LSU junior safety Harry Coleman got his big break in January against Ohio State in the BCS National Championship Game.Coleman’s teammates looked on nervously as he replaced first team All-American senior Craig Steltz, who had just gone down with a stinger.”To be honest with you, last year when Steltz got hurt, I didn’t know if I wanted to watch or not because [Coleman] hadn’t had a lot of playing experience,” said co-defensive coordinator Bradley Dale Peveto. “But just like he’s done on special teams week after week, he went out there and played great. When his number was called, he was ready to play.”Coleman’s mother, Margaret Coleman, said when her son came onto the field against Ohio State, she had faith he would rise to the challenge of being called upon in such a big game.”Harry is one who loves to win, and he puts his whole heart into his game,” she said. “I really wasn’t surprised. I was just a little nervous because he was playing on another level.”Harry Coleman said his mother’s spiritual influence has always immersed his life, leading him to become a junior deacon in his hometown of Baldwin at age 9.”In my mother’s house, it was always God first before everything we do,” Coleman said. “I grew up always going to church, and being in an environment like that, I became a deacon.”Margaret Coleman said she greatly values her duty to emphasize the importance of religion to her family. “That is one of my biggest roles in the home,” she said. “We put God and being part of the church first. I told him that to be a success in anything you have to put God first.”Harry Coleman’s responsibilities as a deacon include ushering the elderly to their seats at church, assisting with the collection and praying and helping out with communion, his mother said.Margaret Coleman said she is very proud of the man her son has become, from the church to the football field. “When I see what he’s doing, this is what I always feel he could have done,” she said. “He had to learn the game, but he has developed, and he can handle it now.”In the national championship game, Coleman said he was only expecting to get minimal time on the field despite Steltz’s injury.”When [Steltz] went down, I thought it was just going to be for a few plays, that I would get a couple of plays before he went right back in,” Coleman said. “But when I went in one series, then another series and then into halftime, I knew I was going to continue the whole game because he couldn’t get the feeling back in his arm. I was sad for him, but excited for me.”Coleman, who had contributed primarily on special teams in his first two years at LSU, made the most of the opportunity. He had a fumble recovery 14 yards, two tackles and a quarterback hurry. Coleman was named to ESPN’s 2007 All-Bowl Team following LSU’s 38-24 win.”Harry’s been a big player as long as I can remember,” said senior defensive end Tyson Jackson. “He’s made a lot of big plays on special teams and coming over on defense. It helps us as defensive linemen to know we have a guy back there who is willing to step up like a linebacker to play for us.”In LSU’s 2-0 start to the season, Harry Coleman has five tackles and two pass breakups as a starting safety for the first time in his career.Harry Coleman first played as a linebacker at West St. Mary High School in Baldwin where he was also a standout wide receiver. He helped lead the Wolfpack to consecutive playoff appearances in his junior and senior seasons, including a 10-0 mark in 2003.Harry Coleman was a four-year letterman in track, baseball and basketball, but his mother Margaret Coleman said his true calling was football.”He really did well in all the sports, but he turned to love football,” Margaret Coleman said. “He started to feel in baseball that he was just standing up waiting for something to happen. With football he could go in and make it happen.”Peveto said he is thrilled with Harry’s progression on the team. “Three years ago Harry was a long way away from being a starting football player,” Peveto said. “Now he works hard and keeps his mouth shut, and he’s been a really steady, fantastic player for us this year. He doesn’t care who we play or what the situation is … he goes out there and he plays. I expect nothing less of him this week against Auburn.”- – – – Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]