Cam Coleman seems to be taking playing for Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian in Austin a lot more seriously than he ever took playing for fired former Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze on the Plains.
Per Anwar Richardson of OrangeBloods, "What’s impressed coaches most is how quickly he’s immersed himself in Steve Sarkisian’s playbook." Of course, Coleman took some time getting to know Freeze's playbook, and before long, he was playing in a different system under Derrick Nix.
Certainly, Coleman wasn't dealt the best hand at Auburn. He was paid well, but he wasn't offered the chance to shine, being stuck with quarterbacks Jackson Arnold and Payton Thorne, the latter of whom he at least had some chemistry with, in 2024 and 2025.
Still, knowing Coleman's attitude last season makes this update from Forty Acres a tough pill to swallow.
Cam Coleman wasn't trying at practices while with Auburn
Coleman wasn't giving his all last season during practice, as On3's Jake Crain told me, which sent the wrong message to the locker room.
Coleman, one of the team's highest-paid players, set a negative culture, along with transfer Deuce Knight and other portal departees, that destroyed the team's camaraderie, since many actually had bought into the system.
"It's easy to see it because Auburn collapsed in every big moment, basically, during his tenure. And that's not a coincidence. That's not by accident. That is something that is cultivated, and that's why when you see these guys reading, like, I've never, and I'm not saying Cam Coleman isn't talented. He's talented, but he didn't practice hard. Like, these guys, it doesn't work in this sport," Crain said.
Coleman will go down as one of the biggest figurative, and, during the Iron Bowl, literal, fumbles AU has had in its storied football program's history.
It's not all Freeze's fault, though. Coleman was getting those checks and was exalted as the team's top skill-position weapon.
Sarkisian, Arch Manning, and the rest of the Longhorns seem poised to get the best out of Coleman this season. That will give Tiger fans everywhere FOMO, but Coleman was clearly never going to reach his potential by staying so close to home and phoning it in.
He's in a better place for his career and, more than likely, Auburn will be in a better place with receivers making far less from the USF Bulls who will actually buy into what Alex Golesh and Co. are selling.