Colorado has hired 10-year NFL veteran Damione Lewis as its new defensive line coach. Lewis was originally brought on board by Deion Sanders to be an analyst, but is now being promoted to replace Sal Sunseri who has left the program after one season.
Lewis has plenty of experience working with the defensive line as both a player and a coach. He played collegiately at the University of Miami, where he was named All-Big East in 1999 and 2000. In 2001, he was selected with the 12th overall pick in the NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams.
Lewis went on to play 10 seasons in the NFL for four different teams, concluding his career with the Houston Texans in 2010. He appeared in 141 games in the NFL, making 191 tackles and racking up 23.5 sacks.
Lewis was the assistant athletic director of football/player development for Florida International University in 2019 before entering the coaching space in 2020, joining Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks. He spent a few seasons as the defensive line coach and a few more as the defensive tackles coach and assistant defensive line coach.
According to BuffZone’s Brian Howell, Lewis signed a two year deal with the Buffs, and will earn $315,000 in 2024-25 and $350,000 in 2025-26.
Lewis will work with graduate assistant and NFL Hall of Famer Warren Sapp with the defensive line in an attempt to accomplish Deion Sanders’ main offseason priority of improving the CU run defense. Former Houston DT Chidozie Nwankwo, former Arkansas DT Taurean Carter and former Ohio DT Rayyan Buell are some of the top names projected to make an impact.
