Get to Know Your Raiders: Avery Coleman

A lockdown cornerback on the No. 10-ranked Shippensburg University football team, Avery Coleman has started every game for the Raiders since his first full season in 2010.

This season, the junior from Media, Pa., is fourth on the team in tackles with 44, including two for loss, despite playing from his island in the defensive backfield.

A candy fanatic and accounting major, Coleman had a career day two weeks ago at Kutztown as he intercepted the first two passes of his career, broke up another pass and posted a career-high 11 tackles in the undefeated Raiders’ 73-35 victory over the defending PSAC Champion Golden Bears.

Get to know Avery Coleman…

What is your favorite pre-game ritual?

Watching highlight videos of good cornerbacks from college and the NFL on YouTube, playing Temple Run on my phone and doing my pre-game handshake with junior safety Tyriq Kershaw that we’ve done every game since sophomore year of high school. 

What part of Shippensburg, either the campus or the town, do you most enjoy?

I like the scenery, the mountains, back roads, farms and animals all around Ship. On campus, my favorite place is Kriner Dining Hall, especially on days when the chef is in there.

What is the best class you've taken at Shippensburg?

Any class I get an ‘A’ in is pretty good but if I had to choose, I would say Intermediate Macroeconomics with professor Hamid Bastin because I enjoyed the class discussions and learned a lot from him about more than just macroeconomics.

If you weren't majoring in accounting, what would your major be?

Economics or Spanish.

What is your favorite day of the week, and why?

Saturday, because it’s the day when my teammates and I get to show off all our hard work from the offseason, film study and weekday practices to the Shippensburg community.

Which are your favorite PSAC schools to compete against, and why?

Kutztown, West Chester, LIU Post and Bloomsburg because they, along with Ship, are the top teams in the Eastern Division and you get to see who is really good when the best play the best.

If we asked your teammates to say a few words about you, what do you think they would say?

That I work hard, that I love candy and that I talk a lot.

Which individual athletic accomplishment are you most proud of?

My game against Kutztown this season where I had my first 2 interceptions of my college career and had my career high in tackles. The best part about getting those interceptions was that they were off of a very good quarterback [KU’s Kevin Morton].

What's the most difficult part of being a student-athlete?

Getting enough sleep with such a busy schedule. It’s tough to manage your time wisely between football, classes, studying and having a social life. 

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned being a student-athlete?

Even though it might be stressful at times, appreciate every second you have to be a student-athlete because you only have a certain amount of time that you can’t get back.

What piece of advice stays with you at all times?

Everyone I have ever talked to that played football and doesn’t anymore tells me to cherish it while I can because it’s over before you know it and there is no going back. I try to make sure to work as hard as I can and never take for granted how great of an opportunity it is to be here at Ship doing what I love playing football and having fun with my friends. No matter how hard classes are or whatever other difficulties come up, the whole Shippensburg student-athlete experience is worth it and will stay with me forever.

If you could talk to children who are just beginning to show an interest in football, what would you tell them they should focus on?

Never be satisfied and always work on improving in something. It can be doing drills, lifting or watching good players to try to pick up on what they’re doing right…just try to get better as often as you can. The biggest difference between good players and great players is the effort they put in behind the scenes when nobody is paying attention.

What legacy do you hope to leave behind for future athletes at Shippensburg?

I want to help bring Ship football a national championship and leave here having the program known as one of the best in the country. I want the expectations for the program every year to be in the top 5-10 of the national rankings and to be in the playoffs and PSAC Championship hunt every season. I want to have game days in a crazy, packed stadium with a good college football atmosphere no matter who the team is playing against. I want to have every student on campus full of Red Raider Pride, bragging to their family and friends about how good the team is. I want to be a part of the team that started that kind of tradition for the football program. That’s how I hope my legacy ends up.