There’s something about the number. The measurable difference between 999 yards and 1,000 yards is barely noticeable, but the psychological gap is huge.
You don’t get the title “1,000-yard back” for being close.
The quadruple-digit rushing mark has long been a defining measure for the nation’s best backs.
Though recent years have seen increased emphasis on the passing game, the 1,000-yard rusher remains a go-to assessment of a running back’s talent.
IU junior running back Tevin Coleman was seemingly destined to join the exclusive 1,000-yard rusher club last year, but an ankle sprain suffered against Illinois forced him to miss the final three games of the season.
As a result, he came up short.
Forty-two yards short.
“I still think about it,” Coleman said. “That’s just a running back thing to get over 1,000 yards. That would mean a lot to me. That’s one of my goals that I’d like to hit this year.”
Coleman earned the No. 1 running back spot last season as a sophomore. He won the starting job from his close friend and mentor Stephen Houston, from whom he still gets advice.
The 6-foot-1-inch, 210 pound Tinley Park, Ill., native rushed for 958 yards and 12 touchdowns in nine games last year.
He added 193 receiving yards and returned six kicks for 124 more.
Coleman’s effort placed him on this year’s Doak Walker Award Watch List, an annual award presented to the nation’s best running back.
But missing the 1,000-yard mark still bothered him.
He tried to come back for the Purdue game three weeks after his injury but decided it was best not to risk further injury, so he sat out.
Instead, he prayed for his health and focused on returning stronger. He’s been earning praise from the IU strength trainers and coaching staff alike for coming back into camp in some of the best physical shape they’ve seen him in.
“He’s somebody who wants to separate himself by his work ethic and what he brings to the table,” running backs coach Deland McCullough said of Coleman. “To this point, he’s done it.”
McCullough said he has a friendship with Coleman that goes beyond the typical player-coach working ?relationship.
At practice, the two routinely go back and forth making fun of one another, downplaying the other’s ?talent.
The 41-year-old McCullough played professionally in the NFL and Canada from 1996-99. He likes to explain to Coleman that if he were eligible to be on the roster, he’d demote Coleman to second string.
“He does that a lot,” Coleman said. “They just mess with me and try to get me ready. They know that I’m going to get it this year.”
When Coleman arrived in Bloomington as a freshman, he wasn’t quite used to using his physicality. In high school, Coleman moved around on the field and was a more speed-based back.
Once he began working with IU’s coaches, Coleman began to uncover his power.
When Coleman can’t get around a defender, he improvises and tries to run through them.
“That makes him very effective,” McCullough said. “He’s not afraid of contact and using strength and speed as a weapon.”
The result has been Coleman becoming one of the most powerful backs in the Big Ten. When asked by the Big Ten Network about the conference’s best running backs, Nebraska’s Ameer Abdulla and Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon both picked Coleman to join them as the Big Ten’s elite.
His teammates agree.
“He’s a blazer, man,” senior running back D’Angelo Roberts said. “The cats got a 10.6 (second) 100-meter dash time. You see him one minute, then the next minute you don’t.
“He’s a good guy. A hard worker in the weight room. A 400-pound bencher. Can’t go wrong with him.”
Coleman has made it clear. He wants to be IU’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Levron Williams in 2001. His shortcomings from last year have only motivated him more.
He said he believes in momentum and wants to start the season Saturday against Indiana State with a strong performance.
Coleman said he’ll be playing with extra inspiration this weekend. Former IU running back Anthony Thompson (1986-89) will be recognized during the pre-game festivities, and Coleman wants to impress him.
Thompson is already a member of the 1,000-yard club. He did it three times in his four-year career as a Hoosier.
Coleman wants to join him.
“The thing is, he wants to be great,” McCullough said. “He wants to get it done. He has his goals, and he’s going to work hard for them.”
