When junior wide receiver Cam Coleman entered the transfer portal last December after two years at Auburn, almost every fanbase in college football shared the same sentiment about where he should land.
Anywhere but Texas.
Coleman was one of the most sought-after players in the portal and the consensus top receiver. After visiting Alabama, Texas Tech and Texas A&M, Coleman committed to Texas, much to the annoyance of everyone else.
Texas fans were over the moon, and for good reason. Coleman’s size, speed and catch radius are good enough to elevate any offense. Combine those abilities with the talents of senior quarterback Arch Manning and the play calling of head coach Steve Sarkisian, and it’s a lethal combination.
Through the first four games of the season, though, Coleman’s body of work is difficult to evaluate.
Many saw Coleman as the final piece to the offensive puzzle, someone who could take the load off junior wide receiver Ryan Wingo and maximize Manning’s deep ball. Even though the team is 4–0 and Coleman has shown flashes, the offense has struggled to find the consistency and explosiveness that was expected of it.
It appears that Sarkisian hasn’t utilized Coleman to his full potential. That may be a tough pill to swallow after paying a player upwards of $3 million dollars. He has only had 12 catches on 20 targets for 208 yards, still good enough for second on the team in receiving yards. His four touchdowns lead the team, but all four came against UTSA and Texas State. Against Tennessee, Coleman had only one reception on three targets, though he suffered a tailbone bruise. The one catch was a beauty, but another target, a deep 50-50 ball, ended in an interception. It’s hard to argue that Coleman has made as big an impact as quickly as everyone thought he would.
“We’ve got to be creative enough, and we’ve got to allow him to do the things that he does really well as we continue to navigate our way through the season,” Sarkisian said on Sept. 28 about Coleman.
His numbers, however, don’t necessarily tell the entire story.
When I evaluate someone like Coleman this early in the season, I don’t compare him to junior wide receivers Emmett Mosley V or Wingo, who have spent years in Sarkisian’s system. Rather, past receivers like Adonai Mitchell or Isaiah Bond, elite transfers brought in for one year to help get the offense to reach its pinnacle.
Coleman is on pace to surpass last season’s production. In his final season with the Tigers, he finished with 56 receptions for 708 yards and 5 touchdowns. He has already nearly matched last year’s touchdown total through just four games. For context, Mitchell also had a slow start, catching 12 passes through the first four games but finishing with 11 touchdowns.
No matter how talented a player is, there is almost always a transitional period into a new coach’s system and offensive scheme. Coleman is still finding his rhythm, and Sarkisian is still figuring out how to design effective plays. It’s not like he hasn’t shown what his potential can be.
Sarkisian as a play caller and Manning’s accuracy need to do a better job getting the ball into Coleman’s hands. Coleman is here to win the deep contested chances and create space, definite areas of improvement so far.
But calm down, Texas fans. It’s a long season, and for Coleman, it’s a matter of when, not if.