Some thoughts on Jaylen Coleman

And Senior Day and NIL and the Portal and the Meaning of Life

According to Mike Elko some 37 seniors will be recognized on Senior Day, Saturday against Pitt.

He then added that he didn’t know what that means anymore.

“That is a really interesting world nowadays with COVID and those years still going on, but there's a lot of really special kids that are going to be out on that field getting recognized for senior day and a lot of kids who have meant an awful lot to Duke football and certainly have meant an awful lot to this two-year resurgence of Duke football. It's going to be a really emotional and special day.”

NIL. Transfer Portal. 2020’s COVID year. An almost complete coaching turnover after the 2021 season.

May you live in interesting times.

Some of those 37 might be back in Duke Blue next season. Others will be playing at another school. A few will be in the NFL. Others will play their last game Saturday or in Duke’s bowl game and move on with their lives.

Elko called the transfer portal “complete anarchy in the wild west.” He seemed more concerned with retention than additions. Did you know Duke has a retention strategy?

But some big names are using up their college eligibility. DeWayne Carter. Jalon Calhoun. Jacob Monk. Jordan Waters.

Faces of the program.

I’m not sure where to slot Jaylen Coleman into this list. But he’s one of my favorite Duke players and I wanted to say a few words about him while I had the chance.

In an alternate universe Coleman might be the face of the program. He’s from the Charlotte suburbs. He once rushed for 349 yards in a prep game. He rushed for 241 yards in a playoff game. He won the 4-A [largest schools] state championship in the 100-meter dash.

He came to Duke. And he got hurt. And he got hurt again. And he kept getting hurt, upper-body injuries, lower-body injuries, most seriously an Achilles injury.

The latter can be a career killer. Remember Marvin Hubbard II? He was a Duke running back a few years ago who suffered an Achilles injury and never played a down for Duke.

Coleman kept getting knocked down. But he kept getting back up. Surgeries, rehab, doing whatever it took to get on the field.

And he did get on the field. Nine games in 2019, two in 2020, nine in 2021, nine in 2022. He rushed for 491 yards last season, averaging 4.7 yards per carry. He ran for 96 yards against Virginia.

But he battled injuries, missing four games. He came back for the Military Bowl, scoring on a 37-yard run in Duke’s win over Central Florida.

Lest I forget, Coleman was named Academic All-ACC and graduated last spring with a degree in biomedical engineering.

That’s not rocks for jocks.

Coleman obviously is very bright and he could have walked away from his injury-plagued career and started the rest of his life with a degree from one of the world’s most prestigious universities.

But Coleman still loved the game, loved the program, loved the school. He stayed at Duke, now working on a graduate degree in engineering management.

And he got hurt. Again, in fall practice.  

By the time he got back Duke had apparently moved on. Waters and Jaquez Moore were absorbing the running-back rotations. Coleman started getting snaps on special teams. Elko said that running back was a dangerous position, that injuries were bound to occur, that Coleman’s time would come.

It did. The wear and tear got to Waters and Moore and Coleman started seeing the field as a running back.  He helped set up the game-winning field goal against Wake Forest with a key seven-yard  run and ran for 47 yards against North Carolina.

Coleman goes into the Pitt game having rushed for a modest 122 yards this season, on 26 carries.

Recently Coleman discussed his decisions to keep going.

“Honestly, it goes back to my parents. Growing up in a household with my mom and dad always being there for me, instilling those values with me to never give up, to always do your best and your best was always going to be enough. With the injuries, I was never really worried about myself, just get with the trainers and figure out just how I could get back and contribute to this team. Honestly, I love it here. I love playing with these guys. It’s so electric, so much fun. I can’t imagine being anywhere else. I’m just so blessed to be here in this moment. The biggest thing for me is having my teammates with me every step of the way. It was definitely hard missing the first half of the season. Knowing that I was going to have a chance to come back and help this team meant the world to me.”

Why spend all this time talking about a fifth-year running back with 658 career rushing yards?

Well, I’ve already said I like the guy and you should be able to see why.  Nothing in the Code of Conduct that says I can’t have some favorites.

But there are a lot of Jaylen Coleman’s on this football team, indeed on every Duke athletic team.

I do read Duke message boards. Mostly really smart people posting, a few who belong to the Midvale School for the Gifted--Google it kids.

But there’s a narrative out there that the new environment of college sports has bred a generation of greedy, self-absorbed athletes looking for a quick fix, devoid of loyalty or commitment.

I get it. College sports is transactional in a way it’s never been before. Genie’s out of the bottle, too late to lock the barn door and all that.  

How you feel about that varies. How it ends is to be determined. But college athletes should be able to monetize their name, find the right fit but boosters shouldn’t be able to buy recruits. Is it possible to believe all of these things, to square the circle?  

But nothing in NIL, nothing in the portal means we still won’t have college athletes who value their team, their teammates, their school, their fans.

Like Jaylen Coleman.