Grading The Week: Deion Sanders’ hire of Brennan Marion as CU Buffs OC reminds us of Sean Lewis. That’s a good thing.

Crew Grading The Week is officially gaga over the Go-Go As in The Go-Go offense which is a term Front Range fans would be wise to get hip to Because it s about to become the base offensive scheme of Deion Sanders CU Buffs football activity Take a bow Coach Prime The Buffs are sort of circling back to where they started at offensive coordinator three years ago And that should be a good thing Even the snobbiest types up in the Grading The Week GTW offices have a hard time turning their noses up at Sanders newest coaching hire That s because former Sacramento State coach Brennan Marion who ll replace Pat Shurmur as offensive coordinator ticks a ridiculous amount of boxes from Day He uses a college-friendly college-fun system in The Go-Go offense which is a two-back quick-tempo attack He s got a system that runs the ball He s got a system that can throw deep off those runs He s got a system that likes to hurry-up and wear opponents down with tempo He s young He s regarded as a smart aggressive recruiter He s worked for Steve Sarkisian at Texas Barry Odom at UNLV Pat Narduzzi at Pitt and Todd Graham at Hawaii He s got head-coaching experience at the college level leading Sac State to a - mark - Big Sky Sound familiar It should Marion s resume has selected of the same bullet points as CU s first OC of the Prime Era Sean Lewis Marion joining CU football A-minus Full disclosure The GTW crew liked the Lewis hire A lot If you can win at Kent State you ll win anywhere Lewis in theory should ve been a good fit at CU too In hindsight not everyone s personalities meshed and when the Buffs hit a rough patch midway through the season after a stellar - September Lewis became one of the first to feel the heat It shocked no one that he was looking to move on fairly expeditiously and San Diego State handed him the keys And it s worked out in SoCal in his second season with the Aztecs Lewis is waiting for a bowl berth after a - campaign one in which SDSU beat Cal - Boise State - and Fresno State - by a combined result of - Let s be frank Sanders getting CU in back to a bowl berth or even contending for the Big crown given the volatility and competitive balance of their league wouldn t shock the football wonks on the GTW staff When you re as reliant on the portal as the Buffs there s consistently a shot that the roulette wheel will be kinder this winter than it was the last Related Articles Keeler Broncos fan asking Sean Payton Bo Nix not to give him second heart attack vs lousy Raiders Keeler While Broncos Nikola Jokic own Denver s eyeballs Avalanche s Nathan MacKinnon quietly putting up best season in Colorado history Keeler If Deion Sanders won t change how he recruits CU Buffs football won t progress experts say Portal reliance is dangerous Keeler CSU Rams Playoffs Jim Mora isn t kidding when he sees College Football Playoff in Fort Collins Is current group great like Broncos Or lucky like Kansas City Chiefs But the GTW crew remains less convinced that Sanders is at CU for the long-term certainly not beyond the season when his current contract ends Coach Prime turns in August He s beaten cancer and soldiered through several serious surgeries over the last decade or so While Sanders is by several accounts fiercely committed to proving both the merits his program-building principles and proving his acumen as a head coach on the Power stage wellbeing will likely remain a narrative going forward whether Coach Prime likes it or not It s unlikely that CU s administration would ever seek to fire Sanders let alone push back strongly against him in any way But with a new athletic director replacing Rick George this summer it behooves the Buffs to have a Plan B in mind as a head coach especially one who s already on the staff in situation Coach Prime s healthcare takes another turn that necessitates either a long-term absence or a retirement It was presumed three years ago that Lewis would be that guy Shurmur sure as heck wasn t But Marion on paper at least looks as if he neatly fits that bill Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams