As top-100 prospect Malachi Coleman nears decision, winning in 2022 is key | Football

The Lincoln East senior and top-100 national prospect is finishing a busy summer. He sprinted at the National Junior Olympics last week in Sacramento, California. He’s squeezing in preseason photo shoots and gearing up for team practices.

On one recent sunny morning, he spent a few minutes virtually attending Nebraska’s fall camp while Husker coaches took a few minutes to check up on him.

“Decoldest is learning the offense,” Coleman observed, referring to friend and NU freshman receiver Decoldest Crawford. “If he can go and pick it up that quickly and go out there and destroy, I know dang well I can, too.”

A yearslong recruiting process will wind down soon for the Class of 2023 star prospect. Coleman recently moved up his announcement date to Oct. 15 mostly, he said, for the sake of getting it over with. He released his list of top seven schools Saturday consisting of Michigan, Georgia, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Southern California, Oregon and Mississippi.

After he takes official visits to USC (Sept. 17) and Mississippi (Oct. 1), he’ll have seen in person all of his finalists in some capacity. He spent an official on the hometown Huskers in June.

Coleman lists off criteria he’s looking for in his eventual college home. Strong academics. Personal development. A good relationship with a good coaching staff. A chance to dabble in track.

But there’s another important piece he can’t evaluate until September and October — winning.

“If you can’t put it together then I’m not going to go to your school,” Coleman said. “I want to have a good football team. I don’t want to go somewhere that doesn’t know how to get it done. I want to go somewhere I know is going to be stable.”

Some schools like Nebraska and Georgia see the 6-foot-5 Coleman as a receiver while Ole Miss and Oklahoma plan to use him as more of a hybrid tight end. Michigan and USC like him as an outside linebacker. Oregon is open to letting him decide for himself.

Other schools continue to reach out and add to a pile of more than two dozen offers. Coleman said he’s probably fielding 30 calls a day from coaches, which is why he’s leaning toward getting a second phone designated for recruiting purposes only.

“It was fun while it lasted but now it’s becoming a little bit tiring, all the phone calls,” Coleman said. “I want to be able to have my normal teenage life – I don’t have to always be about football.”

Coleman won’t graduate early, not with unfinished business in track — he logged silver-medal showings in both the 100 and 200 meters at the Class A state meet in May by fractions of a second. He’s considering playing basketball again this winter after concluding what he believes will be a lengthy postseason football run as a playmaking receiver and outside ‘backer.

The more Coleman is learning about himself, the more he realizes that a burn to be the best drives what he does. It’s why he watches live streams of college practices. To see what they’re like. To see if his potential future coaches and teammates are like him.

In a couple months, he’ll let the world know what he decides.

“I want to see who’s going to get down in it and fight tooth and nail for every single rep,” Coleman said. “I want to see who’s going to scrap for it. I want to see who’s going to compete the hardest. That’s what I want because I love competing — I absolutely love it with every single thing I do. That’s all I want to do is continue that.”​