Tevin Coleman

Early years

Coleman attended Oak Forest High School in Oak Forest, Illinois. He played running back, wide receiver, and cornerback, and also returned kicks and punts. He was named the 2011 Southtown Star Player of the Year. As a senior, he rushed for 949 yards on 83 carries with 13 touchdowns, and also had 16 receptions for 345 yards and five touchdowns.

In addition, Coleman was on the school's track & field team, where he competed as a sprinter and jumper. He was one of the best 100-meter sprinters and long-jumpers in the state of Illinois as a high schooler. At the 2011 IHSA State Championships, he placed fourth in the 100m, at 10.86, and took second in the long jump, getting a personal-best mark of 7.16 meters. At the 2011 Thornton Classic Meet, he took gold in the long jump, with a mark of 6.88 meters, and finished second in the 100 m, at 10.8 seconds. At the 2011 IHSA 2A State T&F Championship, he ran the 100 meters in a PR of 10.5 seconds, on his way to a second-place finish.

Considered a three-star recruit by the Rivals.com recruiting network, Coleman was ranked as the No. 37 running back nationally in 2012. He chose Indiana over scholarship offers from Georgia Tech, Minnesota, and Michigan State.

College career

As a true freshman in 2012 Coleman played in 12 games with two starts. He rushed for 225 yards on 51 attempts and one touchdown and also had 566 kick return yards and a touchdown. As a sophomore in 2013, Coleman started the first nine games of the season, before suffering an ankle sprain that caused him to miss the final three games. He finished the year with 958 rushing yards on 131 carries with 12 touchdowns.

In the first game of his junior season in 2014, Coleman rushed for 247 yards and two touchdowns against Indiana State. Coleman's 307-yard day in a loss at Rutgers on November 15 became second highest rushing day in school history, behind only Anthony Thompson at Wisconsin in 1989. On November 25, Coleman and fellow Big Ten Conference running backs Melvin Gordon (Wisconsin) and Ameer Abdullah (Nebraska) were named the three finalists for the Doak Walker Award. In the final game of the 2014 season, on November 29 versus rival Purdue, Coleman rushed for 130 yards on 29 carries, finishing the season with 2,036 yards. He became the 18th player in NCAA Division I FBS history to reach 2,000-yard rushing mark in a season. His 2,036 rushing yards also broke the school's single-season record, which had been held by Vaughn Dunbar who had 1,805 yards in 1991. Coleman finished seventh in the 2014 Heisman Trophy voting having received two first place votes.

On December 29, 2014, Coleman announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2015 NFL Draft.

Professional career

Coleman was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round with the 73rd overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft. On May 12, 2015, Coleman signed his rookie contract, a four-year contract worth $3,219,012, with a $745,244 signing bonus.

2015 season

On September 8, 2015, due to the injury of Devonta Freeman, Coleman was named the Falcons feature running back to start the season. On September 14, 2015, Coleman made his NFL debut, running for 80 yards on a season-high 20 carries against the Philadelphia Eagles. On September 20, 2015, Coleman scored his first touchdown of his career against the New York Giants. Coleman suffered a fractured rib in the game and was sidelined for Week 3 and Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans, respectively. On November 29, 2015, Coleman ran for a season-high 110 yards on 18 carries against the Minnesota Vikings, his first 100-yard game of his career. In his rookie season, Coleman rushed for 392 yards for 1 touchdown. Coleman was ranked 11th among rookies in rushing yards. Coleman was 1 of 17 rookies to record a rushing touchdown in the 2015 season.

2016 season

On September 11, 2016, in the season opener, Coleman caught five passes for 95 yards in a loss against their NFC South rival, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Coleman recorded a 47-yard reception in the second quarter. On September 18, Coleman scored his first touchdown of the season, a 13-yarder, against the Oakland Raiders. On September 26, Coleman scored a career-high three touchdowns against the New Orleans Saints, his first multi-touchdown game. On October 9, Coleman caught 4 passes for a career-high 132 yards and a touchdown against the Denver Broncos, his first touchdown reception of his career. Coleman recorded a 31-yard touchdown reception in the 3rd quarter. On October 23, Coleman ran for 64 yards on 8 carries and a touchdown against the San Diego Chargers. Coleman ran 30 yards for the touchdown. Coleman suffered a hamstring injury in the game. Coleman was sidelined from Week 8 and Week 9's matchups against the Green Bay Packers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, respectively.

On February 5, 2017, Coleman scored a six-yard receiving touchdown in the third quarter of Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots. In addition, Coleman had seven rushes for 29 yards in the Super Bowl. Coleman's efforts were not enough as the Patriots defeated the Falcons by a score of 34–28 in overtime. Coleman's third quarter touchdown were the last points the Falcons would score in the Super Bowl before allowing the comeback.

Coleman's 6.3 yards per touch in 2016 was second among NFL running backs with more than 100 touches (carries plus receptions).