Former Ohio State Buckeyes recruiting target Chaz Coleman has officially "Parted Ways" with the Tennessee Volunteers program.
The next chapter in what has been a pretty sad college football story is underway as Penn State transfer edge rusher Chaz Coleman has officially parted ways with the Tennessee Volunteers program.
Coleman, from Youngstown, Ohio, was a major recruiting target two different times for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
First, out of high school, Ryan Day and Ohio State pursued him pretty significantly, and they ended up losing the recruiting battle to James Franklin and the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Then, after Franklin was fired and Coleman put his name back into the transfer portal list, the Buckeyes went after him hard again, this time losing out to the Tennessee Volunteers.
From everything that has been reported, the reason that Ohio State lost out on Coleman had a lot to do with the money. Tennessee came to Coleman with a deal that was estimated at $2M, which was significantly more than what the Buckeyes were offering him.
As any 18-year-old kid would do, he chased the money, and it led him to a very bad spot.
Coleman never truly got his feet under him in Knoxville, and from all reports, it was because he couldn't get used to being so far from home.
Youngstown is roughly four or five hours from Penn State, it is two hours from Columbus, and roughly about 10 hours from Knoxville. Not only that, but life is much different in all four of those locations.
Whether it's better or worse isn't up for debate. It was not where Coleman wanted to be, but it is where the money led him, and that is the sad reality of this situation as a whole.
Coleman missed the second half of the Volunteers' Spring Ball session and then did not report for Voluntary Summer workouts this week. He was back on campus on Friday, and that is when the news broke that he and the Volunteers were parting ways.
Maybe not right away, but this puts Coleman back on the "market" for a team to come in and start recruiting him again. You'd have to wonder if Ryan Day would knock on that door again because the truth is, Coleman was built in a lab to rush the passer.
He is 6'4", weighing 250 pounds, with a very quick get-off that makes him nearly impossible to block.
Maybe being closer to home would do wonders for him, but the Buckeyes would have to give him that chance. Time will tell if they get back into that discussion or not.
We will continue to cover this story as more news surfaces.
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