San Diego State hires Colorado OC Sean Lewis as head coach
Lewis was the head coach at Kent State for five seasons before joining Deion Sanders' staff
San Diego State has found its replacement for Brady Hoke.
SDSU announced Wednesday that it has hired Colorado offensive coordinator Sean Lewis as head coach. It will be the second head-coaching job for Lewis, who left Kent State after the 2022 season to join Deion Sanders’ staff at Colorado.
SDSU was in the market for a new coach after Hoke announced his retirement. Hoke spent six seasons over two stints at SDSU, but the Aztecs had slid from 12-2 in 2021 to 7-6 a season ago and 4-8 in 2023.
"I am thrilled to welcome Sean Lewis and his family to San Diego State University," San Diego State AD John David Wicker said. "He is a coach with immense talent and I'm looking forward to the excitement that his teams are going to generate at Snapdragon Stadium. His approach emphasizing academic and life-skills opportunities are equally important and will complement the student-athlete experience."
Lewis, 37, was the head coach at Kent State from 2018-22, and the Golden Flashes made two bowl games in his time with the school. After a 2-10 season in 2018, Kent State improved by five games to go to a bowl game for the first time since 2012.
Kent State then made the MAC title game in 2021 and went to another bowl game before going 5-7 in 2022. Before Lewis' arrival, Kent State had losing records in 11 of its previous 12 seasons and had played in three bowl games in program history. Overall, Lewis had a 24-31 (19-17 MAC) record with one MAC East title with the Golden Flashes.
Kent State became known for a high-powered uptempo offense in Lewis’ tenure and that was a big reason why he was hired to be Sanders’ offensive coordinator after the Pro Football Hall of Famer took the Colorado job.
And Colorado’s offense got off to a rocking start. The Buffaloes scored at least 36 points in each of their first three games of the season as they started 3-0. Things went south from there, however, as Colorado’s offensive line and lack of a running game got exposed against Pac-12 competition. The Buffaloes went just 1-8 in Pac-12 play and lost six straight to end the season.
Sanders made a change of play-callers in early November in an attempt to boost Colorado’s lagging offense. Lewis stopped calling plays as Sanders elevated former New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur from analyst to play-caller. That change really didn’t work out as Colorado lost its final four games of the season and scored more than 20 points just once. With Lewis now leaving the staff, Colorado will begin the 2024 season with a different play-caller unless Shurmur stays on staff and is elevated to offensive coordinator.
Prior to his stints at Kent State and Colorado, Lewis coached under Dino Babers at Eastern Illinois, Bowling Green and Syracuse, rising to the level of co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at both BGSU and Syracuse.
At San Diego State, Lewis is walking into a program with a track record of winning in the Mountain West. The Aztecs played in 10 consecutive bowl games and won three Mountain West titles from 2010-19. The 2023 season marked SDSU's first losing record since 2009.
"San Diego State University, my family and I can't express how excited we are to be joining this incredible community," Lewis said. "We are looking forward to partnering with all of you in serving and leading our amazing football program. The time is now to support and make Snapdragon Stadium the place to be for fast, physical, fun Aztec football."
