Growing up in a football family Cameron Coffman learned long ago that getting beat up on the gridiron comes with the territory. Funny thing is the
Raymore-Peculiar (Peculiar, Mo.) quarterback almost seems to embrace his bumps and bruises.
While he doesn’t like to get hit, the senior is willing to take a beating all in the spirit of competition.
"Sometimes you do get dinged up a bit. But it's worth it," Coffman said. "If you get nailed by a linebacker as you deliver a perfect strike (and its caught)…there is nothing like that in the world. It sucks to get hit, but there’s no place I'd rather be. The crowd goes crazy. It's awesome."
Coffman's willingness to take one for the team has allowed the 6-foot-2, 180-pound signal caller to operate freely. While he has the ability to make all of the throws with accuracy, he also has a little backyard football in him.
"I see myself as a drop-back passer first," he said. "Then if I have to, I can take off. I'm not the fastest guy under center, but I am pretty quick. I can juke. I do have the ability to make the moves that make guys miss."
Following his second start as a sophomore in 2008, a game in which he threw for 532 yards and five touchdowns in a 60-41 win over Liberty, Kansas State became the first school to tender an offer to Coffman. Arizona State, Iowa State, Nebraska and Wyoming have since followed suit.
The Panther field general, who is having fun and taking his time making a college choice, is receiving plenty of interest from the likes of Boston College, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Notre Dame and Stanford as well.
There is no doubt that Coffman will receive the same opportunity to play college football that was granted his father Paul and brothers Chase and Carson.
Paul and Chase Coffman were both Division I tight ends competing at Kansas State and Missouri, respectively. While the elder Coffman, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, played 11 seasons in the NFL, Chase is preparing for his second go round with the Cincinnati Bengals. Carson, meanwhile, is the front-runner to become the starting quarterback at Kansas State this fall.
Coffman’s sister Camille, a sophomore at the University of Wyoming, is also a Division I athlete playing middle blocker and opposite hitter for the Cowgirls volleyball team.
As a fifth grader, Coffman became an active member of the Panther football program by taking over the team’s duties as ball boy. It was at that point that he began to openly display his talents.
"Whenever the linesman needed a new ball, Cameron would tell him to go deep," recalled an amused Raymore-Peculiar head coach Tom Kruse. "The official would usually just give him a look and Cameron would take a three-step drop and toss him the ball."
While his seasoned gunslinger does make a lot of noise on the football field, Kruse is quick to point out that Coffman isn't the most outspoken leader he’s ever been associated with. He is effective, however.
"When he does speak, he speaks volumes," Kruse said of Coffman. "He may not always have a lot to say, but when he does speak it's always a good idea to listen to him. The kids all know how good he is. He has all of these opportunities, yet he always puts his team first. They respect him for that."
Coffman’s instant success on the gridiron forced the youngster to hang out with his older teammates as a freshman and a sophomore. When his classmates were knocking heads with each other, Coffman was becoming one of the guys.
Now, for the first time in his prep career, Coffman will be going to battle with all of his classmates at his side. While plenty of talent has graduated from a Panther squad that fell to eventual Class 5 runner-up Fort Osage 30-19 in last season’s quarterfinals, Coffman has high hopes that the Panthers can put together another strong post season run.
Kruse is optimistic about the upcoming season as well. Having the three-year letterman and two-time starter back at the throttle gives the Panthers an opportunity to win any or all of the contests on Ray-Pec's 10-game slate.
"There is not a situation on the football field that he doesn’t think he can win," Kruse said of Coffman’s confidence and football smarts. "Sometimes he’ll come up with a play for a situation and I’ll say, 'I don’t know that that’s going to work.' Then he'll say, 'Oh yeah, it'll work…just watch.' And he’ll go out and make the play."
Kruse and the rest of the Panther coaching staff is in the midst of finding the pieces to replace the entire offensive line and an incredible stable of running backs. Adding to the urgency facing the Panthers preseason workouts is a season opening clash at Lee’s Summit West in late August.
Still Coffman doesn’t think the Panthers will earn much sympathy from opposing teams this fall.
"I don’t think anybody’s going to say, 'they lost a lot of guys, so they're going to be down this year,'" Coffman said of the possibility that the Panther opposition might let up on the annual Missouri prep football power. "No matter who we’re playing, they're going to try to whoop up on us as bad as they can, and they won’t let up.
"But we’re going to do what we’ve always done. We’re going to go out and do what we can to win football games, too."
