Cliff Collins, East Mississippi's defensive coordinator, isn't surprised to hear the praise for Coates. "I think Julius is going to do pretty good in the SEC," said Collins, who played linebacker and safety at Ole Miss in 2001 and 2002. "He's athletic an d he's big and he's fast. He's a smart kid, too. "You add all that together, if he does what he's supposed to do, he could be a high NFL Draft pick. I know they've got some good coaches up there at Arkanas that are going to develop him, and he's going to take the coaching." Among the other players Collins has coached at East Mississippi is Darel Middelton, a senior defensive end at Tennessee. Middleton, 6-7, 305 pounds, played in all 13 games with six starts for the Vols last season when he made 26 tack les."When we looked at film of Julius, he reminded me of Darel," Collins said. "Darel is a long, athletic kid like Julius, and they both played on offense before we switched them to defense." Coates, who is from Rockford, Ill., played tight end at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa as a redshirt freshman in 2019 and had six catches for 62 yards. "They had Julius flanked out as a tight end [at Ellsworth], and we thought, 'This kid should be on defense,' " Collins said. "He was too big to be flank ed out. Then we saw him run, and the rest is history. "We told him, 'Come and play defensive end for us, and you'll get a scholarship wherever you want to go." - Northwest Arkansas Times
rSr/2023  DE Julius Coates, Arkansas
News Source: Northwest Arkansas Times
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