Did Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Colorado’s Deion Sanders nail OC hires?

College Football

Updated Feb. 14, 2024 4:49 p.m. ET

Ohio State and Colorado each recently hired a new offensive coordinator, as the Buckeyes brought in former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly and the Buffaloes promoted interim offensive playcaller Pat Shurmur to full-time offensive coordinator.

At first glance, these hires may not move the needle. But when putting the magnifying glass closer to the objects at hand, they’re impactful hires in the eyes of RJ Young, who tackled the topic on “The Number One College Football Show.”

Kelly to Columbus

Regarding Kelly’s move to Columbus, Young sees it as a savvy move by both parties.

“Seeing what he was able to do at UCLA, which, by the way, is not an easy job, winning eight games in each of the last three years, it wasn’t appreciated by UCLA folks, for one reason or another. And I think most of this is Chip Kelly’s looking at this going, ‘this is a difficult job, and y’all expect to play at a high level, given what we have, that’s difficult to do,” Young said about Kelly’s move to Ohio State. “Now, you’re being forced to transition as the CEO of a major corporation to a large conference where you go from being a Pac-12 pillar to a Big Ten baby, and I don’t know that Chip Kelly wanted them problems. …

“[Day and Kelly] being friends, I think, helps with this, meaning that Ryan Day doesn’t really have to worry about the offense in any way, because he learned the offense from Chip Kelly as quarterback at New Hampshire when Chip Kelly was the offensive coordinator. Again, they go way back.”

Kelly was New Hampshire’s offensive coordinator from 1999-2006, and he was on the staff dating back to 1994. Day was a quarterback across Kelly’s first three seasons as offensive coordinator (1999-2001).

Meanwhile, UCLA is joining the now-18-team Big Ten conference next year.

Chip Kelly to replace Bill O’Brien as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator

Kelly was UCLA’s head coach the past six seasons (2018-23), going 35-34. He was previously the head coach of Oregon from 2009-12, posting a combined 46-7 record in a tenure headlined by an appearance in the 2011 BCS National Championship. He then had head-coaching stints in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles (2013-15) and San Francisco 49ers (2016).

Ohio State is coming off a third consecutive 11-2 season and a third consecutive loss to arch-rival Michigan. The Buckeyes missed the College Football Playoff for the second time in three years. Starting quarterback Kyle McCord transferred to Syracuse, while former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard and former Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins transferred in to Ohio State.

Last season, Ohio State’s offense averaged 407.9 total yards (first in the Big Ten) and 30.5 points (third) per game, but it was held to 24 points against Michigan, a loss that dashed its College Football Playoff aspirations.

Coach Prime elevates Shurmur

As for Colorado, Young sees Shumur as a sly hire.

“I think people aren’t really looking at Pat Shurmur the way that Prime [head coach Deion Sanders] is looking at Pat Shurmur. I probably looked at Pat Shurmur the way you did, for what it’s worth. The way that I think Prime is looking at this is that Pat Shurmur did a great job as a playcaller at Colorado in Sean Lewis’ stead to end the season,” Young opined about Shurmur’s promotion.

“He also had to call a game without Shedeur Sanders, because Shedeur Sanders was out with a fractured back for the last game of the season. They had sacked that man 52 times in one year; that can’t go on. But Pat Shurmur’s also been around great quarterbacks for the better part of two decades.”

Deion Sanders upgrades Colorado’s coaching staff

Six-time Pro Bowler Donovan McNabb (offensive assistant for the Eagles from 1999-2008), Sam Bradford (offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams from 2009-10, the Eagles in 2015 and assistant for the Minnesota Vikings in 2016), Nick Foles (offensive coordinator for the Eagles from 2013-14), Case Keenum (offensive coordinator for the Vikings in 2017 when Keenum posted a career-best 98.3 passer rating) and two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning (head coach of the New York Giants from 2018-19) are among the quarterbacks Shurmur has worked with.

The 58-year-old Shurmur was originally hired by Colorado to be an offensive analyst for last season, but he was promoted to co-offensive coordinator and offensive playcaller midseason; offensive coordinator Sean Lewis departed Boulder after the 2023 season.

Shurmur will call plays for now-senior quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who is currently projected to be one of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Across the 11 starts that he made this season, Sanders totaled 3,230 passing yards, 27 passing touchdowns, three interceptions and a 151.7 passer rating, while completing 69.3% of his passes. He also logged four rushing touchdowns. Colorado’s 2023 campaign began with a bang, winning its first three games. Then the Buffaloes lost eight of their next nine games, finishing with a mere 1-8 record in Pac-12 play and last in the conference.

Colorado is joining the Big 12 for the 2024 season.

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