Deion Sanders demotes ex-Giants coach Pat Shurmur as Colorado’s season spirals

Things aren’t going well for former Giants head coach Pat Shurmur in Boulder.

Shurmur, in his third season on Deion Sanders’ Colorado football staff, was stripped off his play-calling duties after according to USA Today.

Brett Bartolone, the team’s passing game coordinator and tight ends coach, called the offensive plays for the team’s 52-17 home loss to Arizona this past Saturday, the report said.

Sanders alluded to changes to the offense during his Tuesday press conference.

“I might have already changed it, and you don’t know,” Sanders told reporters. “I don’t do stuff and blow the whistles and make major announcements.”

Shurmur, 60, was given play-calling duties in 2023 when Sanders took that responsibility away from then-offensive coordinator Sean Lewis, who became the head coach at San Diego State; the Aztecs are 7-1 this year and sit atop the Mountain West.

The Giants hired Shurmur in 2018 to replace Ben McAdoo, but the former Browns head coach lasted just two seasons, going 5-11 and 4-12, getting fired after Daniel Jones’ rookie season.

He spent the next two seasons as the Broncos’ offensive coordinator before he was fired and then joined Sanders’ staff in 2023.

It’s been a rough season for Sanders since losing his son, quarterback Shedeur, and wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter in the 2025 NFL Draft.

They’re 3-6 after going 9-4 last year, and are in 14th place in the 16-team Big 12 with a 1-5 record in conference play.

Things have gotten bad enough that Sanders is shielding his players from speaking to the media after back-to-back blowout losses.

The Buffaloes have three games left against West Virginia, Arizona State and Kansas State.