Sophomore wide receiver Montana Lemonious-Craig jumps in celebration in the end zone after scoring a touchdown on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. (Rachel Glazer/CU Independent)
The University of Colorado held its first spring practice with media in attendance on Wednesday morning, and head coach Deion Sanders and his new staff did not disappoint. Every rep the players took was meaningful, and every drill was intense and high energy. The players looked excited to be out there, as did the coaches and staff; iron was truly sharpening iron.
New offensive coordinator Sean Lewis brings an explosive offensive system and scheme to Colorado, one that was extremely underrated at Kent State. At Kent State University, Lewis ran an offensive scheme called “flash fast.” With its structure, this scheme keeps defenses on their toes.
Simply put, “flash fast” is an up-tempo offense that puts its wide receivers way outside near the sideline, creating one-on-one matchups all over the field. This scheme also intertwines the RPO (run-pass option), putting even more stress on the defense. If supplemented with the right players, Lewis’ offense has serious big-play ability, especially for the fourth-fastest offense in college football a year ago.
“I like going fast,” said Lewis after practice. “Me and Ricky Bobby got that in common; I wanna go fast.”
Go fast is right. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Lewis’ offense averaged 30.1 seconds of real time between snaps. This is a definite change compared to previous squads CU has put on the field in prior years.
“We’re teaching the offense, we’re teaching them to be elite problem solvers, so that no matter what problems present themselves the guys have the tools, techniques and fundamentals to apply, to think fast, know fast, do fast,” said Lewis.
Lewis’s scheme is challenging to master. However, with elite playmakers on the offense, such as Shedeur Sanders at quarterback, Jimmy Horn at wide receiver, Dylan Edwards at running back and even the possibility of Travis Hunter Jr. at wide receiver, the offense could flourish.
Jimmy Horn and Travis Hunter were both impressive Wednesday morning at practice making drills look like a breeze. Every route they ran was fluid, with silky footwork to match even more profound catches. Horn and Hunter will be X factors for Colorado this upcoming season as Lewis’ “flash fast” scheme will look to get these two matched up one on one outside on corners and safeties, with them making plays in space.
“Jimmy Horn has been a big standout,” said new CU defensive lineman and recent Dartmouth grad transfer Shane Cokes.
Colorado and Sanders have taken countless measures with the goal of ensuring the offense is no longer a weakness, adding numerous playmakers through the transfer portal and recruiting, not to mention bringing in an offensive mastermind in Sean Lewis.
“We’re starting, there’s some good, some bad, some ugly but we’re learning about one another,” said Lewis. “We’re testing the guys and today was a good test with the pads on for the first time and see who we can trust.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Griffin Dreifaldt at griffin.dreifaldt@colorado.edu.
