MADISON- Tim Coleman is a travelin’ man. Not to be confused with the character in the famous 1961 hit song by Rick Nelson, Coleman did not travel across the globe to find the love of his life. Instead, the James Clemens junior football player hit the roads to pursue his passion of being a long snapper and possible future in college football and the National Football League.

“The trips take its toll on you, but I do enjoy the fact I’ve traveled and it could mean my future,” said the 17-year old Coleman.

The 5-foot-11, 220-pound Coleman is the starting center for the James Clemens Jets and since in between his freshman and sophomore years has been the designated long snapper on punts and place kicks for the Class 7A program. Sporting the nickname of “T-Bone,” the dedicated to his skills type player has attended numerous long-snapper camps in the last couple of years, but this year, with his father, Clay Coleman, alongside every step of the way, put together a colossal travel plan in attending five prestigious camps over a span of 10 days.

The father-son tandem traveled to camps held in Kentucky, Wake Forest, Alabama, Auburn and one additional camp in Sun Valley, Cal. By plane and car, the Colemans made their way on trips that totaled 6,358 miles. The young Coleman feels the constant movement, staying in hotels and eating lots of fast foods were all part of his plan to play football at the next level.

“I always wanted to play football and follow in my dad’s footsteps as he also played center in his days of playing,” said Coleman. “I already had in my mind I could snap and once I got to James Clemens, I knew they were looking for a long snapper. My personal coach, Ryan Parris, got me involved.”

Coleman’s work in 2022 enabled him to achieve a national ranking of No. 46 and listed as a four-star long snapper recruit. The newest rankings from Chris Rubio, who host the longest running long snapping camps in the country, will be released soon and Coleman feels his ranking should be higher and even more attractive to college recruiters. After his camps this summer, Coleman feels he needs to work on being a little more consistent on ball location and coaches have told him he needs to work on getting his head between his legs even more than he already does during the snap process. “They encourage me to follow through more and hold it as a way to get my head further between my legs,” added Coleman.

“Chris (Rubio) told me I have what he called a D-1 snap,” said T-Bone who also carries a 4.05 grade point average in the classroom, which makes him even more attractive to college recruiters. “My fastest snap has been timed at 0.67-seconds which is way above average and not many others snapping in that range. I hope to obtain a 4.5-star ranking in the new rankings.”

Along the way on his summer adventure, Coleman kept a scrapbook of his travels of watching the white lines on the highways and clouds racing by while in plane flight. What he feels documents his escapades from state-to-state and town-to-town includes photos, videos, and autographs among his keepings. His memories will last a lifetime and some of those have been monumental to the teen.

“What I gained most from these camps is learning to be able to handle pressure of being watched by some of the top football coaches in the country as both Nick Saban and Drew Freeze were standing mere feet from me watching me while I demonstrated by long snapping abilities,” said Coleman. “I was actually surprised coaches from numerous schools know my name and my level of snapping.”

Not only has Coleman lettered in football for the Jets, but he’s also a two-year letterman on the school’s wrestling team where he tangles with opponents in the 220-pound weight class. He somehow arranges a busy schedule to include the daily football workouts at the school, visiting BCI Body Creations in Madison and works closely with Parris four days a week. Parris, who was a long snapper at both James Clemens and the University of Alabama, currently works as School Resource Officer at James Clemens and host his personal football training on the side. Coleman is definitely his key student going into the 2023 football season.

The camp in the Golden State July 14-16 was by special invite for underclassmen and more than 60 student-athletes attended in what Coleman feels was a chance of a lifetime. The remaining four camps occurred in a six-day stretch of June 9-14. His efforts have paid off, at least in the mind of the talented Coleman.

“Going into this season I feel like I’m a lot better than last year and our team should be much better as we have a new offensive coordinator and we seem to have things working together,” said Coleman. “We have a bunch of players returning who played a lot last year and we seem to have a good chemistry.”

Whether it was assisting his father on the recent road trips, trying new, exotic foods in California, staying in hotels and practicing a simple spiral drills with a football or just laying back, relaxing and enjoying the moment, Coleman is a travelin’ man and made a lot of stops all in his effort to earn a college scholarship and one day take home a pay check from professional football in a skill position as long snapper.