Auburn Tigers Newcomer Cam Coleman Seriously Turning Heads

When teammates on defense and the head coach call you a phenom, maybe It's time to jump on the Cam Coleman hype train.

Auburn Tigers freshman wide receiver Cam Coleman has already made a big impression. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY

Auburn Tigers wide receiver Cam Coleman is exactly the kind of big bodied wide receiver who can go up in a crowd of defenders and still come down with the ball.

Even as an inexperienced freshman, the expectation is Coleman can make a real impact in 2024.

Coleman is showing the kind of experience and maturity that both excites and instills confidence in older teammates across the board - guys like senior linebacker Eugene Asante for example.

"Cam Coleman is a dynamic player," Asante enthused last week in Dallas at the SEC Media Days. "He's so dynamic in the way he plays the game in terms of high-pointing the football. He is somebody that's fast in terms of taking the top off the defense. The biggest thing I want to emphasize about Cam Coleman, he's somebody that is a freshman that really cares about this game and really wants to be one of the best to ever play the game at this university."

Lofty goals and aspirations indeed, but just giving quarterback Peyton Thorne some bigger and more explosive weapons in the passing game was a real must for head coach Hugh Freeze, especially after things fell seriously flat in 2023.

In truth, Coleman would have helped many collegiate programs get their pot boiling once again, so getting him on campus at Auburn was a real coup in the recruitment process for coach Freeze. 

Understandably, Freeze is now pushing the development of Coleman onto the next level at a fairly increased pace, it's pretty obvious that he wants to road test his new drag racer.

How Coleman has reacted thus far to the step up in talent levels hasn't gone unnoticed by well-seasoned players and team leaders like Asante.

Furthermore, explosive defensive lineman Keldric Faulk is seeing the exact same kind of work ethic from Coleman - it's self-evident that the receiver is bringing his A-Game to practice on a consistent basis.

"Cam Coleman, he's been phenomenal in the spring," Faulk raved of Coleman's early impact at SEC Media Days. "You could tell from when he first came, being five-star or not, it didn't really matter to him. He came in with his head down. He was ready to work as soon as he stepped on the campus. You could tell from the first practice to the end of the spring how developed his game was. He was already a pretty good player, but by the end of the spring he looked really good."

Coleman is indeed living up the kind of hype which is often only reserved for 5-Star recruits, but the expectation to deliver isn't knocking him off his rangy stride.

For the first time in his tenure on the Plains, Thorne is getting a pass catcher who can make the tough catches and run also away from defenders. Huge progress has been made with Coleman in just one spring, and that's bound to have his coaches salivating as to how much more they can get out of their receiving prodigy further down the line.

At times you get the distinct feel that coach Freeze is trying not to break into a massive smirk from the podium. So, just when you think the Auburn boss is going to turn the temperature down on Coleman and his entire previous receiving recruitment class, he just can't help bragging a little.

"I love him," Freeze gushed over his talented youngster at Media Days. "I'm careful not to put too unrealistic expectations on freshmen. But I think we had the number one receiving class in the country in Cam, and Perry [Thompson], and Bryce [Cain], and Malcolm [Simmons]. Love all four of them, Cam went through spring so I have more feel for who he is and he's gonna have to play. I mean he's really, really talented."

Helping turn round a passing attack that failed to get defenses on their heels last season was always going to need notable reinforcements, but this one comes in technicolor.