West Virginia

CB Coats ready for new challenge at West Virginia

Published

1 year ago

January 20, 2025

CB Coats ready for new challenge at West Virginia

Michael Coats has taken a unique path to where he currently finds himself.

The transfer cornerback emerged as one of the top options in the market after a season at Nevada where he was a first-team all-Mountain West selection in 2024 after recording 41 tackles, 17 passes defended, and 4 interceptions while charting elite coverage grades.

But he almost didn’t play college football at all.

The Mississippi native started playing the game in Little League, but as he got older gravitated more towards basketball and baseball. He quit playing sports altogether in tenth grade and after graduation spent a season working at an arcade for a year. That’s when he came across a flyer for walk-on tryouts at East Central C.C.

Coats often played 7-on-7 with his friends and decided that he didn’t have anything to lose so he decided to attend the tryout and earned a spot as a walk-on with the team.

“I never played cornerback in my life, but I always watched football, and I always loved watching the cornerbacks and receivers go at it. That position was just natural because in basketball I was a good defensive player so it’s really the same mechanics when you translate it over,” he said.

The rest is history.

Coats arrived in fall camp and earned a starting spot on the team and has essentially started since. After appearing in 21 games at East Central, he transferred to Nevada where he recorded 13 tackles and an interception in his first season before breaking out in his second.

The game started to slow down for him and Coats credits the coaching he received during his time with the Wolfpack as a big reason why he made a significant jump.

“Now the game is starting to slow down just by naturally playing all the time. You can be told something, but you’ve just got to naturally learn it,” he said.

While he was originally contemplating his future in regard to the NFL Draft, the ruling on junior college players gave him the chance to spend another season in college. That’s when he elected to enter his name into the transfer portal and heard from a long list of schools including West Virginia, Mississippi, Texas Tech, Baylor, Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, and Houston. It was a different experience for the reserved Coats.

“I’m a different type of guy I don’t like the attention,” he said.

Coats took an official visit to West Virginia and was highly impressed with the entire package. From the facilities, to the atmosphere, to the town, and the message from the coaching staff it checked all his boxes in what he wanted to find in a college football program.

After meeting with head coach Rich Rodriguez, defensive coordinator Zac Alley and cornerbacks coach Rod West, Coats had decided that he wanted to spend next season in Morgantown.

“It felt comfortable to me,” he said.

Coats believes that he is a good fit for the West Virginia defense as the coaching staff liked his ability to play press-man coverage and his versatility to move around the defense. West Virginia saw an athlete who was quick and twitchy with elite ball production and Coats saw an opportunity.

The terminology in the defense wasn’t all that different from what he did at Nevada, and he was impressed with the disguised coverages that Alley utilizes.

Coats is already enrolled at West Virginia but plans to report today in order to get the next chapter of his story started in Morgantown. He is excited to get to know his new teammates and prove himself once again at the power four level in the Big 12 Conference.

“I love the challenge. I’m going in with a new slate and everything I did in the past doesn’t really matter anymore so I’m excited for that part of the challenge and show that I’m still that guy,” he said.

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West Virginia

Stories of the Week: June 14 through June 20

Published

3 hours ago

June 20, 2026

Press Room

Stories of the Week: June 14 through June 20

There are early Dyson deals for Prime Day Amazon Prime Day is right around the corner — the annual four-day sales event is happening June 23-26 this year. In the past, it’s been a great time to score substantial discounts on Dyson products, from …

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West Virginia

Charleston commemorates Juneteenth with downtown parade and celebration – WV MetroNews

Published

13 hours ago

June 19, 2026

Press Room

Charleston commemorates Juneteenth with downtown parade and celebration – WV MetroNews

CHARLESTON, W.Va – Charleston is celebrating Juneteenth with its annual parade, followed by a celebration in Slack Plaza featuring live entertainment, food, educational exhibits, and more.

The parade stepped off from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center at 11:30 on Friday with a long line of organizations participating and several community members recognized as “Mr. and Miss Juneteenth.” Smiles dotted the procession as organizers watched a community come together.

“It’s just a wonderful thing when we can bring the community together to celebrate freedom, and here in West Virginia, we’ve had some challenges because they’ve said that Juneteenth is not a state holiday, but our people are still celebrating,” parade chairperson Karen Williams said.

The parade marked the start of an entire day recognizing the history of Juneteenth, the emancipation of more than 250,000 enslaved Black people when the Union Army arrived at Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. With the last stronghold of slavery in the Confederate States eradicated that day, June 19 came to be celebrated as a second independence day, and President Joe Biden established it as a national holiday in 2021.

In West Virginia, former Gov. Jim Justice was the first to declare a state holiday and did so in each of his last four years in office. Gov. Patrick Morrisey recognized Juneteenth with a proclamation on Friday but has not declared a state holiday in 2025 or 2026.

“Representation really matters, so seeing Black queens and Black kings roaming the streets of Charleston is a beautiful thing, and it’s a needed thing. I think there’s a lot more people that aren’t going to celebrate Juneteenth than people that are, so I think it’s really important that we continue to celebrate this holiday and show why it’s important,” Miss Juneteenth Adult Keyarna Frederick said.

Different groups from around the Kanawha Valley came out to participate from businesses and youth organizations to political committees and arts collectives. Williams believes that shows that Juneteenth is a day for the entire community to celebrate.

“Appalachian people have always grown up and lived together, and what we want—we want people to continue that. We want people to continue to be together. We’re not saying this is a Black event or a white event. We welcome all people to come and participate,” she said.

The parade route echoed her sentiment as nearly everyone who joined the parade shared handshakes, high-fives, and hugs. That spirit of togetherness spoke to the day’s honorees as well.

“It’s definitely something that we should all be celebrating. It’s for all of us, not just for a certain color or a certain kind. It’s for all of us, so I believe everyone should be celebrating this day,” Mr. Juneteenth Adult Edward Frederick said.

“This is my first time in the parade. It’s so beautiful. It’s so amazing to see different organizations a part of the parade, seeing how much muscle has went into even doing something like this, so I think it’s a beautiful thing for Charleston,” Keyarna Frederick added.

From the parade to the activities in Slack Plaza, the day’s organizers sought to create an environment to celebrate Juneteenth with a spirit of unity. Williams hopes that anyone that joined or watched felt that along the way.

“I want them to see that we are Almost Heaven, West Virginia; that we are celebrating freedom; and that we are a community that embraces one another,” she said.

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