Darrion Coleman

Managing the commitments of just one sport in high school can be taxing, not to mention two. That said, Darrion Coleman hopes to pursue both of his sports at the collegiate level next year.

At the beginning of spring this year, Coleman announced his commitment to play Division II football at Quincy University as a defensive lineman. But when he’s not found out on the grass fields, he can be found inside on the mats.

While Coleman has been playing football since third grade, when he entered high school, he decided that one sport wasn’t enough and picked up wrestling. Now, with four years of experience under his belt, Coleman plans to continue wrestling once he comes to Quincy.

“When I took my visit, I met somebody on the football team who’s also on the wrestling team at Quincy, so I’m gonna ask him if I can continue to compete, or [even] just practice, because I want to still do wrestling just for fun,” Coleman said.

Aside from just fun, wrestling has its benefits for a football player as well. Especially as a defensive player, the two sports have considerable overlap in terms of balance, agility and power. But for Coleman, the most significant commonality he noted was the mental game.

“[Both sports teach] mental toughness, because wrestling is a tough sport, [and] it’s really mental too, so I feel like it toughens my mental a little bit for football.”

Although Coleman will miss playing with his friends of several years under the Friday night lights, he looks forward to an exciting next chapter of his career, where Quincy University offered him the opportunity to start his freshman year, and he plans to make his mark. Coleman’s height and speed is going to add a different aspect to the Quincy defensive line with his ability to get off the ball with speed and power, allowing him to be a real problem for opposing tackles.

“I’m looking forward to winning the conference championship that my coach predicted that we might win,” Coleman said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to.”