Multiple outlets had Julian Lewis as a five-star recruit, which is why his arrival at Colorado for the 2025 season was surrounded by heavy expectations. Though Lewis couldn’t show his athleticism properly in his debut season in Deion Sanders’ quarterback rotation, expectations are already high for his potential in 2026.
Colorado’s Offensive Vision for Julian Lewis Revealed by Brennan Marion
Colorado offensive coordinator Brennan Marion appeared on “The Scoop” on Monday to discuss the progression of the Buffaloes’ offense. He spoke on player development and how Colorado plans to elevate its production on that side of the ball.
Marion also addressed skepticism about Lewis’ fit in his “Go-Go offense,” noting that the naysayers who didn’t know his plan regarding Lewis were wrong.
“That’s why I say people just don’t watch film,” Marion said (21:06). “People just say anything. We had an offense where I always tell people, like if you really watch football. Back in the day, how many quarterbacks ran the option? Every quarterback had to run the option back in the day. Regardless of your speed level, everybody was doing the same thing at quarterback. Everybody had the same type of progression.”
Marion had a coaching stop at UNLV as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach, where he developed quarterback Jayden Maiava. Under Marion’s leadership, Maiava had a breakout season in 2023, earning Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors after throwing for 3,085 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Marion later took a position at Sacramento State, while Maiava entered the transfer portal and eventually landed at USC. Maiava recorded a 157.8 passer rating with 3,711 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in 2025.
Using Maiava as a case study, Marion explained why Lewis can succeed at Colorado.
“For us, the quarterback doesn’t have to run at all,” Marion said (21:36). “If you watch the UNLV film from 2023, the quarterback who starts at USC. He had the same stats as a freshman at UNLV that he had this year at USC.
The quarterback that we had at, it’s the same quarterback 2023 who led us to the conference championship game as a freshman. He’s now the starting quarterback at USC, and he had the same numbers this year that he did as a freshman at UNLV.”
Lewis made his first start for Colorado on the road against West Virginia, becoming only the ninth true freshman quarterback to start for the Buffaloes since 1959.
He ended the season completing 52 of 94 passes for 589 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. With four appearances, he earned a 64.1 mark in the PFSN College Football QB Impact Score.
