As a grad transfer, Missouri Tigers defensive lineman DJ Coleman has done more learning than most. Still, the talented edge rushers says he's expanding his knowledge every day, now that he's in Columbia, Mo. Coming from Jacksonville State, Coleman said he still had to nail down the finer points of his craft, and that fine tuning's certainly been paying off in recent weeks.
Coleman's recorded a sack in each of Missouri's last two games and he's playing more every weekend. The grad student says that he has the coaching staff to thank for his progress, and credits one coach in particular, who's also in his first season at Missouri.
"Coach [Kevin] Peoples has taught me a lot, with both [pass and run defense]," said Coleman after practice this week. "With pass rush...he taught me the angles...he's helped me a lot."
Defensive line assistant Kevin Peoples came to Mizzou earlier this year and works mostly with the Tigers' edge linemen. He's helped prepare multiple players for NFL careers and is instilling that same knowledge in Coleman, who can see the results already.
"At the six technique at [Jacksonville State], we played it totally different," mentioned Coleman. "[Peoples] showed me, basically, how to do it the way NFL D-Ends do it."
At 6-foot-5 and 264-pounds, Coleman has the frame play at the professional level, and his learning the proper technique could go a long way towards reaching that goal. For now, he and the Tigers will be focused on finishing this season strong. Coleman and company are right on track for that, though, as the defensive line has been one of Missouri's strengths this year.
That unit's next challenge will be stopping South Carolina's powerful rushing attack, led by Gamecocks running back MarShawn Lloyd. While Coleman's proved his pass rushing prowess by posting back-to-back games with sacks, South Carolina's offense poses an entirely different challenge. If he and the rest of the Tigers want to earn their second SEC win of 2022, they'll have to clamp down on Lloyd and the other Gamecocks ball carriers.
The Tigers will hit the road to take on the Gamecocks in South Carolina's Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. (CT), where Coleman will look to continue making strides on the front line.
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