from a staff that wasn’t exactly teaching him how to dissect a Cover 4.

The fact that Lewis can stand at the podium and articulate the difference between last year and this year? That’s the real takeaway from Frisco. That’s something to build on. That’s what Marion was brought here to fix. Bring a run game, and give Lewis a system.

There are more changes on the staff, too. It’s the most different looking team year over year from roster to staff since Coach Prime first took over. Hopefully those adjustments will make Sanders and the coaches around him stronger in helping develop the roster.

Sanders himself has been talking up Lewis’ development all offseason, saying in the spring that “his game is developing daily” and that he’s proud of “the strides he’s making as a potential leader as well as a quarterback we can really count on from start to finish.”

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