Michigan State WR Keon Coleman emerging as leader during spring ball

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State wide receiver Keon Coleman is as expressive and explosive as anyone on the football field. He demonstrated his effortless athleticism last season when he emerged as Michigan State’s leading receiver with 58 receptions for 798 yards and seven touchdowns. 

But off the field, Coleman is just as expressive. Take his tattoos for example.

Coleman has two arm sleeves’ worth of tattoos that are nearly complete. His right arm features a large portrait of a lion, which he said his tattoo artist “freestyled.” Two of Coleman’s most meaningful tattoos lie on either side of his neck – the names of his mother and grandmother, written in cursive. 

As “self explanatory” as Coleman said most of his tattoos are, they mean something deeper when taking into account his goals as a football player. 

“Tattoos are kind of like a – I call it a hidden therapy for me,” Coleman said. “Because life hurts, too. Tattoos don’t feel good, but there’s green on the other side – the outcome. They look good, after all the pain. And then you keep getting more.”

Now entering his junior season in East Lansing, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Coleman is looking to get more on the field. With Jayden Reed off to the NFL Draft, Coleman knows that it’s his turn to become the next great Michigan State playmaker at the receiver position. 

It all starts with one goal.

“To be the best Keon Coleman I can be,” he said. “And just do the normal things I always do – make plays and help my team win, that’s about it.”

This is Coleman’s first spring with the MSU football team after he spent the offseason going into his sophomore year with Tom Izzo’s basketball team. A dual-sport athlete in high school, one of Coleman’s objectives at Michigan State was to contribute both on the gridiron and the hardwood.

But after about one week of basketball practice this season, Coleman knew he had a decision to make when it came to his health and ability to develop into the NFL prospect he hopes to become this football season.

Coleman sustained a hip injury midway through last football season and was still in the recovery process by the time basketball started. To protect his football career, Coleman made the tough call to step away from the basketball team. 

“After that week (of practice) I just had a real sit down with myself like, ‘Yeah, I can go help them (the basketball team), but how much would I be hurting myself without getting healthy?” Coleman said. “So I was just like, ‘Get back healthy and get back to football.’”

It hurt Coleman to step away from a game he loves just as much as football. 

“That’s why I didn’t watch much basketball, I’m not going to lie,” Coleman said. “I had to stay away. I didn’t ever go around the facilities at all. It’s kind of a lot, so I just tried to keep myself busy with football so I don’t think about it as much.”

At the end of the day, though, Coleman knew he could realize his professional dreams through football, and risking further injury by playing basketball could hinder those plans. 

“Your body is your business,” Coleman said. “That’s where your money comes from.”

Having just completed his first full winter conditioning program, Coleman was able to balance recovering from his hip injury and getting stronger for the upcoming season. 

“I’m not going to lie, it kind of – it didn’t kick my butt at all, but it was a little different,” Coleman said of winter conditioning. “I’ve never gone through that, so just going through those experiences with my teammates pretty much made us bond stronger and my body feels great now. I’m feeling great. I’ve got to recover and get to 100 percent.”

The Spartans are now seven days into spring practice, and Coleman is enjoying the extra time he’s gotten to spend working on football. 

“You get every day to pretty much to just perfect your craft and just work at that every hour of the day that you’re not doing school work and not doing meetings and lifting,” Coleman said. “You can go right there to work because you only practice every other day, so you get to just craft.”

This spring, Coleman hopes to achieve one goal in particular. 

“Keeping consistency within my route running when I’m tired, that’s pretty much what I want to work on a lot,” Coleman said. “Playing when you’re tired because then your mind starts to wander. You might feel tired when you’re really not, but mentally your body is telling you you’re tired. Just pushing through that and keeping the technique and fundamentals, keeping those basic things sharp while you’re tired.”

Spending more time with the football team has also helped Coleman grow as a leader. He’s taking advice from the older players in the wide receiver room and spreading it to the younger players. Coleman feels a responsibility to his teammates as his role continues to expand on the field.

“I think I’ve grown tremendously (as a leader),” Coleman said. “Being more accountable and being watched by more of my teammates to see, like, ‘He’s a leader, so if he’s not really stepping right, how are we supposed to follow him?’ One of those things. So just holding myself more accountable to the things I tell them and just living those things out in my everyday life.”

Coaches like offensive coordinator Jay Johnson have taken notice of the strides made by Coleman this offseason.

“He’s off to a tremendous start this spring,” Johnson said. “He’s had a great first seven days. I expect huge things from Keon and I think he expects it and I think our team expects it and I think he’s ok with that expectation.”

As focused as Coleman is on improving his own game, one of his priorities is to help the younger receivers excel, too. 

“I try to thrive in it and try to bring the young guys with me because those are the guys we’re going to really need,” Coleman said. “I mean, we might need me to get things started, but when all hell breaks loose and they put all the coverages on me, I have to be able to trust my young guys to be able to make those plays and the older guys as well, such as Tre (Mosley), Montorie (Foster) and Fitz (Christian Fitzpatrick). With me taking on that role, (I’m) also bringing my younger receivers with me.”

The wide receiver room is one that Johnson has been impressed with throughout the spring. He’s enjoyed seeing the development of younger players, as well as some guys return from injury.

“One guy that I’ve been very pleased with so far this spring is Christian Fitzpatrick,” Johnson said. “He’s had a good spring. He’s a little bit of a different player, he was banged up last year. He’s well now. And then the other one that we’re slowly bringing along off his injury is Montorie Foster. He’s coming good. He’s right on target. Now he’s pretty much doing everything, but we gradually eased him in at the start of (spring) ball.”

Tyrell Henry, Jaron Glover and Antonio Gates, Jr. will all look to take a step this season, too.

“Those guys have shown some great flashes,” Johnson said of the sophomore trio. “Great flashes. And now their game is at a different level just because of the maturity and being around the program now as we go further along. I’m hoping that we can see continuous improvements there and those guys can give us some depth and some big-play ability.”

Coleman’s continued development as a leader has given him a sense of the “underdog” mentality that the team is carrying with them into this season.

“I feel everybody has that extra chip on their shoulder and the things we go through in the offseason as a team, it helps us want to play even harder for the guy next to us,” Coleman said. “You can dig internally, but when you feel what the next guy is going through, you kind of want to go the extra mile for that guy. Coming off that 5-7 season, we’re looking to go undefeated and win some games, that about it.”