Julian Lewis’ arrival as a five-star quarterback was seen as a big thing for Deion Sanders’ Colorado in the 2025 season, but the Buffaloes ended with just a 3-9 overall record. As the Buffaloes are working in the offseason to bounce back from that blow, Lewis made an offseason blunder with his latest take, and former national champion Danny Kanell shared his reaction to the discussion.
Danny Kanell Sounds Off on Julian Lewis and Deion Sanders After Latest Offseason Controversy
Colorado’s offense took a major step backward in 2025, finishing 112th nationally in total offense at 328.4 yards per game and 114th in scoring with just 20.9 points per game. The Buffaloes parted ways with offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and hired former Sacramento State head coach Brennan Marion to run his signature go-go offense, hoping the new system will help Lewis reach another level.
Lewis also seems optimistic about working with Marion, but the comments he made during Big 12 media days in Frisco, Texas, on Tuesday quickly triggered debate.
Lewis said the team spent little time studying film or preparing for opposing defenses while discussing Colorado’s offensive struggles last season. Whether he simply misspoke or not, his remarks drew intense criticism.
Kanell addressed the situation during Wednesday’s episode of the “Cover 3” podcast.
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“Like, we just played high school ball,” Kanell said. “He’s like, ‘We just played ball. We didn’t really read the defenses.’ I mean, it was essentially throwing the last staff under the bus. Deion also mentioned that he wants Julian Lewis to mature, and I don’t know if it’s because he says stuff like that or maybe the coordinators didn’t feel like Julian Lewis could handle it.
“There’s a lot that goes in there, but it, and then even Deion kind of threw his coordinators from last year, you know, under the bus, too. So, moving forward in a new direction, it’ll be interesting to see, you know, what direction they go.”
Lewis’ father, T. Carlton Lewis, later defended his son on social media, arguing that the quarterback’s comments had been taken out of context.
“It’s wild that people twist anything. Kid is excited about how much ball he’s learning from Coach Marion. Seeing it differently and understanding it differently,” his father wrote.
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Even Coach Prime’s son Deion Sanders Jr. also came to Lewis’ defense, saying critics “know good & well” what the quarterback intended to say but exaggerated the situation because “money slow right now for everybody” during the summer. Sanders Jr. also credited Shurmur for his work teaching quarterbacks to recognize defensive coverages.
While Lewis might have said it as an encouraging outlook for Colorado in 2026, he will likely be more careful with his wording moving forward.
Meanwhile, the Colorado coaching staff remains focused on Lewis’ continued growth, and Coach Prime has already expressed confidence in his offseason development.
“I’m not the only one pushing him, and the teammates are pushing him, he’s pushing himself,” Sanders said. “He’s grown tremendously, and he’s gonna have to grow consistently. We need someone to meet him at the crossroads. So he has to come up.”
Lewis appeared in four games last season, completing 55.3% of his passes for 589 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
