Army sophomore Coleman dazzles at Black-Gold Game, raises profile for fall camp
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WEST POINT – As spring camp was wrapping up last week, Army head coach Jeff Monken wasn’t overly hyped on quarterback Dewayne Coleman.
“The first 14 days of spring, I wouldn’t have said, ‘Hey, I think the guy’s got a great chance to play and be in the mix right now,’’’ Monken said of his quarterback depth chart.
But with one final opportunity to show what he could do, Coleman opened a lot of eyes at the Black-Gold scrimmage, left a great impression and pulled himself into the discussion for directing the offense in the fall.
Next month’s graduation will wipe out nearly the entire quarterback room for the Black Knights, with rising junior Bryson Daily the lone person to have taken, albeit limited, varsity snaps in a game. Army only had three healthy quarterbacks headed into the final scrimmage – and another three on the sidelines – so Coleman was going to get plenty of reps to direct the new shotgun/option hybrid offense.
Directing the Gold team, Coleman had a direct hand in nearly 50 snaps. He rushed the ball 18 times for only 13 yards (the quarterbacks wore redshirts and were tackled by a mere touch by the defense). But he completed 22 of 30 throws for 250 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
“I felt very confident tonight,’’ Coleman said. “I was able to relax and just put my best effort out there on the field and let it show.’’
Ironically, Monken tabbed Coleman to switch to the Black team in the final minutes and Coleman led that squad to the go-ahead score in a 31-30 victory.
“I thought Dewayne Coleman had a really good scrimmage,’’ Monken said, “just to see him get into that game situation and to see him respond the way he did.’’
For Coleman, a rising sophomore out of Selma, Texas, he said “it felt like high school again.’’ Coleman played for Theodore Roosevelt High School in San Antonio, utilizing the same shotgun formations that Army has turned to for next season.
“I was calm, collected. It was a lot of fun. There was a lot of energy,’’ he said.
On a recruiting profile, Coleman wrote: “I am prepared to utilize all the knowledge, skills and abilities instilled within me to achieve my goal of earning an engineering degree while playing collegiate football. My best traits for team candidacy is being a coachable athlete and a team player. My ambition and acceptance of personal accountability derived from the impacts of character building, athletic comradery and academic dedication has had on my life distinguishes me from other recruits.’’
Army liked what it saw and directed Coleman to the U.S. Military Academy Prep School for a year and then he joined a cast of about 10 quarterbacks for his plebe year at West Point.
At Friday’s scrimmage, Coleman completed his first throw on a swing pass to Noah Short. He connected on two of his next four pass attempts, but a low throw to Short left Gold in a fourth down-and-9 call from the Black 36. Coleman was told to stay on the field and he dropped in a perfect 36-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Alston at the left flag.
“Honestly, we were working the out-and-up route,’’ Coleman said. “Isaiah was one on with the corner, no safety over top, so I was able to get out there and find some room. I just put it up there for him to get it.’’
Early in the second quarter, Short managed to slip past his defender and Coleman delivered a 16-yard scoring strike.
Aided by an outstanding kick return, Coleman was sent in to direct the Black team with about 90 seconds to play. On first down from the 12 yard line, Coleman lofted a throw into the right corner of the end zone and Dakoda Wagner made a leaping right-handed grab for the highlight of the night.
Coleman readily admits he did not get off to a good start during spring camp.
“It was definitely pretty difficult,’’ he said. “At the beginning I was struggling a lot, but with guys like Bryson and Alex Meredith – the guys in the quarterback room – we were able to fix it out with each other in meetings and we learned every day.
“I thought my spring was definitely a huge improvement from the first scrimmage to the spring game. I definitely improved a lot but I still have a lot of improvements to get.’’
Coleman said he’s still trying to get comfortable with the new offense, the keys being “making the right decisions and being smart with the football.’’
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: army west point college football quarterback dewayne coleman
