Illinois Football: Illini commit Seth Coleman explains his decision

The Illinois football team had a solid commitment on Saturday afternoon when Seth Coleman picked the Orange and Blue.

Coleman is a 6-foot-4, 200-pound weak-side defensive end from Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy in Melbourne, Florida. He isn’t rated or ranked by the recruiting sites, but this was a good pickup for a program that needed depth for the future.

There were a multitude of other programs Coleman could have picked instead of the Illini, but he decided to make Champaign his home. He explained a little more to the Writing Illini on why he decided on Illinois.

“I just loved everything about it from the coaching staff to the city itself,” said Coleman, “felt like home.”

I am glad Illinois could feel like home and now is the home for Coleman for the next three to four years starting in 2019. His defensive prowess is tremendous, and he should help the team in the near future. He also explained some of what the coaching staff has discussed with him about his role as well.

“They say I would have a chance to start as a five-technique defensive end if I work hard,” said Coleman.

Defensive end is an area that Illinois has been building for a few years now. They have some nice young pieces in place, but there is always room for improvement. Illinois gave up 218.5 yards per game on the ground last season. This ranked No. 113 in the nation.

To say the Illini need help on the defensive line is an understatement. The class of 2018 is definitely going to help the cause but until there are some more proven commodities at defensive end, there will always be room for some young gun to come in and take the starting role.

With the addition of Coleman to the defensive end squad, the Illini are going to be ready to have a great competition on their hands for the starting defensive end jobs. Every player makes the team better because they create competition. But, no matter who wins out, all the players have one goal in mind. That is to win. Coleman had some words for the Illinois fan base about what is to come.

“The program is about to make a big turnaround in the next few years,” Said Coleman, “they can expect me to be coming at the quarterback every throwing play there is!”

Every Illini fan is excited about the possibility of a turnaround with this program. The foundation is being built and long-term sustainable winning is on the horizon. Coleman should be a nice piece to help this team put more wins on the board.