Saraland defensive lineman Antonio Coleman is as good at putting pressure on quarterbacks as he is stopping the run. (Call News file photo)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
SARALAND — Saraland four-star defensive lineman Antonio Coleman, who found Auburn coach Hugh Freeze to be as incessantly aggressive as he is, committed to the Tigers for the second time on Saturday.
On Tuesday, he responded to criticism on social media for his three flips between Auburn and Alabama and emphasized he will not change his mind.
“I love Auburn,” he said. “I like what they’ve got going on over there and I want to be a part of that. I want to say ‘War Eagle.’ I’m not going nowhere else.”
Coleman said Tigers coach Hugh Freeze didn’t say or do anything extraordinary during Big Cat Weekend to steer him back to the Plains.
“It’s been in my plans for a long time,” he said. “Probably a week ago I made my decision. Me and my mom talked about it and that’s the place we wanted to be.”
Coleman (6-4, 280) — a four-star prospect who is rated the No. 12 defensive lineman nationally in the 2025 class — originally committed to Alabama last season, switched to Auburn in December, went back to the Crimson Tide in March, then announced on social media he had recommitted to the Tigers on Big Cat Weekend.
Earlier this month, Coleman told the Call News he wanted to go wherever he’d be developed the best and observed UA offers a minor in real estate — a profession he wants to get into and something he gives up grudgingly.
“It was which program was going to develop me the best to produce at the next level,” he said.
Coleman — who can play any position on the defensive line — has proven to be virtually unblockable, amassing 131 tackles and leading the Spartans with 43 tackles for losses in the last two seasons, numbers that linebackers typically produce. He also has 7.5 sacks and 22 quarterback hurries.
“He’s caused a lot of chaos for linemen and quarterbacks,” Saraland coach Jeff Kelly said.
Coleman said Freeze, likewise, never stopped pursuing him even after he committed to Alabama twice.
“That’s what I like about him,” Coleman told Auburn Wire. “He’s determined and that’s the type of people I would like to be around.”
When he committed to the Tigers the first time, Coleman said he wanted to be part of one of the most hyped defensive line classes in school history which included Opelika’s Malik Autrey, Parker’s Jourdin Crawford and Kalen Edwards of Dyersburg, Tenn., who has since committed to Kentucky.
“It’s knowing I would be playing alongside other great players,” Coleman said. “I want to be part of something that’s being built instead of something that’s already there.”
Going into his senior year at Saraland, Coleman said is ready to show why he is rated as one of the country’s best defensive linemen.
“I want to really dominate,” he said. “It’s just going to be that ‘you can’t block me mentality.’ I want to be one of the best D-linemen to come out of this state. I’m going to see chopping, double teams, all types of stuff. Probably even triple teaming, to be honest. But it’s not going to stop me.”
Spartans defensive coordinator Brett West said Coleman is not a typical defensive lineman.
“Most of the time you build around the total unit or defensive backs or linebackers,” West said. “Last year, we were built mostly around Jameson (Curtis). He was the Swiss Army knife. Tony is the Swiss Army knife of defensive linemen.”
