Sammie Coates Mase Sports interview on Auburn and the NFL draft

The Sammie Coates Mase Sports interview revisited the foot injury that changed Coates’s freshman year at Auburn University, the 2013 Southeastern Conference championship team and the knee injury he believes lowered his NFL draft position. The former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver also explained why graduating made it easier to leave Auburn and what he would do differently to prolong his National Football League career.

How did Sammie Coates’s Auburn freshman injury change him?

Sammie Coates said breaking his foot as an Auburn freshman changed him more than any other part of his college journey. Unable to play for the entire year, he had to confront what football meant to him and learn how to handle adversity. He credits that difficult period with helping shape the person he became.

Coates had played football throughout his life, which made sitting out especially hard. He described conflicting feelings about the injury: he remains upset that it happened, but thankful for what he learned while recovering.

Auburn offered more than that setback. Coates said he met close friends, played alongside talented teammates and valued the chance to attend college. He called the experience a roller coaster, with opportunities and relationships alongside the pressure to reach the professional level.

What did Sammie Coates say about graduating from Auburn and NIL?

Sammie Coates graduated from Auburn with a program administration degree in three and a half years. He said completing that degree mattered enough that he might have stayed in school rather than enter the draft if he still had coursework left. Looking at college football now, he believes NIL money has substantially changed recruiting and the authority coaches have over players.

Finishing his Auburn degree

Coates recalled mandatory academic commitments during his time at Auburn. Graduating was particularly meaningful to him because, he said, few people from where he grew up get that opportunity. Once he had finished his degree, he felt free to pursue his goal of playing in the NFL.

Recruiting and classroom expectations in the NIL era

His view of NIL centers on how much leverage a highly paid player can have. Coates said it is harder for a coach to insist that a player attend class when that player is earning millions. He also contrasted the excitement he felt committing to Auburn with a recruiting environment he sees as more focused on which school will pay the most.

What did Sammie Coates say about Deion Sanders and coaching?

Sammie Coates said he respects Deion Sanders for speaking his mind and holding to his approach, even when public reaction makes that difficult. Asked whether he would be wary of coaching at a major college program, Coates focused instead on staffing: he believes a coach needs capable people around him rather than trying to manage everything alone.

He said the demands of that level require assistants who can work with the athletes and handle responsibility. If he had such an opportunity, Coates would prioritize the quality of their work over recognizable names.

Coates also considered what he would tell his younger self as a player. He would devote more time to maintaining his body and studying football. He said he dealt with many injuries and believes closer attention to those details could have given him more years in the league.

What did Sammie Coates say about Auburn’s 2013 SEC Championship team?

Sammie Coates remembered Auburn’s 2013 Southeastern Conference championship team as a close group that put in work without waiting to be told. After a 3-9 season, Auburn reached the national championship game the following year. Coates said the speed and flexibility of Gus Malzahn’s offense made the team difficult to prepare for and prompted other college teams to adopt up-tempo play.

The teammates behind Auburn’s turnaround

Coates singled out running back Tre Mason and the team’s quarterback among the players who made that season special. He said the locker room cared most about playing for one another. The players also took responsibility for work outside what coaches required, and he believes that effort showed on the field.

The pace of Gus Malzahn’s offense

Rather than relying on a large menu of plays, Coates said Auburn could run a few options quickly and attack in different ways. The offense could run or throw without easing its tempo. In his view, opponents struggled to prepare for the pace, and other teams later sought to play faster too.

That system demanded conditioning from its receivers. Coates recalled having to repeat a route after dropping a pass, sometimes running the same post route several times in succession. On the lesson he gives players heading to college, Coates put it plainly:

Be in shape before you go to college. Don't go to college to get in shape. Be in shape before you get there.

Why did Sammie Coates leave Auburn for the NFL draft?

Sammie Coates said finishing his degree in December made leaving Auburn for the NFL draft a straightforward decision, even though he had another year available. He now thinks returning might have allowed a knee injury from 2014 to heal properly and improved his draft position. He was selected in the third round, 87th overall, in 2015.

His final bowl game against Wisconsin

Before Auburn’s bowl game against Wisconsin, Coates told Gus Malzahn he planned to enter the draft and initially did not think he would play. Coates said Malzahn was angry and did not speak to him during a week of practice. Coates changed his mind, played a few snaps and made that game his last in college.

The knee injury and draft day

Coates said he played the 2014 season with a knee injury. He believes medical examinations before the draft exposed the problem and hurt his standing; he said he had been projected for the first or second round. Despite that disappointment, seeing his name on television when he was drafted was an unforgettable moment for him.

After declaring for the draft, he stayed around Auburn while preparing. The move to professional football felt real when he flew to Pittsburgh and saw the city after coming through the tunnel from the airport. Coates described Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as a sports town and remembered the arrival as an unreal feeling.

How did Sammie Coates prepare for his NFL career?

Sammie Coates said the hardest professional adjustment was taking responsibility for football nearly all the time. In college, coaches set schedules and taught details; in the NFL, he had to manage his preparation, know the playbook and keep his body ready. A missed obligation could cost him money or his place on the team.

He went straight into training after his college season and said he sometimes worked out twice or three times a day in the offseason. Staying competitive required sacrificing time he could have spent going out with friends. Coates warned that another player, younger or better, is always seeking an opportunity.

The work was mental as well as physical. Veteran players could recognize what was coming before a play developed, he said, while a receiver’s small mistake could have immediate consequences. He gave the example of running a route at nine yards when it should be at 10, potentially turning the play into an interception returned for a touchdown.

Coates said NFL coaches expect players to arrive knowing how to do the job and then master it. Unlike a college installation taught in stages, a professional playbook is the player’s responsibility. He also recalled seeing teammates leave the locker room, a reminder that a roster spot could disappear quickly.

Who is Sammie Coates?

Sammie Coates is the head football coach at Columbia High School. He is an Auburn University graduate and a 2015 NFL draft pick.