Sammie Coates helped lift Columbia High School back into the win column after a decade-long losing streak last Saturday night. After 101 straight losses, the Eagles are now on a winning streak following a 42-26 win over East Limestone on Friday night.
Coates' coaching chops are now officially on the map after proving the history-making, season-opening 41-14 win over Greensboro was no fluke.
Coates had 28 players last year during a winless debut season in Huntsville. With a full roster this year, Columbia is winning games convincingly against fellow 5A programs and otherwise. Coates not only upped enrollment numbers, but he is proving that he can do wonders with the talent.
For Coates, it isn't about his own career, though.
“Everything they’ve done, they deserve every moment of this,” Coates told reporters after the Greensboro win. “I’m just happy for the kids, man. It ain’t nothing about me. It’s about the kids that worked their tail off. I’m glad these kids can experience this. It’s a great experience for them. Now they see what it feels like. They can add to it, and we can go back to work next week.”
Coates admitted he was happy to get last week's win out of the way. It's clearly all business for the former Auburn star receiver during his first foray into high school coaching in the Yellowhammer State. At some point, some school is going to offer him a proposition that'll be too tough to refuse to leave Columbia and take over a program with more resources.
For now, though, Coates couldn't be happier about where he's at.
Sammie Coates takes a page out of Deion Sanders' playbook
Coates, in Deion Sanders-like fashion, told the Alabama high school football world last week that his program was coming for everything in its current renaissance, even if there was work to do.
"All the glory to God ... God has blessed me to be in this situation to bring this to this school, to this community. I want to say thank you to the administration, to the school supporting me, having my back the whole time, and the players showing up and fighting every single day throughout the spring, throughout the summer, everything they have done," Coates said.
"They deserve every moment of this. They stuck it out. Guys came out and helped support. We built the program, and it's coming. We ain't there yet, but we are coming."
Coach Prime overcame a previous lack of program resources at Colorado to lead the Buffs to a 9-4 record in 2024. It helped to have a two-way Heisman winner in Travis Hunter, but CU was a program Sanders reshaped in his image from the top down. Coates is doing that now in Columbia, which could be the start of a coaching career that also eventually leads to college football.
After all, Sanders got his start at Prime Prep Academy and Triple A Academy and served as the offensive coordinator for Trinity Christian High School before beginning his sport-changing coaching tenure at Jackson State.
Coates' star power will eventually outgrow the Columbia job. Right now, though, it's lightning in a bottle, and it's one of high school football's best stories across the country.
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