Wednesday morning at San Diego State University's ceremony to welcome a new Aztec football coach, the first thing those in attendance noticed was just how tall Sean Lewis is.
He's 6 feet 7 inches tall.
And that's not the only thing that makes the 37-year-old Lewis unique. You see, Lewis doesn't talk like your average football coach. You're not getting typical "coach speak" from him. Instead, Lewis is verbally vociferous, he has a way with words, he's a soundbite machine.
"Rick Ross purple Lamborghini," "proper space and pace," "you guys were surfing on Thanksgiving and I was shoveling on Thanksgiving," "confidence and conviction," "your roster needs to be made up of whole foods," "ripping and roaring," "wake this monster up and get this thing rolling."
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Those were just a few of the descriptive phrases and vast verbal variety used by Lewis during his introduction at Snapdragon Stadium.
While Lewis was fast with his football words, he was much slower and measured when it came to talking about his family. Lewis became emotional when speaking about his wife Sarah and their two kids.
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Holding back emotions as best he could, Lewis thanked his wife for being "his rock, best friend," adding that he couldn't have gotten here without her.
In addition to family, Lewis talked a lot about football. Popular topics included Aztecs and Chargers coaching legend Don Coryell, the rich history of SDSU football, recruiting locally in San Diego, the transfer portal and his offensive philosophy.
Lewis likes an up-tempo, fast-paced offense and will bring that style to San Diego State.
"I'm excited to bring a style of football that will be fast, go fast, be wide open and be balanced, attack vertically and gives us the opportunity to win in a variety of ways."
Lewis has a 5-year contract with San Diego State, with a salary that starts at $1,753,100 in 2024 and increases each year. The salary ranks 4th in the Mountain West Conference according to USA Today.
His contract also included a long list of bonuses, like $25,000 for advancing to the conference championship and $75,000 for winning it, $75,000 for beating two top-25 teams (AP or USA Today), $50,000 for a top-15 final ranking and $10,000 if his team has a GPA higher than 2.80.
And if the Aztecs go bowling?
- Non-CFP Bowl with payout less than $1,500,000 — $50,000
- Non-CFP Bowl with payout greater than $1,500,000 — $75,000
- Qualification for CFP First Round — $150,000
- CFP Quarterfinal Participant — $200,000
- CFP Semifinal Participant — $250,000
- CFP Final Participant — $300,000
- CFP National Championship — $400,000
