Coleman participates in East-West Shrine Game

Former UTC quarterback BJ Coleman was in St. Petersburg, Fla., Jan. 21 suiting up for the East Team in the East-West Shrine Game.

Coleman shined for the East in the first quarter, getting the starting nod from former NFL head coach Bobby Ross. 

Coleman connected with Tennessee Tech wide receiver Tim Benford on a 27-yard pass to the West 19-yard line in the East's opening possession to set up a Blair Walsh field goal to put the East on top early. 

The Chattanooga native would deliver a 64-yard pass to Miami's Chase Ford before finding the end zone on a 17-yard touchdown toss to Michigan State's BJ Cunningham to cap off the scoring in the first quarter.

Coleman was removed from the game for the second and third quarters to allow for Southern Miss's Austin Davis and Florida's John Brantley but returned in the fourth quarter to give the East a final push for the win. 

With the East driving in West territory, Coleman completed a pass to the West 39-yard line for a first down, but rather than stopping the clock to reset the football, game officials allowed the clock to run out, handing the West a 24-17 win.

"The game was amazing," Coleman said. "It would have been nice to have won, but that game wasn't about winning. It was all about going out there, having fun and playing for a good cause."

Coleman finished as the game's passing leader, completing 10 of 15 passes for 170 yards. Coleman threw one of only two touchdown passes on the day and averaged 11.3 yards per pass. 

After the game, Coleman said he was happy with his performance and said he felt healthy.

"I felt great out there," Coleman said. "My shoulder feels healthier than it did before I got injured [against Georgia Southern] and the ball feels great coming out of my hand. I felt like I had a lot of control on my passes and I had great protection in the pocket."

Sports Illustrated's Wes Bunting before the game ranked Coleman as the No. 9 prospect in the game. 

"In a quarterback starved league, you can't ignore a kid with Coleman's skill set," Bunting wrote. "He's a strong kid with a great arm and flashes the ability to balance himself into throws and accurately deliver the football on all levels of the field."

The 6-foot-3 prospect is currently ranked No. 9 of 129 quarterbacks in this year's draft by nfldraftscout.com. 

Coleman described his last few weeks as, "Football, football and more football," spending the majority of his time after Christmas in Hattiesburg, Miss., training. 

"I have been waking up at 5 a.m., lifting and running through my drills," Coleman said. "Brett [Favre] has stopped in a few times and I have had a chance to learn from him"

Coleman signed with agent Bus Cook in December, joining Favre, Cam Newton and Calvin Johnson as Cook's client.

Coleman will attend the 2012 NFL Souting Combine in Indianapolis, Ind., Feb. 22-28, return to Chattanooga for UTC's proday and await the NFL Draft April 26-28.