The West Virginia football program continues to retool the backend of the defense with a major transfer commitment from Nevada cornerback Michael Coats.
Coats, 5-foot-10, 173-pounds, is coming off a season where he earned All-Mountain West First Team honors after starting all 13 games.
The Mississippi native led the team with both 17 passes defended and 4 interceptions and also recorded a total of 41 tackles.
The year prior Coats played in a total of 10 games and recorded 13 tackles, 5 passes defended and an interception in his first season on campus.
Prior to that Coats spent time at East Central C.C. where he appeared in 21 games and recorded a total of 47 tackles, with 6 pass breakups, 5.0 sacks and 4 interceptions as a productive piece across the board.
The transfer product did not play football at the high school level.
Coats emerged as one of the top transfers available in the portal at the position and was immediately linked to both West Virginia and Mississippi. He took an official visit to Morgantown Jan. 8 and committed to the Mountaineers giving the football program an experienced piece at a key position out of the portal.
The Mountaineers got involved as soon as he entered the transfer portal Dec. 27.
Coats has one season of eligibility remaining in his college career and will immediately challenge for a significant role in the defense.
He becomes the third cornerback to commit to West Virginia out of the transfer portal this off-season joining South Alabama cornerback Jordan Scruggs and Jacksonville State cornerback Derek Carter.
WVSports.com breaks down the transfer of Coats and what it means to the West Virginia Mountaineers football program both now and in the future.
The data:
Coats played a total of 1,135 snaps over his two seasons at Nevada, including 850 this past season. The transfer cornerback graded out high at 80.4 according to PFF. That included an elite coverage grade of 87.0.
This past season Coats was targeted 55 times but gave up only 25 catches for 328 yards. On top of that, he recorded a total of 4 interceptions and 9 pass breakups while permitting just two touchdowns.
The year prior, Coats gave up just 11 catches on 24 targets for 84 yards while recording 4 pass breakups and an interception without allowing a touchdown.
Over the course of his career, Coats spent 1,001 of his total snaps at outside cornerback and is going to be called upon to fill that role for the Mountaineers. This is an experienced cornerback that has played at a high level during his two years at Nevada.
Fitting the program:
Coats is the type of talent that won’t have any issues fitting in with any football program. An elite cover option that is coming off a dominant season with the Wolfpack, it’s an immediate upgrade for the cornerback room.
Over the past two years, Coats gave up just 36 catches for a total of 204 yards while permitting just two touchdowns against 5 interceptions and 13 pass breakups.
The Mountaineers had only one returning cornerback with experience in senior Jacolby Spells so there will be a clear pathway for Coats to make an impact on the field. This is a strong addition for a number of reasons to a transfer haul that has been picking up even more steam of late.
Recruiting the position:
Now with three cornerbacks out of the transfer portal this off-season in the fold, two of which in Coats and Carter that will play outside cornerback, there could still be another addition or two to round out what the program will have there. The Mountaineers are playing host to Akron cornerback Devonte Golden-Nelson and also have offers out to several other options that could potentially be in the mix.
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