Ex-Eagles safety Kurt Coleman basks in Super Bowl spotlight

SAN JOSE, Calif. - In the spring of 2009, Sean McDermott went to Ohio State to evaluate Malcolm Jenkins, and that's when he first came across Kurt Coleman.

After watching Jenkins' workout, McDermott went to Ohio State's film room to analyze tape of the Buckeyes senior cornerback. But an undersized junior safety kept turning up on Jenkins' film with a variety of game-changing plays.

"I asked who he was," McDermott recalled. "I didn't know who he was."

It was Coleman. McDermott, then the Eagles defensive coordinator, kept Coleman in the back of his mind when the next draft came around. He wasn't responsible for scouting the safety that offseason, but when the Eagles were on the clock in the seventh round, then-Eagles coach Andy Reid threw out two names.

"Andy said it's between Coleman from Ohio State and another young player," McDermott said. "And I said, 'Well, I like Kurt.' "

The Eagles took Coleman. Nearly six years later, McDermott and Coleman are together again, but with a different team, of course. It took five years before they were reunited with the Panthers, but the defensive coordinator was once again instrumental in getting Coleman.

The second union has been beneficial to both, but more so for Coleman, who is having a career year. The 27-year-old safety started in a career-high 15 games, was third on the Panthers in tackles, and recorded a second-best-in-the-NFL seven interceptions. He added two picks in Carolina's NFC championship win over the Cardinals.

Two years after the Eagles opted not to re-sign him, Coleman is now poised to become a Super Bowl champion.

"I always felt like I should have been drafted higher," Coleman said on Tuesday. "But I play for a higher being. I play for a lot more than just to silence the critics or the naysayers. I love the game of football. I really do. The passion is just a fire that burns inside of me.

"The willingness to be successful is more than the willingness to prove someone wrong. I know what I'm capable of doing, I know how good I can be, and I feel like I'm just now getting to where I want it."

There have been a number of reasons for Coleman's ascension. Opportunity was part of it, but he did start for most of the 2011-12 seasons with the Eagles. He was solid but inconsistent. But scheme played a part, as well. There weren't many safeties that would have thrived behind those linebackers in the wide-nine.

In McDermott's attacking 4-3 defense, Coleman's role is more defined and his responsibilities cater more to his skill set, his coaches said.

"I think part of it is about opportunity," Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. "The nice thing for him coming to us he has some familiarity with who Sean McDermott is. . . . We look for guys that fit our scheme, our system, and Kurt is a great example."

After the Eagles allowed Coleman to walk into free agency, he signed a one-year deal with Reid and the Chiefs. It was mostly a part-time job, but he still led the team with three interceptions. Coleman had a few offers last offseason, but teaming with McDermott and the scheme he was initially drafted to play in was too good to pass up.

But his break out season hasn't been strictly about scheme fit. You don't rack up seven interceptions and pick off Carson Palmer twice in the biggest game of your career without having the talent to excel in this league.

Coleman's confidence never wavered. When he lost his starting job in 2013 to Patrick Chung and wasn't even the No. 1 backup, he said something that some at the time mocked - that he knew he still had the ability to be a playmaker in the NFL.

"I think in college I was a playmaker. I made a lot of plays," Coleman said. "My years . . . in Philly were actually productive for me, even though they may have not been as consistent as I want, but that isn't just about [me]. It's a bigger picture."

Coleman seemingly hasn't let success go to his head. Being a seventh-round pick can humble a player. He said he's not a superstar, nor does he want to be one. He knows he's a cog in Rivera and McDermott's defense. Linebackers Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis and cornerback Josh Norman are the linchpins.

His role, in part, is to line up the defensive backfield and his job post-snap is clearly defined. When he's tried to go outside of that, it's mostly backfired. Coleman said it's when he's played within himself - he also had a sack and nine pass breakups in the regular season - that he's had his best moments.

"We're not asked to do anything other than what our job states," Coleman said. "If I'm in the deep post, I'm not going to go and try and snag something across the middle. I'm going to stay in the deep post, because I know my corners are trusting me, that I'm going to be in the deep post."

He may not have ideal athleticism and size (5-foot-11, 200 pounds) for a safety, but Coleman is hardly ever in the wrong place. You factor in his intelligence and his commitment to his craft, and his 2015 season shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

McDermott, who saw it first all those years ago, was always a believer.

"The measurables are the measurables, but that's what makes him special is how he plays the game," McDermott said. "He plays with instincts and he puts a lot of time into his work and he gets the results. And, really, when you look back at when we did our research this offseason on the free agents, every time he's had a chance to play and play at any length, he's had production.

"And so, I think that speaks for itself."

jmclane@phillynews.com

@Jeff_McLane