A Star is Just Beginning: UW RB Coleman to Return For Senior Year in 2025

Washington star running back Jonah Coleman couldn't have picked a more appropriate day to announce that he is returning to the school next season. 

The 5-foot-9, 229-pound junior from Stockton, Calif., who has rushed for a career-high 1,008 yards and 9 touchdowns on 173 carries over 11 games in 2024, made the news official Thursday afternoon through a brief 30 second video posted to his social media accounts on Instagram and X, confirming what first-year coach Jedd Fisch had stated previously on Nov. 11, when he said he was 90 percent sure Coleman would return to UW in 2025. 

Coleman, one of six former Arizona football players who followed Fisch up to Seattle back in January after two seasons with the Wildcats, ranks fifth in the Big Ten Conference in rushing yards and tied for eighth in rushing touchdowns going into Saturday's regular season finale against No. 1 Oregon at Autzen Stadium at 4:37 p.m. 

Throughout September and into the first two games in October against Michigan and on the road at Iowa, Coleman battled through the wear-and-tear of college football and didn't accrue the yardage and touchdown total that some thought he might prior to the start of the season. 

Still the first-year starter has proven to be the heartbeat of the UW offense and one of the better backs in the Big Ten Conference, while allowing freshman Adam Mohammed and senior Cameron Davis to each get their opportunity to shine. 

With Davis and fellow senior Daniyel Ngata set to graduate after this season Coleman and Mohammed are expected to be the one of the better 1-2 running back combos in the Big Ten, which is significant for Demond Williams Jr., who Fisch has effectively anointed as the starting quarterback in 2025.

At Big Ten Media Days in July, Coleman professed that he would be back at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, where the league holds its annual football conference title game that this season features the Huskies' upcoming opponent, Oregon, and one of Ohio State — who  travel out to Husky Stadium next year — Indiana or Penn State, both of which UW have played this season on the road. 

However, it's also the site of the annual NFL Combine, where seniors, juniors and third-year sophomores can show what they can provide the 32 teams in the league. 

With Coleman now intrenched as the lead back again for the Huskies in '25, the latter will have to wait at least one more college football season for the hard-nosed bruiser from Stockton.