Mike Norvell: Keon Coleman is an absolute sponge

Florida State head coach Mike Norvell may have struck gold in the transfer portal with former Michigan State wide receiver Keon Coleman.

With just four practices completed in Tallahassee for the Seminoles’ fall camp, Coleman has already turned heads, as Norvell spoke about his attention to detail and eagerness to learn.

“He’s done really well,” Norvell said. “The work he’s putting in understanding what to do, and now we’re continuing to grow and develop in how we want it done. He is an absolute sponge.”

Coleman is not from Bikini Bottom despite being tabbed as a sponge by Norvell, but hails from Opelousas, Louisiana. He attended Opelousas Catholic School, where he was rated a four-star prospect and ranked the No. 57 wide receiver and No. 368 overall player in the country for the 2021 recruiting class according to On3’s Industry Ranking.

He’s spent the last two seasons at Michigan State and clearly made his mark, ranked the No. 26 overall prospect and the No. 12 wide receiver in the transfer portal this offseason according to On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings before signing with the Seminoles.

“He’s so much fun to coach because even though the experience he has, he’s coming to get better. He’s coming to learn, to grow. After every play, he’s trying to get to the smallest details of what he can do,” Norvell explained. “And understanding when you’re in different systems you’re asked to do different things.”

Not much was asked of Coleman in his freshman season with the Spartans, appearing in ten games and 87 offensive snaps, recording seven catches for 50 yards and one touchdown. The two-sport athlete even appeared in six games for the Spartans’ basketball team in the spring semester of his freshman year, scoring five points and collecting three steals in 10 minutes of action.

But his sophomore season in East Lansing would serve as his breakout year, where he had 58 receptions for 798 yards and seven touchdowns leading the Spartans in each category to earn third-team All-Big Ten at the end of the season.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Coleman has already been described by running back Trey Benson as a ‘freak athlete’, making numerous expositive plays already during fall camp. But his dedication to the mental side of the game revealed by Norvell could give him all the makings do be a dominant force in the experienced Florida State offense this upcoming season.

“But I think he’s enjoying how we operate. He’s made some big plays and really a fun player to be around,” Norvell concluded.