Skip to content

Ad Disclosure

Ex-Minnesota OC lands new gig with Pac-12 program

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

It didn’t take long for former Minnesota offensive coordinator Mike Sanford Jr. to find a new opportunity.

Friday, Colorado announced that it has hired Sanford to be the new offensive coordinator for the program. The school released a statement on the recent hiring.

“The Colorado football program as well as the university itself stands for everything I value,” Sanford said in a release.  “My family and I could not be more excited to return to our roots out west in Pac-12 country.  The University of Colorado has been a dream destination of mine since I was a kid growing up in California in the early Nineties.  I have the highest level of respect for Karl Dorrell as a football coach and for the man of integrity that he is.  We will work tirelessly to build a championship offense that will make the CU family proud.”

“Mike’s extensive experience and pedigree speaks for itself,” Dorrell said. “What attracted me to him was his familiarity with the Pac-12 and this part of the country, his coaching experience, success as a coordinator and developing players over his career.

“His journey through the profession has been solid, yet he is still a fairly young coach with great coaching experience at the Power 5 level.  He has worked under some of the best in the business, has great knowledge of offensive football and in our discussions, has a great vision for Colorado football.”

Sanford was let go by Minnesota head coach PJ Fleck following the 2021 season. Though the Gophers finished 8-4 and proved to have an effective rushing attack, the passing game was an area of concern throughout the course of the season.

Sanford spent the past two seasons with the Golden Gophers. He was also the offensive coordinator at Utah State and was previously the head coach at Western Kentucky from 2017-18.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB