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Football had already taken the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Coleman quite a few places, but that day, it brought something to Coleman. It brought a Mizzou team representing his home state to his doorstep, and it featured a roster with several players he’d known for years. One of those players he watched grow up on the football field in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.

A prep star at St. Mary’s High School in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, Coleman garnered a four-star rating from multiple national recruiting sites as well as the designation as the No. 1 prospect in Missouri as a senior. He also earned Post-Dispatch All-Metro Football co-Offensive Player of the Year honors along with East ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™ .

Coleman’s local high school exploits paved the way for the next three years. Coleman ventured out on a college football odyssey that included stops at Jackson State, Louisville and Mississippi State.

Now, Coleman has come full circle. This winter, he transferred to Missouri in advance of his senior season so he can finish his collegiate career back “home� and alongside his “brothers.�

Coleman’s willingness to return home also serves as a testament to how far the Mizzou program has progressed since its first couple of seasons under .

The season before Coleman joined the Jackson State program (then coached by Deion Sanders), Mizzou went 6-7. The next season, Coleman’s freshman year of college, Mizzou went 6-7.

Then came an 11-2 season with an appearance and a Cotton Bowl win against Ohio State in 2023. Last season, Mizzou went 10-3 and finished ranked No. 22 in the final AP poll. Meanwhile, Coleman’s cohort Luther Burden III made himself an NIL darling in his final season and then a second-round pick in the NFL draft.

“The way Coach Drink took this place over and put on for our state, Mizzou back in the days was known for football but not in the previous years until he came and he just worked this place up to the top,� Coleman said on Sunday, as he prepared to start his first fall camp as a member of the Missouri football team.

“We’re still working. I definitely see this (program) in a different place than I’d seen it previously.�

Last season’s game between Missouri and Mississippi State, which Missouri won 39-20, also marked the day Coleman knew it was time for football to bring him back home.

“Even though I was going against a team I wanted to beat really bad, especially my hometown team, I was definitely cheering Jamal Roberts on inside my head, inside my heart when he was touching the ball,� Coleman said.

“That’s a guy I played high school with. I actually watched him play growing up because he was a younger guy, so I got to watch him play.�

Roberts, who helped St. Mary’s win back-to-back state championships as a junior and senior, joined the Mizzou program in 2023. Roberts got limited playing time as a freshman (two games, one carry, one tackle on special teams) in Columbia, but Coleman kept throwing encouragement and advice his way.

Leading up to last year’s matchup, Coleman and Roberts remained in touch and even exchanged some friendly barbs. Roberts’ longest run of the season, 14 yards, came in that game against Mississippi State.

Afterward, Roberts and Coleman got together on the field to take a few photos. That’s when Coleman really felt the tug at his heartstrings.

“Having talks with Jamal Roberts and after the game taking pictures with a few ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ guys and just having that feel like I’m with my brothers again,â€� Coleman said of what made him decide to come back. “You know, the guys I grew up with. The guys I grew up playing against. The guys I talk to and communicate with. And we’re doing the same thing.

“We all have the same goal, and that’s to make it. To make it out the city we’re from and put on for the city we’re from. So I had that vision after the game and talking with Jamal Roberts. Like, ‘Hey if you’ve got the opportunity to come back, why not?’�

Coleman joins a wide receiver group that lost three of its top four receivers (by yards) from last season. While he’s a newcomer to Mizzou, Coleman earned All-SEC third team honors last season and ranked third in the conference in receiving yards per game (77.7).

He hauled in 74 passes for 932 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games last season. In his three collegiate seasons, he’s tallied 1,769 receiving yards and 11 touchdown catches as well as 48 punt returns for 322 yards.

Coleman should give the Mizzou offense a steady presence at wide receiver as they break in a new starting quarterback — either redshirt junior Sam Horn or Penn State transfer Beau Pribula.

Asked what Coleman brings to this team, Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore said, “A lot of plays made in the SEC against different competition. He’s done it in different conferences. I think the quarterback’s confidence just in him making plays, tight coverage, finding windows, the leadership within the receiver room.�

“Kevin has been awesome, his football acumen,� Moore continued. “I’ll ask him questions about difference schemes that he’s been a part of. He’s going to be a big asset this fall.�