After a demanding day of fall camp, a time known for grueling practices, intense position battles and mental fatigue, most players were eager to hit the showers and head back to their dorms. But freshman defensive end Chaz Coleman remained behind in Penn State’s locker room, quietly picking up towels and clearing away equipment. According to head coach James Franklin, “that’s just the type of guy he is.”
It’s been less than three months since Coleman enrolled as a Nittany Lion, hailing from Warren G. Harding High School, a program with a proud football tradition in northeast Ohio.
That’s all the time he’s needed to earn the respect of his coaches and teammates, who have raved about him as a player and person in recent weeks.
“He’s crazy athletic, explosive, and for a freshman, he plays really hard, like he plays to the echo, chases the ball all over the place,” defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said. “I call him the Chazmanian Devil. He’s that guy. He’s very mature for his age. He wants to learn. He doesn’t like making mistakes. He’s smart. He’s the guy that can help us.”
Coleman played quarterback up until his senior year of high school, when he transitioned to defensive end. He clearly had a knack for the position, quickly earning interest. He held just one power conference offer before his last season as a Raider, but that changed quickly.
Between late August and mid-October of his senior year, Coleman earned offers from Ole Miss, Kentucky, Purdue, Illinois, Penn State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Florida State and Missouri. The surge in interest was a testament to his raw potential and rapid development.
After taking official visits with the Wildcats and Nittany Lions, Coleman made his decision — but that didn’t stop other schools from recruiting him.
“He commits. Everybody else still comes after him,” Franklin said. “Got a great family, and they held true.”
Just 10 days after pledging to Penn State, Coleman received an offer from Ohio State — the flagship program in his home state. He took an official visit 10 days later, working on an abbreviated timeline as a senior. Still, Coleman remained loyal to his initial commitment, enrolling at Penn State this summer.
“We still didn’t know what we were going to get because he only played one year at defensive end,” Franklin said. “It’s a long way from the quarterback position, but his physicality and his explosiveness and his motor has been impressive.”
Franklin said the defensive end has already blossomed to 250 pounds, an increase of roughly 25 pounds since arriving on campus, and there’s still room to grow. Franklin said there’s a good chance Coleman sees the field as a true freshman, an impressive feat among a team of veterans, especially considering his inexperience at the position.
Every offseason, Franklin meets with the incoming freshmen and asks them to self-assess their readiness using a simple traffic light system: red for those likely to redshirt, yellow for players who might be ready, and green for those ready to play immediately. Franklin viewed him as one of three green players.
“He said he was a yellow and everybody in the room was kind of looking at him like, ‘dude, you ain’t yellow,’” Franklin said.
Coleman’s teammates have taken notice of his prowess as well. Senior defensive tackle Zane Durant lit up when asked about the freshman, saying “he’s a dog on the field,”
“He’s one of the guys that’s always in the meeting early, leaving late, asking coach questions and stuff like that,” Durant said. “The other day, I got a chance to hang with him. Humble as ever, knows he got the opportunity. He has worked for everything that he has, so he doesn’t take anything for granted.”
