(UPDATED MAY 1 12:30 PM)
Elon, N.C. – Elon University football alums
Cole Coleman and
Skyler Davis have received opportunities to pursue careers in the NFL. Coleman signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent and Davis has earned a camp invite with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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The son of former North Carolina State football player Chris Coleman, a two-year NFL veteran, Coleman was a first team all-conference player and preseason All-American during his five years at Elon.
Coleman helped Elon to the FCS playoffs twice in his career, in 2018 and 2022, culminating in the program's No. 17 final national ranking following his last year. He started eight games as a true freshman in 2018 and was third on the team with 62 tackles. He had 11 tackles in that season's FCS playoff game against Wofford.
He started all 11 games in 2019 and had a team-best 84 tackles. He had a season-best 16 in the team's win over No. 15 Delaware and 12 more against No. 2 James Madison. In 2020, he appeared in two games during the COVID-19 shortened spring season, but Coleman returned with a vengeance in 2021.
As a junior, Coleman started all 11 games at safety, posting a team-high 71 tackles to go with three forced fumbles, a blocked kick and an interception. That campaign earned him first team All-CAA honors and recognition as a Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-American headed into the 2022 season.
In 2022, Coleman was limited to just seven games due to injury, starting six times. He had an interception in his first game as Elon shut out Wofford. He added a season-best 13 tackles in a wild overtime win over Richmond and had fumble recoveries in wins over William & Mary and Towson. Behind Coleman's leadership, Elon went 8-4 on the season, defeated three ranked opponents, and earned an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs after going a perfect 5-0 at home.
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Skyler Davis was a unanimous First Team All-American in 2022 when he tied the FCS record with seven field goals of 50+ yards in one season. In total, he was 18-of-22 on fields, making 7-of-8 from 50+. He ended his career with 69 made field goals, tied for seventh-most in FCS history.
Davis' 2022 season was truly one of the greatest kicking seasons in FCS history. Only two other kickers in division history made seven 50+ yard field goals in a season, none since 1987, and both took 12 attempts to make seven. Davis did it on just eight attempts. He made a 42-yard field goal with 37 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime against Richmond in a game Elon would win. He made two 50+ yard field goals in Elon's FCS playoff game and even had two touchdown-saving tackles in a win over Delaware.
Chasing the solo school record for longest field goal, Davis finally captured it by making a 53-yarder in a win over Delaware. That kick served the dual purpose of also breaking Elon's FCS career scoring record. He would finish his career with 340 points.
For his efforts, Davis was named First Team All-American by Walter Camp, the AFCA, Stats Perform, the Associated Press, and FCS ADA. He was also an FCS ADA Academic All-Star and a finalist for one of two FCS ADA postgraduate scholarships.
Davis began his career at Elon in 2018 and was named a Freshman All-American by both Phil Steele and HERO Sports. He made 17-of-22 field goals and was perfect on 31 extra point attempts. As a sophomore in 2019, he was 10-of-15 on field goals and again perfect on 34 extra point attempts. He made a game-winning 35-yard field goal with 41 seconds to play against Towson.
During the 2020 COVID-19 season, Davis went 7-of-9 on field goals and then returned for his junior year in 2021 to make 17-of-22 field goals, including his final nine attempts of the year. Two of his five misses were blocked. He tied the school record (a record he would eventually break) with a 52-yard field goal at Towson and in that game became the first Elon player to make a pair of 50-yarders in a single game, connecting from 50 later in the contest. All of that led into his All-American senior season.
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