How new Missouri football wide receiver Kevin Coleman is earning trust, filling big number
Calum McAndrew
- Kevin Coleman Jr., a St. Louis native and former Mississippi State wide receiver, has transferred to Missouri for his final season.
- Coleman will wear No. 3, the same number worn by former Missouri star Luther Burden III, and hopes to continue the legacy of St. Louis players wearing that number.
- Coleman had a productive season at Mississippi State, catching 74 passes for 932 yards and six touchdowns, and is expected to be a key contributor for Missouri.
New Missouri football transfer Kevin Coleman Jr. has a pitch for head coach Eli Drinkwitz.
Coleman, a St. Louis native who transferred to Missouri for his final season of eligibility following a third-team All-SEC campaign with Mississippi State, will wear a familiar number in Columbia: No. 3, most recently donned for three seasons by program star and fellow St. Louisian Luther Burden III.
So, the wide receiver has a suggestion.
“I always wore 3. I feel like it's a special number as well, with Luther Burden playing last year,” Coleman said. “I feel like this is a St. Louis number. I’m gonna tell Coach, ‘A St. Louis guy’s got to be in this number.’”
Coleman will do more than wear Burden’s number — he’ll be perhaps the main player tasked with replacing its production.
The Tigers are losing their starting cast of wide receivers to the NFL Draft or to eligibility. Burden is a likely Round 1 or 2 draft pick, per recent projections. Theo Wease Jr. is a likely Day 3 pick. Mookie Cooper is out of eligibility after four reliable seasons in CoMo. Mizzou also lost Mekhi Miller to Tulsa and highly rated recruit Courtney Crutchfield to Arkansas in the transfer portal.
That doesn't necessarily spell doom and gloom for position coach Jacob Peeler’s room. The Tigers wrapped up spring camp Thursday, and there are reasons to be encouraged about the new group.
Joshua Manning again has impressed the coaching staff in spring camp and appears due for an increased role next season. Marquis Johnson showed what he’s capable of with a 122-yard, one-touchdown day in Mizzou’s Music City Bowl win over Iowa.
Move further down the line, James Madison II, Daniel Blood and freshmen Donovan Olugbode and Shaun Terry II were all promising recruits and could step into feature roles.
But if there’s a go-to receiver on the roster, it’s Coleman.
“Kevin Coleman has played a ton of football, and he made some incredible plays today,” Drinkwitz said on the first day of spring camp. … “We know he understands what it takes to be successful, and his leadership will rub off on the rest of that group.”
The St. Mary’s High in St. Louis grad began his career with Deion Sanders at Jackson State before stops at Louisville and Mississippi State.
His last season was his most productive, as he caught 74 passes for 932 yards and six touchdowns for the 2-10 Bulldogs. Before Mizzou's Nov. 23 game in Starkville, Coleman began to get the recruiting messages from fellow St. Mary’s High grad, Mizzou running back Jamal Roberts.
“I remember the week of the game we were going against them, (Jamal) was hitting me up, just talking smack. And he was talking about, like, you know, ‘What about you coming home?’ And I was like, ‘Man, I’ll think about that after the game,’” Coleman said. “So, after the game, I just felt the love … seeing my guys I grew up with, guys I played against in high school. I just felt the love, and I knew probably after the season, I could think about something like that.”
All indications suggest Coleman will replace Burden at slot receiver. That’s no small task: Burden caught 2,236 yards worth of passes and recorded 25 total touchdowns in 38 games in three seasons.
Coleman’s first job, he said, was to win the trust of his teammates. He’s stepping into a position that requires support, so he’s making sure to earn it.
When Coleman heard new running back Ahmad Hardy, who is from Monticello, Miss., liked horse riding, he joined the tailback out on the trails on his horse, Coco. When the wideout came in for extra work, he said he told his father that he immediately noticed he was in a “special place,” because of how many other veterans and players were doing the same thing.
“You know, most guys see coming back as one of the top, leading receivers in the SEC. I don't look at that. That's last year. I did that last year. This is a new year,” Coleman said. “So, I just came in with my head down, working. Like I said, I'm trying to earn the guys’ trust. To play with a good football team and make them believe in me when it's third down, fourth down, last play — I’ve got to work hard now and just be quiet. So, I just came in working, head down, paying attention to details; just trying to make this team better, trying to make myself better.”
And Mizzou’s recruiting message was simple, because there’s proof in the number.
“‘Hometown hero, come be a hometown hero,’” Coleman said Peeler and Drinkwitz told him. “It's a great place to be. I remember Coach Drink coming into this place, and just to see where he took this place, I had to come be a part of it.”