This year, Washington Football came in unranked, but not unnoticed. Much of that having to do with their running back Jonah Coleman. At this point, he has 51 carries and has rushed for 347 yards with nine touchdowns.
So far, Washington is 3-0. For Coleman, it marks the endpoint of a transition in his career. In January 2024, RB Jonah Coleman made the switch from Arizona to Washington. Also, his coach Jedd Fisch joined him.
On Friday, Coleman looks back at the journey that led him from Arizona to Washington, per Bruce Feldman of The Athletic. In the interview, Coleman had nothing but good things to say about Fisch who recruited him.
“I’m pretty good at picking up energy and see if people have genuine intentions, and he’s someone that didn’t flag at all,” Coleman said. “Everything was real and authentic since the day I met him, since the first conversation we had.”
Ultimately, Coleman said the relationship grew over time.
“We think alike,” he said. “We went through a lot. Not everything has been like perfect in peaches and rainbows, but those hardships definitely brought us closer.”
The move from Arizona to Washington was swift
Even though he picked up and left Arizona, Coleman was still bewildered when Fisch decided to leave.
“It was definitely a shocker because we built something great at Arizona, with a culture and foundation that could be hard to build again.” Later on, he said “I trusted what he had in store.”
From 2021-2023, Coleman and Fisch managed to turn things around. In 2023, they went from being a 1-11 team to 10-3. Also, Coleman accumulated 1,243 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns.
Then they joined a Washington team that came off playing Michigan in the National Championship game. Afterward, the team lost 20 out of 22 starters and had to rebuild.
As a result, Fisch looked to Coleman to lead the charge.
“I think Jonah has really jumped when we got to Washington,” Fisch said. “He’s thrived academically. He’s thrived in being a known commodity in Seattle. His maturity level has completely flipped. We had him talk to the Board of Regents about the importance of athletics. I don’t think I would have guessed that four years ago.”
Currently, Coleman has a 3.93 GPA. Also, he is a semi finalist for the Campbell Trophy, college football's academic Heisman.
