CFB Zeitgeist Score
49
Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by passes defended at the 96th percentile.
Michael Coats Jr.
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
30 TACKLES · 0 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to West Virginia for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Cornerback · West Virginia
Returning around him
- 26% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
- Transfer portal: -16 net (34 in / 50 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
West Virginia · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #63 · 2026 recruiting class #43
CB · WEST VIRGINIA · BIG 12
Michael Coats Jr.
- 4
- #3
- 5-10 | 185 lb
- Louisville, MS
Heisman Heat
#10851
<1% win probability
Fan Belief
Awaiting
Player-specific FI not yet ingested. Falls back to team mood below.
Respect Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
Reality Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
ACCOLADE PROBABILITY
Heisman
<1%
TOP DB AWARD
Jim Thorpe
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR05 · Part-time starter
Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career arc · Season-by-season Standing
3 seasons on the ladder
2023
Nevada · CB
—
★
2024
Nevada · CB
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
2025
West Virginia · CB
—
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Identity & Role
The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.
Recruiting Pedigree
How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.
| Class | Profile | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3-star | 0.8063 | No. 172 recruit | JUCO | Nevada |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Nevada -> West Virginia | 3-star | 0.8800 | Immediate |
Heisman Lens · 2024 Season · Final
Where the player landed at the end of the listed season — final nowcast rank, win/finalist/ballot probabilities, and the cleanest official Heisman placement on file.
HIGH CONFIDENCE· through week 16Heisman Futures
Not yet listed on major futures markets.
No achievements unlocked yet this season.
Selector Grid · 2025
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
Selector recognition fills in once the major honors lists (AP, FWAA, AFCA, Walter Camp, Sporting News, SI) are scraped and ingested.
NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft
Market value, pedigree & pro outcome
Recruit stars
★★★☆☆
to Nevada
Composite
0.8063
#172 national
Today’s Hot-Take
The Hot-Take engine fires when this player’s percentile profile crosses a defensible threshold (top 10% in a cohort, 100+ snap sample). When it’s quiet, the model is honoring its “must be defensible” rule.
Anti-Take
PENDINGThe contrarian read fires when the rules-engine detects a stat that complicates the Hot-Take. Quiet here means the model hasn’t found a defensible counter yet — not that one doesn’t exist.
The Room on Michael Coats Jr.
Fan sentiment · Awaiting signal
The Room reads fan conversation around a player — who’s talking, what they believe, and how that shifts. It publishes once weekly volume rebuilds; for most players that’s in-season, when game-week chatter spikes.
Cohort divergence map
Cohort divergence reads how different fanbases talk about this player. Returns once weekly mentions clear the publish floor.
Rival Radar
How rival fanbases talk about Michael Coats Jr.
No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.
Signature Story
Awaiting candidate metric
He hasn't written his page yet — we'll start filling it in when there are enough snaps to rank against his peers.
Signature Moment
No signature moment on the ledger yet.
Returns once this player puts together a multi-game body of work — single-game flashes alone don't clear the bar.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the defensive totals stand
Through 11g
30Tackles
2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
35Tackles
2.4Tackles for loss
0Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 30): needs 25/game over remaining 2.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 30): needs 35/game over remaining 2.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 3/game over remaining 2.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 5/game over remaining 2.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Michael Coats Jr. is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on West Virginia's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 2.0 tackles for loss, and -- interceptions through the current loaded season. For a defender, the question is never just production; it is whether elite disruption and team context can become nationally undeniable.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
DEF season snapshot
2025 season snapshot | final
2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
Coverage splash against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
30 72nd
SOLO
22 80th
TFL
2.0 71st
SACK
0.0 65th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
7 96th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 11 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | L 10-17@ Ohio | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 31-24vs Pittsburgh | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 4 | L 10-41@ Kansas | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 5 | L 14-48vs Utah | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 24-38@ BYU | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 13-45@ UCF | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 17-23vs TCU | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 10 | W 45-35@ Houston | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 29-22vs Colorado | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 3 | |
| Wk 12 | L 23-25@ Arizona State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 0-49vs Texas Tech | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 30 | 22 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 7 |
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score
Traditional history
Traditional Stats
Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.
Season context · Team result + system
2023Nevada2-10HC: Ken Wilson · Run-leaning
2024Nevada3-10HC: Jeff Choate · Run-leaning
2025West Virginia4-8HC: Rich Rodriguez · Run-heavy
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | West Virginia | 30 | 22 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 7 | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Nevada | 41 | 29 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | -- |
| 2023 | Nevada | 13 | 10 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 3 loaded seasons | 84 | 61 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 20 | 5 | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.
Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.
Every percentile is compared against players at the same position and level, so an FBS quarterback is judged against FBS quarterbacks, not the whole sport.
The top tables stick to the stats fans already know from broadcasts and box scores. Advanced context is pushed underneath instead of replacing the basics.
Open full stat explorer
| Group | Metric | Value | Rank | Pct | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Total tackles | 30 | #1362/4942 | 72nd pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 2.0 | #1443/4972 | 71st pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 0.0 | #1762/4972 | 65th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 7 | #85/2184 | 96th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 22 | #902/4584 | 80th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Fumbles recovered | 1 | #103/736 | 86th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Ball Security | Fumbles lost | 0 | #1/773 | 100th pct | Turnoversvs FBS DEF |
Player Standing
Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.
AWAITING CLASSIFICATION
On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex
AWAITING CLASSIFICATION · Rung None of 16
Why he’s here
Standing classification populates when honors, Heisman, and roster signals all align.
What moves him up
What moves him down
Accolade streams
Status—Awaiting tracker
The Thorpe award tracker integrates per-week probability once a dedicated scraper for this award lands. Confirmed past winners and finalists for this player will surface here.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 3.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| Road6g | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins3g | 3.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.3 |
| Losses8g | 2.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 2.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 2.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the CB cohort
49Mid-pack
Elite: passes defended (96th). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · CB · 2024
Percentile Card
Advanced opponent-adjusted percentile bars are coming soon for this player.
P4G5All FBS
Advanced Savant
Opponent-adjusted advanced metrics with a cohort filter.
Advanced opponent-adjusted metrics are coming soon for this player. Selected cohort: P4.
Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match
Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile
Michael Coats Jr.West VirginiaTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 79% simTyler MartinMassachusetts· 78% simDalton JohnsonArizona· 75% sim
Passes defended
Solo tackles
Tackles
Forced fumbles
Tackles for loss
Sacks
QB hurries
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Ball Hawk
Reads the quarterback's eyes and takes the ball away.
CB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Quavian White’s 2022 season.
Quavian White
88%match
All-Sun Belt
#2
Avery Smith
All-MAC
87%
#3
Isaiah King
86%
#4
Michael Coats Jr.
All-Mountain West
84%
#5
Justin Birchette
83%
Matches Quavian on
Tackle volume
PD rate
Weight
Differs from Quavian on
Class year (higher)
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to A.J. Odums's junior season at UTEP (2023).
A.J. Odums
96%match
#2
Tyler Bride
95%
#3
Dontae Manning
94%
#4
Colby Dempsey
91%
#5
Lu-Magia Hearns III
89%
Matches A.J. on
Class year
Height
PD rate
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Rich Rodriguez
Pass share
38.7%
327 pass / 517 run
Plays / game
70.3
12 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
10.7%
272 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025
3 coaches2023
Neal Brown
West Virginia
2024era →
Chad Scott
West Virginia
2025era →
Rich Rodriguez
West Virginia
Played under 3 different head coaches: Neal Brown, Chad Scott, and Rich Rodriguez. Multi-era developmental context.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownLouisville, MS
Height5'10"
Weight185 lb
Class4
PositionCB
Jersey3
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamWest Virginia
ConferenceBig 12
Joined2025
Career arc3 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2024)
All-Mountain West
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
1 all-conference honor
Conference-level recognition helps anchor whether a player is merely statistically loud or actually viewed as elite within his competitive lane.
Honors Timeline
Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.
| Season | Honor | Scope | Team / Selector | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | All-Mountain West | all_conference | Nevada | Mountain West | DB |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | West Virginia | Big 12 | CB | 4 | No. 3 | 5-10 | 185 lb | Louisville, MS |
| 2024 | Nevada | Mountain West | CB | 4 | No. 3 | 5-10 | 185 lb | Louisville, MS |
| 2023 | Nevada | Mountain West | CB | 4 | No. 3 | 5-10 | 185 lb | Louisville, MS |