Tevin Coleman is an athletic wonder. At 6’1’’ and 210 pounds, the Indiana running back became the 18th player in FBS history to gain more than 2,000 yards in a season (2,036). He has a rare blend of size and speed, drawing comparisons to the Dallas Cowboys’ DeMarco Murray.
When Coleman was at Oak Forest High in Tinley Park, Illinois, he set school records in the 100-meter (10.5 seconds) and the 200-meter (21.4) dashes and the long jump (24 feet, 3.25"). At Indiana, he has done a school-record clean lift of 365 pounds and set a record for running backs by bench-pressing 405 pounds.
Here are Coleman’s thoughts on the eve of the NFL Scouting Combine as told to Bleacher Report Senior Writer Lars Anderson. Coleman won’t be able to run the 40-yard dash as he recovers from toe surgery, but he hopes to impress scouts with what he believes is another of his strengths: his mind.
My most important preparation for the NFL Scouting Combine has taken place in a classroom.
For a few hours every day, I’ve been studying plays and play concepts with a former NFL coach at the Bommarito Performance Systems facility in Miami. I’ll grab a marker and draw up plays on the dry-erase board, describing the responsibilities of all 11 guys on the field.
That’s a big difference between the NFL and college: You need to know the assignments of everyone on the field, not just what you need to do.
We’ll watch video of plays, and I’ll explain how it developed, why it worked or didn’t work against that particular defense and what could have been done to turn it into a successful play if the defense stopped it. I’ve also been spending time understanding my favorite plays so I’ll be able to describe, in great detail to NFL coaches during my interviews at the combine, why those plays suit my ability so well.
Associated Press Tevin Coleman
The interviews are especially important for me because I’m not going to run at the combine. I hurt my right big toe near the end of our sixth game of the season last fall. The trainers told me it was turf toe, but I just played through it and still had a pretty good year, massing 2,036 rushing yards. I decided to have surgery on Dec. 17, and I was in a boot until about two weeks ago. I’ll be 100 percent healthy for my pro day on April 15 at Indiana University.
My agent, Adisa Bakari, thought rehabbing and preparing for the interviews at Bommarito was a good idea, and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m at the facility from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. I’m staying at a suite hotel in Miami, and I’ve become good friends with a few other guys training here. We don’t do too much; most of our free time is spent playing video games and watching movies.
The one physical thing I’ll do at the combine is the bench press. My goal is to bench 225 pounds 24 times. I believe that would make me among the strongest running backs in this year’s draft class.
I’ve always been pretty strong. When I was seven years old I started watching my dad lift weights on a bench set in our basement. I asked him to teach me, and I’ve been lifting ever since.
My teammates at Indiana and I had fun with our workouts. Last season D’Angelo Roberts, another running back, and I would Facetime each other while we did push-ups and sit-ups in our apartments. We had to check on each other just to make sure the other guy wasn’t cheating! It was always a good time.
It’s been frustrating not being able to run. While the other guys here in Miami are practicing 40-yard starts and other drills, I’ve been in the physical therapy room, jogging in the pool and working on my balance. But now I’m slowly getting back into it. I recently started doing my own 40-yard starts—I’m only running about five yards—and I’m getting closer to being the running back I know I am.
My time is coming. I believe in hard work, never giving up and always finishing strong. Whichever NFL team drafts me will be getting a player who will never stop grinding, no matter what the circumstances.
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