Marcus Coleman (born May 24, 1974) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

and the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

. In 2018, he was named the first head coach of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...

(IFL)'s

Tucson Sugar Skulls The Tucson Sugar Skulls are a professional indoor American football team based in Tucson, Arizona. They are members of the Indoor Football League (IFL) since the 2019 season as an expansion team. They play home games at Tucson Convention Center's ...

after serving as defensive coordinator with the

Iowa Barnstormers The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines, Iowa) ...

during their championship season. The following season, he was hired as the head coach of the West Texas Warbirds based out of

Odessa, Texas Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, mak ...

, in

Champions Indoor Football Champions Indoor Football (CIF) is a professional indoor American football minor league created in 2014 out of the merger between the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) and Lone Star Football League (LSFL), plus one team from ...

. Marcus and his wife Lisa, live in Texas and have children, Nick, Gabriella, Jonathan, and a grandson Jaidon.

Early years

Coleman attended

Lake Highlands High School Lake Highlands High School (LHHS) is a secondary school serving grades 9-12 in the Lake Highlands area of northeastern Dallas, Texas, United States, primarily serving the Lake Highlands community. The school is part of the Richardson Independent Sc ...

, receiving All-district and All-city honors as a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

. He also received All district, All-city, and All region honors in track He accepted a scholarship from

. He started 36 straight games and was the first to play the "Raider position" (combination of

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

strong safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

). Coleman set the school and

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

career record with four interception returns for touchdowns and also left with the school record for blocked kicks in a season (3). He finished his college career with 256 tackles, 9 interceptions and 6 blocked kicks. He also received All-Conference honors, while competing in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

. In 1995, Coleman earned All-American honors (1st Team: Football Writers Association of America, Dallas News, American Football Quarterly, 2nd Team: American Football Coaches Association, UPI). In 2008, he was named to the All-Time Texas Tech football team. In 2010, he was inducted into the Texas Tech Athletics Hall of Fame, and in 2017 was inducted into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame.

Playing career

New York Jets

Coleman was selected by the

in the fifth round (133rd overall) of the

1996 NFL Draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 20–21, 1996, at the Paramount ...

and started four games at right cornerback as a rookie. In 1997, he began to have issues with new head coach

Bill Parcells Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells (born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 1983 ...

, who moved him from

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

. Parcells called him "The Wizard", Coleman had a break-out year in 1999, becoming the starter at right cornerback after playing the first 4 games as a nickel back. He made 64 tackles, while leading the team with 6 interceptions (tied for sixth in the NFL) and 24 passes defensed. The next year, he registered 56 tackles, 19 passes defensed (led the team) and 4 interceptions (second on the team), including a 98-yard pick-six against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

, which at the time was the second-longest interception return in franchise history.

Houston Texans

Coleman was selected by the

in the 2002 NFL Expansion Draft and was named the starter at right cornerback. He posted 90 tackles, 30 passes defensed (led the league), one interception and 2 fumble recoveries. In 2003, he had 77 tackles and 23 passes defensed, while leading the team with 7 interceptions, which was a franchise record and tied him for fourth in the NFL. He received the AFC Defensive Player of the Month award for his performance in September. In 2004, he was moved to

after the team drafted

Dunta Robinson Willie Dunta Robinson ( ; born April 11, 1982) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at South Carolina and was drafted by the Houston Texans with the 10th overall selection in the 2004 NFL Draft. Robinson also pl ...

. He holds the Texans record for the longest interception return, with a 102-yard pick-six registered against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. On November 21, 2004, he suffered a sprained right shoulder against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

and although he was able to play in the next two games, he was eventually placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

, finishing with 80 tackles, 2 interceptions and 8 passes defensed. The next year, he was deactivated for the game against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

for missing a walkthrough. He posted 11 starts, 66 tackles, one interception and 3 passes defensed. On February 28, 2006, he was released in a salary-cap move.

Dallas Cowboys

On April 18, 2006, Coleman was signed by the

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, reuniting him with his former Jets head coach

.He appeared in three games as a backup, before being released on November 11. He finished his career with 484 tackles, 25 interceptions, 119 passes defensed and 2 touchdowns.

Coaching career

Coleman's first coaching stint was as the defensive backs coach for the

Tri-Cities Fever The Tri-Cities Fever were a professional indoor football franchise based in Kennewick, Washington. The Fever joined National Indoor Football League (NIFL) in 2005 as an expansion team. The Fever were owned by Teri Carr. From 2005 to 2016, the Fe ...

of the

in 2016. On September 16, 2016, Coleman was announced as the new defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator for the

. On September 12, 2018, after two seasons with the Barnstormers, he was announced as the inaugural head coach for the

. Coleman then was hired as the first head coach of the West Texas Warbirds in

, and a member of

for the 2020 season. However, the 2020 CIF season was cancelled without playing a game due to the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Coleman resigned from the Warbirds in October 2020. Coleman is currently and Assistant Coach/Defensive Backs Coach at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Marcus 1974 births Living people African-American players of American football American football cornerbacks American football safeties Dallas Cowboys players Houston Texans players New York Jets players Players of American football from Dallas Texas Tech Red Raiders football players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople