Coates blossoms after crossing line

FAYETTEVILLE -- Teams sign junior-college players to make an immediate impact.

Judging from what University of Arkansas players and coaches are saying about Julius Coates, that's what the junior defensive end is going to provide for the Razorbacks this season.

"Well, he's making all kinds of plays," Razorbacks Coach Sam Pittman said after Friday's scrimmage when he was asked about Coates. "I mean, we can't hardly block the guy."

Senior tackle Myron Cunningham is considered Arkansas' top offensive lineman.

"I go against Julius just about every day at practice," Cunningham said. "He's very twitchy, and for how big he is, he's got a lot of speed and he's very athletic on the edge."

Coates, who transferred to Arkansas in January from East Mississippi Community College, is listed at 6-6 and 289 pounds.

"Julius is pushing 300 and running as fast as everyone else," senior defensive tackle Jonathan Marshall said.

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 and 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 tackles.

"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 flanked 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.' "

Coates could have gone to Oregon, Nebraska or Colorado among other schools, but he chose Arkansas after getting an offer from Pittman. He signed during the early period in December.

"I love the opportunity," Coates said when he signed. "It's been a goal of mine to play in the SEC for a long time. My situation at Arkansas is a great one, and it's the best place for me to be."

Junior Bumper Pool, a returning starter at linebacker, is glad to have Coates playing in front of him.

"Julius Coates, that kid is an animal," Pool said. "He's explosive. I'm excited to see what he can do for us."

Coates was listed at 270 pounds when he signed, so he's added about 20 pounds, which drew praise for strength and conditioning coach Jamil Walker and his staff from defensive coordinator Barry Odom.

"Those guys have transformed Julius," Odom said in April. "He's become bigger, stronger, leaner, faster, quicker, all those things.

"We're going to count on Julius being a major factor for us. That's the reason we recruited him, and he's done a terrific job of developing his skill set since he's been on campus."

Coates had 30 tackles in 10 games last season, including 6 sacks. He forced two fumbles and had two recoveries.

"When you've got Julius' size and can run, once you learn the fundamentals of playing defensive end, I mean, you can make you some money," Collins said. "When we were talking to him about moving to defense, he had some questions. His dad was like, 'My son's never played defense.' I said, 'We're going to get him ready,' and we did.

"What we do on defense, we keep it real simple. We teach the fundamentals. If a kid is raw like Julius was, we don't put a lot on him. We teach him the basics and not everything in the playbook that we're not going to ever use anyway. Get the kid ready to go and play."

Odom is expecting Coates to play a key role this season.

"I think he provides an opportunity to be an every-down guy at the defensive end position," Odom said. "I think the things you saw from him movement-wise, he's going to be able to provide a presence of having an opportunity to pressure the quarterback.

"He's long, he's got good speed, good initial quickness. He plays with good pad level. Seeing the way he's able to put his foot in the ground and bend and change directions, I'm really excited about what he can do for us."