After The Whistle: Decatur’s Brycen Coleman
Coleman is the 1st Maryland High School Football Player with at least 1000 yards in passing, rushing and receiving yards in a career
BERLIN, Md. – Meet Brycen Coleman, the Vanderbilt football commit who had one of the most dominant high school careers the Bayside has ever seen.
Coleman has racked up many accolades on the football field, being the MPSSAA 2A Player of the Year, the Bayside All-Time Touchdown Leader, First Team All-State, and a Maryland State Football Champion.
“I think a lot of people, see a lot of my accolades, and obviously, I appreciate all the support that I get. But at the same time, I also want to show that it wasn’t just me. A lot of other people had a lot of important roles in all my success,” Coleman says.
He’s a 4-year varsity athlete on the football field and the basketball court. On the hardwood, he’s scored 1000 career points. However, his first love is football, with his dad, Decatur Head Football Coach Jake Coleman being there every step of the way.
“Yeah, he’s always been my mentor and everything. Anytime I’ve ever had a problem in sports or anything in life, I’ve always went to him. Obviously. My mom is a big supporter of my life. She does all the behind-the-scenes work. She’s the one that is constantly making sure I’m eating, making sure my weight is good. And then my dad, he’s the one that kind of keeps me mentally, everything straight,” Coleman says.
The support he’s gotten from his family helped Brycen be the first Maryland player to get 1000 yards rushing, 1000 yards passing, and 1000 yards receiving. He says his talent as a receiver came from his freshman year competing with Ashton Snelsire for starting QB. Snelsire, who plays QB at the Division 1 level with the Richmond Spiders, got the top spot and Coleman made plays on the outside. He gained experience catching the ball instead of throwing it, and will now take those skills to the SEC’s Vanderbilt Commodores.
“I think that opened up my eyes to go play receiver a little bit, honestly, because of him and Coach Croto, who moved me to receiver, I mean, that’s kind of why I’m going to play Vanderbilt as a receiver. So I think a lot of everything that’s happened to me in my life has all been a blessing. Everything that has ever happened. I think it’s God’s plan,” he says.
He’s accomplished a lot on the football field and as a centerpiece for the Seahawks’ basketball team, but there’s nothing that compares to winning Decatur’s first state football title with his dad.
“It meant the world. We were always talking about it in middle school, how we wanted to win a state championship and I wanted to win one with him. And then coming here, at first it was tough, but we saw the vision that this school had and this community. We always had all the pieces in the room. We just had to put the pieces together. But winning that with him, it was so special,” he says.
