Jonesboro's Coleman tackles Tennessee job

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- It took a little longer than Reggie Coleman had hoped, but he's taken over as Tennessee's left offensive tackle this season.
Coleman, a fourth-year junior from Jonesboro, redshirted in 1997, then missed the 1998 season recovering from ankle surgery. He finally got on the field last season as a backup to Chad Clifton, playing in 10 games with one start.
With Clifton leaving after his junior year for the NFL, where he's starting as a rookie for the Green Bay Packers, Coleman moved into a starting role for the Vols.
"This is what I've been waiting for," Coleman said. "I paid a lot of dues, redshirting and being injured, and it seemed like I was being held back and didn't know why.
"But fortunately right now, everything's rolling for me. I've got my chance and I've made good with it as the starting left tackle.
"You just wait your turn and when it comes, you take advantage of it. When I sit back and evaluate it, it's definitely been worth the wait."
Arkansas is playing at Tennessee on Saturday, and Razorbacks defensive line coach Bill Johnson said Coleman, 6-5, 315 pounds, has stood out on film as the Vols' best offensive lineman.
"He's a mighty fine football player, a guy that anybody would want on their team, I can tell you that," Johnson said. "He's got a big body, he moves well for a big guy, and you don't see him making a lot of mistakes.
"We've got a challenge playing against him."
Coleman is one of only two Tennessee offensive linemen, along with true freshman right tackle Michael Munoz, to start all eight games this season. His nine career starts make Coleman the Vols' most experienced offensive lineman because junior center Fred Weary -- who started at guard last year -- went down with a season-ending ankle injury in the second game against Florida.
"Reggie's played good, at times very good," Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer said. "Reggie is a big guy that is athletic enough to be outstanding, and I think I expect him to be outstanding.
"This is his first year to start and I think he's done pretty well, actually. But I'd like for him to be more dominant, and he can be."
Coleman said he's working on becoming a dominant blocker and taking on a leadership role despite being a first-year starter.
"With Fred going down, it does make me the most experienced lineman, and I'm trying to lead as best I can," he said. "I'm not a very vocal person. I'm not a yeller or a screamer. I just try and do my job and play at a high level, because when people see you doing your job, then they have to do theirs."
Coleman's job description as a left tackle includes protecting the blind side of freshman quarterback Casey Clausen.
"In my spot, if you give up a sack, you could possibly injure your quarterback, because he won't see [the rusher] coming," Coleman said. "It's something I take very seriously and take a lot of pride in.
"There's not any spot on the field I'd rather play than left tackle. That's the position I came here to play."
Clausen said he has "a lot of faith and trust in Reggie. He's been through these SEC battles, and he knows what it takes to get things done. With us being such a young team, he's helped us a lot."
Coleman's only recruiting visits as a Jonesboro senior in 1997 were to Arkansas, Arkansas State and Tennessee. He said he narrowed his choices to Arkansas and Tennessee, but decided against the Razorbacks because of instability on Danny Ford's coaching staff.
David Mitchell, the Arkansas assistant who had been recruiting Coleman, was among three Razorbacks' coaches fired after the 1996 season when the team finished 4-7 season.
"When the coach recruiting me wound up fired, it kind of made my decision for me," Coleman said. "Tennessee seemed like a stable place, so it was the logical choice."
Coleman and Carlos Hall, a redshirt junior from Marianna who starts at defensive end for the Razorbacks, took their recruiting visit to Tennessee on the same weekend.
"He told me he was going to Tennessee and talked to me about going there, too, but I told him I wanted to come to Arkansas," Hall said. "He's a good guy and it should be fun playing against him Saturday.
"I'll be talking to him to some, but hopefully not too much, because I'm going to be trying to fly by him."
Coleman is 1-1 as a player against Arkansas, with the Vols beating the Razorbacks 28-24 in 1998 en route to the national championship and a 13-0 record and losing to them 28-24.
"The fact that I'm from Arkansas, I guess you could say this game has relevance in the ragging you might get from your friends and family or whatever if you lose," Coleman said. "But you should go out there and play the game the same every Saturday no matter who it is, whether it's a state you're from or a place you've never been.
"I take [Arkansas] as another SEC game and go out there and play the best I can."

This article was published on Friday, November 10, 2000

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