Coleman with a ‘head down and work’ approach

AUBURN | As a five-star wide receiver and the crown jewel of the 2024 class, Cam Coleman comes to Auburn with a lot of outside expectations.

But the early enrollee brushes those aside, not in an overconfident or arrogant way, but in the most humble way imaginable.

“I know I wasn’t going to start right away,” said Coleman. “I’m just going to come here, put my head down and work, take coaching, do the little things right, do the details right, learn the offense because you can’t get on the field if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

And if you think that’s just lip service from Coleman, just ask his position coach and you’ll hear that same head-down-and-work mentality.

“The best thing I like about Cam Coleman is he wants to be coached,” said wide receivers coach Marcus Davis. “He’s super coachable and he’s going to try to do exactly what you tell him to do. He loves football so it’s easy to coach him. He wants that feedback. He’s coming to you before you even get to him in terms of what he needs to do to get better.

“It’s been a joy so far to coach him, just how hungry he is, just how much he loves football and there’s no question he’s talented.”

Coleman, from Central in Phenix City, Ala., credits his upbringing in keeping his feet on the ground and head out of the clouds.

“It really comes from how I’m raised,” said Coleman. “I’m not entitled to anything. I come in and work for everything I have achieved. Stars don’t matter in college. Everybody is good in college. Comes from my mom and dad. It’s just how I was raised.”

The work that Coleman has put in, through winter workouts and the first 11 practices, is already paying off. He’s been getting a lot of work with the first-team offense on the field and off it, he’s put on close to 10 pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame since enrolling in January.

“When I first got here, I was 189 and now I’m 198,” he said. “I really can’t tell the difference. I can tell a little bit strength-wise because I’m getting stronger in the weight room, but I feel like I’ve gotten a little bit faster.”

He also got an early indoctrination to college football from senior linebacker Eugene Asante.

“I got rocked by Eugene,” said Coleman. “I tried to crack Eugene and he was like, ‘Welcome to college.’”

Coleman, of course, is doing just fine and already thinking about what he needs to do when his first opportunity to play for the Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium comes later this fall.

“Anything I can bring to the team, anything I can do to help, I’ll be able to do,” said Coleman. “Get first downs in crucial moments. Put points on the board, block. When the ball’s not coming to me, find work down the field.

“Not being a selfish teammate. Really just doing anything I can do to help the team win.”

Auburn will practice Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday before holding the A-Day game April 6.