SPRINGDALE — Over and over, Jacob Coffman saw the game official go flying on the sideline. The video was slowed down as the play developed, the space between the Shiloh Christian linebacker, the Greenwood quarterback and the game official growing smaller frame by frame.
Coffman was focused on the quarterback as the two players moved toward the sideline. He never saw the official until it was too late. So Coffman blew them both up.
“I get teased about it a lot,” Coffman said. “The guys kept running (the video) back in slow motion over and over. I took the ref’s knees out and he went flying. It was really funny.”
Hard hits are part of Coffman’s game and have been since the 5-foot-9, 180-pound senior became a fixture on the Saints defense as a sophomore. Shiloh defensive coordinator Tucker Barnard said Coffman has developed from a player who “likes to get his face in there” into the team’s top tackler as a senior.
“A few years ago he was just a kid who wasn’t afraid to hit,” Barnard said. “He doesn’t have just a lot of God-given talent. He’s one of those guys that does everything right.”
In 10 games, Coffman has 90 total tackles, including 32 for loss and 7 1/2 sacks for the 4A-1 Conference champions. The Saints (9-1) host Warren (6-4) tonight in a first-round Class 4A playoff game in Champions Stadium at 7:30.
Coffman, who enrolled at Shiloh as a seventh-grader, said he and fellow linebacker Colt Thomas have a personal contest going to see who can register the most tackles. So far Coffman has the edge by just one stop.
Barnard said Coffman’s work ethic has set him apart. This summer, Coffman said he worked at least 30 minutes at the end of practices to try and improve his speed, a trait not lost on his position coach.
“The way he approaches the game is incredible,” Barnard said. “He’s always serious, he’s always working to improve. If you’re in practice today and the first-team offense is out there, he’s going to be on the scout team defense.
“He wouldn’t have to play scout team defense if he didn’t want to, but he’s over there working to try and get better. He’s been doing that for three years and it’s really turned him into a great football player.”
It’s that attention to detail and work ethic that will be beneficial to Coffman in his future career as an emergency room doctor. Although he’d like to play football at the next level, he’s already making plans to enter college as a pre-med student next fall. Just this week he was at John Brown University on a campus visit and witnessed pre-med students working on cadavers.
“It was pretty cool, I was really impressed with their pre-med program,” Coffman said. “It’s a great pre-med school and I can stay close to home.”
Coffman, whose older brother Lance also played for the Saints, didn’t say he watches the hit television series “Gray’s Anatomy,” which centers on emergency room doctors, but he didn’t deny it, either.
Maybe an episode about a football injury might make him a fan of the show. But for now, he’s content on delivering the hits rather than watching them.